About the "clear liquid" diet day before surgery

I am scheduled for TAH on Wed, 2/11, but I had my pre-op appt. on Jan 29. At the time my surgery still seemed a long way off -- haha!!!! Now I'm in a sudden panic.

The nurse mentioned to me that I should use a laxative on Monday, then eat a clear liquid diet on Tues. with nothing after midnight. Seemed simple at the time -- now my brain is like it's stopped or something.... lol...... for a clear liquid diet -- any suggestions? Is lemonade ok?? I'm assuming it's just no food and just things like broth? Or..... is jello ok?

I feel really silly for asking.......

Hi newwoman, I had a TAH on 1/5/09 and had to do the clear liquid diet too, I could have broth, jello, gatorade etc. I would say that lemonade is fine being that it is liquid. If you are not too sure just call the nurse to make sure..hope this helps.
One more thing is my surgery was at 8:00am so I could'nt have anything after 2:00 am.

The previous poster is correct... broth, jello, tea, etc. I didn't have a clear diet for the hyster, but did for a colonoscopy a few years ago. The broth was the best thing, and I don't think I could ever look at jello again!!

Just one thing... I think sometimes during the hyster, some drs. check to see if they nicked your bladder/bowel. So they don't want you to eat RED jello/popsicle, etc because it might be mistaken for blood. Maybe call and ask.

here is a hystersisters thread:

https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...d.php?t=146282

Good luck!

CC

Hi Susie, A clear liquid diet is broth, jello, cran juice, white grape juice,etc. The rule usually is if you can read a newspaper through the liquid then it's considered clear. Lemonade would probably be fine as long as there is no pulp(like the crystal lite kind is ok). I noticed you said you had to take a laxative on Mon and then clear liquids on Tues. It is usually the other way around, so I would check with your Doc. I am having a hyst on Thurs and I have to have a clear liquid diet all day Wed and take the laxative the same day and then nothing after midnite. Tuesday I can eat normal. Best of luck with your surgery!
CapeCodder

I also have my surgery on Thursday. I was told to do a Dulcolax suppository on Tuesday night with another Wednesday morning if there is no success and then do the clear liquid on Wednesday. I also read that you aren't suppose to have any red or purple coloring.

Hi Susie, It's not a silly question at all, I'd be asking the same thing if I didn't have clear instructions. Maybe you want to give your doc's nurse a call Monday a.m. and ask for clarification on your 'prep ritual'. I've been given the HalfLytely Bowel Prep kit, comes with 2 pills and a bottle of stuff to mix up and drink. I noticed the directions said it could be a one or two day prep, my doc chose the one day prep for me. My surgery is Wednesday too, so I begin prep Tuesday. My special 'drink' comes with 3 different flavor packets, lemon-lime, orange and cherry. The nurse also crossed off "Do not drink anything that is red or purple", so that must be up to each physician, I'd definitely ask what your doc's preference is. At 3pm on Tuesday I'm supposed to take the two tablets and then at 5pm I begin drinking the stuff. My menu is short: clear broth, bouillon, consomme, packaged vegetable, chicken or beef broth without any particles of dried seasonings or herbs, gelatin, flavored ices, sugar, honey, sugar substitutes, juices include apple, cranberry and grape (last two are reddish/purple so not sure if you can have those til okay from your doc), sodas like ginger ale, 7-Up, Sprite, seltzer, and cola, Gatorade, black coffee and tea. Specifically excluded, everything else (ha!), nectars, milk, juices with pulp and alcoholic beverages. The nurse told me I should try to get plenty of sugar, since that will be my only source of calories during the day, to prevent being weak and feeling bad. Big HUG to you, good luck with your surgery!

My pre op at the hospital is tuesday. I have no idea if or what preps I'm going to have. I'm very curious now after reading about liquid diets and bowel preps. I guess I will find out.

Wow, I wasn't given any prep instructions other than the standard nothing to eat or drink after midnight. My stomach is extremely nervous today so I'm not eating much anyways, but I don't know if I could deal with the prep, just one more thing for me to stress over. I hope this doesn't interfere with my recovery. Very strange that every doctor has such different instructions.

Best of luck to you and look forward to seeing you on the post-op boards.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabfs Wow, I wasn't given any prep instructions other than the standard nothing to eat or drink after midnight. My stomach is extremely nervous today so I'm not eating much anyways, but I don't know if I could deal with the prep, just one more thing for me to stress over. I hope this doesn't interfere with my recovery. Very strange that every doctor has such different instructions. Best of luck to you and look forward to seeing you on the post-op boards.

Yea I guess every doctor has different instructions. Good luck tomorrow, I will be heading to the castle thursday. See you in post op!!

TabFS,

I didn't have any bowel prep either. I was dumbfounded since he anticipated possible bowel repairs from adhesions (fortunately, there were none.) I asked him at the preop why no bowel prep and he said that data is coming out everyday that shows that the prep can actually cause more problems than good. They all have their own opinions, that's for sure! Just make sure to NEVER do a bowel prep unless the dr. instructs you to. You can, however, eat lightly the day before to make BMs easier afterward.

Good luck!!

CC