No bowel prep?

First of all thank you for your encouraging replies for my 'fear of dying' post recently. I kinda feel silly... It just seems like the universe has it lined up that way.. My son will turn 18 on Tuesday... Etc. I am trying to be positive by preparing for all that I have to do AFTER I am out of surgery.
My surgery is this Friday... I'm really getting nervous..
I have been reading many posts about bowel prep. My doctor did not order one. Is there a reason some do and some don't? Is one or the other safer?

Bowel prep is simply a surgeon's preference. You absolutely must follow your doctor's orders. If no bowel prep was ordered please do not do one.

I had no bowel prep ordered for my surgery and everything was just fine.

My dr said it really isnt necessary....to just eat lightly a couple days before...and then normal anesthesia rules 8 hours before.

Thanks for the info.

My doctor didn't order one either. Thank goodness! Lol He said I could do normal whatever up until midnight before surgery. After looking through the posts here, I decided to have a light meal and cut myself off at 7 pm for my own peace of mind. I did have a glass of wine and that helped me to relax. I asked beforehand though and my doc had no restrictions on alcohol as long as it wasn't after midnight. It is kind of odd the differences among doctors. I feel bad for those ladies who have to suffer through the bowel prep!

im having surgery this Tuesday , and I to understand your nerves . my doctor ordered me to be on a clear liquid diet all day . he said the reason being is so the intestins would be deflated when operating and would not push on they organs he was trying to remove . I asked about bowel prep he said as long as I was on a clear liquid diet for 24 hours there would be know need for a bowel prep and that it just over works the digestive system . and they really don't have time to relax before surgery and can lead to more pain then needed during recovery . good luck to you on Friday ..

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayci47 First of all thank you for your encouraging replies for my 'fear of dying' post recently. I kinda feel silly... It just seems like the universe has it lined up that way.. My son will turn 18 on Tuesday... Etc. I am trying to be positive by preparing for all that I have to do AFTER I am out of surgery. My surgery is this Friday... I'm really getting nervous.. I have been reading many posts about bowel prep. My doctor did not order one. Is there a reason some do and some don't? Is one or the other safer?

I didn't have any bowel prep either, and after reading some of the posts I thank my lucky stars. My orders were to stop food at midnight, no liquids after 3am and my surgery was at 7:15am. Everything was just fine. when I asked him about it, my doc said bowel prep isn't necessary.

I didn't have or need bowel prep. My dr did encourage me to eat lightly the day before.

I would encourage you to have some good fiber the day before (not stuff that makes you gassy though) and if your doctor agrees, colace or other stool softener. That first BM is a doozy.

My dr said the biggest reason I need the bowel prep is because I have had abdominal radiation and there may be some organ fushion and if so anything in my bowels could leak if it tears so they are being extra cautious.

Be thankful you didn't have one! I think my doc hates me, I had to drink 2 today!!!! Best of luck on your surgery!!

Megan