Fleet Bowel Prep Kit #1

OK--I had my pre-op 2/18 and the doctor said I have to do this the night before--can anyone tell me what to expect? I am so scared.

I can't tell you what to expect, but please know that I am there with you. I have to do a bowel prep prior to my surgery as well. I have to use magnisium citrate the day before and an enema both the night before and the morning of. Oh, joy. I was told that for the magnisum citrate, I should stay near a throne. All day. Yipee. As for the enema, from what I read, just follow the directions and then you should have to "go" within 1 - 5 minutes. I feel for you!

Hi, just be near a bathroom after you do the prep. It may take anywhere from a half hour to 3 full hours. Mine started right away. Good luck! It really isn't all that bad, just be near a bathroom, like I said s

ok so I'm a little confused, everyone keeps talking about special drinks and enemas to prepare for surgery. I already had my pre-op and no one mentioned it.

I am having aTVH as well as major bowel,bladder& perineum repair on Friday. Do they just do things different in Canada?

I don't know. I am having a colon resection along with my TAH/BSO. That means they will have to remove a section of my colon and then reconnect it. My doc said I have to be completely cleaned out because it would be bad if stool were introduced into the abdommen. I am no doc, but it makes sense to me!

Well now I'M confused too. Is the Fleet Bowel Prep Kit #1 entirely different than a Fleet enema or what?

Hey, this is the LAST thing I am buying-after work on my way home Thursday. Gee. Do I need to look at these things at the store first? The dr. just said every drug store has them and that was the end of the enema discussion.

Excuse my ignorance. I didn't realize there are numbered prep kits and all that. I was just told I didn't have to drink the gallon jug of stuff and to get a couple Fleet enemas for Thurs. p.m. and Fri a.m. (I get to get up at 4:00 a.m. for the Fri. one - oh goody.)

Thanks for the answers, all.

My doctor just said "you need to do a bowel prep" and then listed the things I needed and when. He didn't call it by a number as in ayers98's post. I think it depends on what type of surgery you are having and your doctor.
to you all!

I had to do the Fleets Phosphorsoda prep - it's a 3 ounce bottle and I had to drink half at 4 pm the night before and the other half at 8 pm - each time I mixed it with ginger ale. It took about 90 minutes to kick into gear from the 4 pm dose, and after that there was constant flushing of my system until the last b.m. at about 1 am....and I had eaten very light that day and with no dinner!

It was a bit rough - you need to be v. close to a bathroom, as it gives you very little time to get there. You think that there can be no more but there always was! Also, get some super soft toilet tissue. I also found that having some Tuck's pads helped, and some cream like A&D Ointment was very welcome after about the 10th time of going to the bathroom.

For me, it was the worst part of the whole ordeal, but now that it's over it doesn't really seem so bad.

I think that different docs require different things.

Puzzler, I had your exact same assignment before my LSH. There is a kit that comes with 2 disposable enemas and that's the one you want (so to speak ). I didn't notice a particular # on it, but I was to do one the night before and one the morning of, so I bought the Fleet kit that had 2.

The one I did Thursday night was not super productive. I lay on the bathroom floor and just waited. I never felt an overwhelming urge, but did manage something eventually. The Friday morning 4:00 am one actually was pretty bad. I don't think I had anything left to come out. So I held it in for about 10 minutes. I do not recommend this!! Nothing but water came out and it gave me terrible gas pains. I hurt so bad that I wasn't sure I'd be able to go to the hosp! Now that I think of it, this may have been the most painful part of the surgery! My DH had to help me walk bent over to the car and I groaned the whole way to the hosp. I seriously thought the surgery would be called off. But, the nice nurse covered me with lots of warm blankets and I felt *much* better.

So...uh...I think we all react differently. You are supposed to feel an urge in 3-5 minutes if I remember correctly. I'm so neurotic that I had a clock down on the floor with me. That's how I know I held it in for 10 minutes the second time.

If you don't feel an urge that second time, assume your good to go! Learn from my mistake .

Ah, the indignities of it all

Good luck, everyone!



Margot

LOL Terri, you are NOT ignorant I feel that way sometimes too.
There are so many 'enema' like preps out on the market. The soda, the enemas, etc. I guess there are different kits as well. All physicians do it all different obviously. Did your doc give you a specific piece of paper with which bowel prep to use? Mine did, so I just followed the instructions to a T. The thing with the buffered Fleet phospho - soda, is that it was a "smooth ride" if ya know what I mean, no irritation at all.
Best wishes to you! I just remember last week, I mixed it with Gatorade and within 10 minutes it started working, and so on, and so on, and so on LOL
I agree, ah the indignities of it all!