Food and drink advice before op please

Hello Ladies, what a really good site except I haven't found any advice about what to eat or drink in the weeks before the op. I'm not sure if I'll be having a hysterectomy yet, Dr's appointment is fixed for next week.
I have a large ovarian cyst and I'm post menopause so I really don't know what will be decided, but it would seem that the cyst isn't malignant as it didn't come up through the blood tests, but I'm trying to prepare for the possible scenario.
So any advice about pre op diet and exercise would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Hello Darlinge,
I was allowed to eat all the things that I would normally eat in the weeks before my TAH. The day before is when I had to start preparing. Nothing to eat after a certain time of day and to drink a "special" prescription drink that totally cleans you out!!! And unless exercise causes you pain I don't see where it would hurt you. It more than likely would help you. Good Luck and I wish you well.

Darlinge,

A day or 2 before surgery you should eat rather light, just to help your body prepare for surgery. Also, drink lots of water. This helps with getting the IV and keeping your kidneys and bladder moving.... which is what you will need to do once the catheter is removed.

At a pre-op appt, they will give you instructions on what medications or vitamins you may need to cease. For example, they told me not to take iron or any NSAIDs 7 days before surgery.

My surgery was the day after Christmas, and I was concerned about how my body would handle Christmas dinner. I didn't have to do any bowel prep, and I'm happy to say that everything was fine. I prepared our big dinner for early afternoon and ate a light meal in the evening.

In general, the most important thing is to eat as nutritiously as possible to provide a foundation for the best recovery possible.

Drs usually will not advise a certain diet before, except for any preop instruction. That said, I would eat HEALTHY, fiber rich foods that keep you moving well, lots of vitamin C rich foods, drink all your water to avoid dehydration, avoid alcohol for a week before, keep exercise up if possible.

Good luck!!

I was not on any food restriction at all before my surgery. I was told to eat normally the day before my surgery too, just nothing after midnight.
I was given a list of vitamins and meds to stop ahead of time. I had no at home bowel prep.

I think that if your dr has not given you any orders, just eating healthily is a good idea.

I am usually pretty active and just stayed that way pre-op too.

Dear Everyone,
who was kind enough to anwer thanks so much for your replies. I'll try and follow the very down to earth common sense advice given. For the moment don't know which op nor when so I'm just trying to prepare it in my head and the rest in advance!
Many thanks for your advice and I'll be back again soon
Bye for now