Anyone disobey doctors orders?

Dr. Ordered a fleet enema night before surgery. Giving myself an enema freaks me out. Anyone skip this part? For those of you brave souls who went through with it, was it all that bad?

I wouldn't advise it. He may cancel the surgery. All doctors have different preferences. I had no bowl prep at all. Just no food or drink before midnight. It doesn't seem wise to go against what your doctor wants.

Bluberriice,

Easy for you to say, when you didn't have to do any bowel prep. Lucky girl. I will definitely call dr. Office tomorrow to check if it is a necessity. At pre op today, he seemed like it was more to avoid constipation afterwards. I've never really had a problem with that.

I will definitely call to double check though!

It wasn't that bad at all. I was on full liquids that day, with the enema around 7pm that night. My Dr. said it was to give him plenty of room during my TVH.

Call your Dr. and make sure, but if it was ordered, I would do it. He could cancel the surgery or it could even affect the outcome of your surgery if you don't.

Do whatever your doctor orders to ensure your surgery will be as easy as possible.

I would call and ask if you could take an oral laxative instead if the enema. Same result, so I'd imagine they would OK that. I've done the enema and it wasn't that bad although since I did the mag citrate drink I couldn't see the point of it. The drink isn't tasty but IMO is preferable to an enema. Call and check, it would solve your problem and still accomplish what they want. They want more room plus less in bowel in case of a (rare) nick. Good luck.

Enemas aren't that bad, I had to have my dh give me one before a D&C. It's the THOUGHT of having to have one that's bad, but actually having one isn't bad. It's not painful or anything, just awkward.

That was the worst part for me: THE THOUGHT. I was totally freaked out but did it anyway so they wdnt cancel my surgery. The whole process was about 10 mins and i woud have NO issue doing it again if i had to. Way worse thought than actually doing it, so i can totally relate. Fear of the unknown is scary.... I am on the other side and after the enema and TLH, things are amazing!

Hang in there, you can do this!

I spent my entire childhood getting enemas because of chronic constipation. Imagine having a bm 2-3 times a MONTH. Not fun. I finally got everything under control in my 20's. I'm 32 now.

When I asked my dr about an enema my knees were shaking and my palms sweaty. The last one I had was for my sigmoidoscopy about 9 years ago.

Though it can be embarrasing, and for someone like me opening the doors to an anxiety attack, I can tell you they are effective and really not that bad at all. Just take a deep breath, do it really quick, and move on. I have a lot of bad memories, but that is associated to the fear of the bm after weeks of buildup than the enema itself.

I promise, they aren't that bad at all!

Thanks everyone. You are all very reassuring. It is funny how different things make us nervous. After hearing from you all, I think I will just bite the bullet tonight and get it done. One day and counting! Looking forward to being on the other side!