Rectocele repair without bowel prep????

Hi,
I am having surgery Monday the 19th. TVH, rectocele and bladder sling. I went yesterday to see my Gyno for pre-op. Someone made a mistake! I was sent a letter to see her and she wasn't there. They had made an appointment with some Doc I never met! I didn't get to see him either.
Anyhoo, I didn't get to talk to her pre-op. I was told at pre-op not to eat or drink after 12. Has anyone had rectoclele repair without a bowl prep? Were you allowed to eat up til midnight?
Thanks
Dee

Me! The rule was nothing after midnight. They asked me the next morning when I last had a BM. As I had gone as n ormal that morning, nothing else was done to me.
I ate as normal the day before.

Same pre-op rules for me as well with a SAH, bladder sling and rectocele repair!

One thing I did tho' was to avoid real gas making foods the day before....and alcohol for a few days before the op. I wasn't told to.

My mom was very constipated previous to having her rectocele repair. They didn't do a bowel prep for her, then discovered a tear in her rectum during surgery and stitched it up. When she finally had a BM after surgery, she tore those stitches and ended up with a colostomy for 3 months while waiting for new stitches to heal. I don't want to scare you, but she should have had an empty colon before surgery. If you don't have a constipation problem, it's probably not a deal. Talk with a doctor about it.

Hi

If you weren't told to do a bowel prep, please don't. If you're concerned call the DR and ask. It can be a real problem during surgery if you have done a bowel prep when you weren't instructed to. We had a member who did an unordered bowel prep and wound up in ICU in dehydration shock, as the bowel preps do dehydrate the body.

Best wishes, and remember, when in doubt call your own DR and follow his/her instructions.

I always thought the reason for the bowel prep is to protect you incase they nick your intestines during surgery. They don't want any bile running free in your body because you can run the risk of an infection.

I know each doc is different, but last September when I was going to have the myomectomy I had been in the hospital all week and the day, into the morning of the surgery I had really bad diahrea. They wanted me to do a bowel prep eventhough I had the diahrea and hadn't eaten after midnight the night before. But because the OR became available earlier than they thought they didn't have time for me to do it. Which I must admit I was very happy about! I did have to do a bowel prep before my hyst, and I didn't have any repairs.

Mary Ellen

i didn't have a bowel prep before my surgery but i was so nervous that i kept going to the bathroom before being called back. good luck to you on monday!!

Thank you all soooo much I won't do any unathorized bowel preps but, I do plan on drinking some prune juice to clean me out a little. I have a horrible time with constipation Was that too much info??? LOL!!!
Thank you ladies again! I don't know what I would do without this board. It helped prepare me for the surgery.
Hugs to all us girlies
Dee

I found it very helpful to drink plenty of water...in the days before surgery and a lot afterwards. That helps BMs amongst other things!!