about getting ready for a colonoscopy. Ok, about getting ready for bowel prep. About 18 hours before prep is to begin...depending on your appointment time and doc's rules...they leave out an important pre-prep step.
The doctor or actually the "scheduler" at your g.i. doc will probably give you a long list of do and do n't do instructions when you get your marching (to the bathroom) orders. These involve things like drinking lots of water, not eating red foods and not taking aspirin in the days leading up to your prep. Check your own instructions for your particular doctor's rules.
What they don't tell you to do is this: clean your bathroom. This may seem counterproductive, after all, you may get it a bit messy during prep. (especially if you vomit, some people do) However, cleaning the bathroom, the night before prep, is a very, very important step. You will spend a lot of time in there. You will feel wretched. When you feel wretched, bathroom crud will annoy. Important details: sit on the toilet and look around. Anything you actually see from the toilet should be wiped down or washed. This includes the wall, light switch, toilet paper roller thing, grout lines, door, etc. Nothing like focussing on odd dirt specks while hoping your guts settle down a bit. You will not feel like wiping them while in prep. You should do this important step yourself, do not foist it on some unsuspecting family member, friend, or cleaning lady. You do not want to growl about their housecleaning during prep or during those nice hours after anesthesia when you are not permitted to sign important documents. It isn't nice.
You may also wish to stock magazines for the bathroom at this time. Food magazines are not a good idea. Vegetarian Times=BAD colonoscopy/bowel surgery prep reading. Books likewise=bad colonoscopy prep reading, particularly if they are of the literary type or the sort you have to follow. I have heard that the Uncle John's Readers are good for colonoscopy prep, but have not tried this method. There are also some intriguing toilet seat shaped books at Barnes and Noble that I look at every so often that might be suited for prep. Magazines really do seem to work well for me. Reader's Digest, Entertainment, other sorts of light, non-food reading.
The up side to all of this is: prep is the worst part. Cleaning the bathroom means you will have a clean bathroom and a productive way to spend your time the night before you start prep!
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8 comments:
I hate it when you clean the bathroom.
why do you hate it when she cleans the bathroom??
crossword puzzles have been recommended to me as good bathroom distractions.
hope you've had enough to read in there. thinking about you.
A filled magazine rack should be a normal part of bathroom decorating. Not that I have one now but I did once LOL.
Denise don't you hate it whenever she cleans anything?
We have a magazine rack in the bathroom. We also have one Uncle John reader. In the one we have they break down the book in to sections of how long you plan to be in the bathroom. They have quick reads and longer reads.
Magazines or short stories.
Why did I not realize you were having a bowel resection? I thought they were just going to do the little lump. Do you know how much they expect to remove?
Holding you close in my thoughts. It'll soon be all done & everyone will have to treat you extra-special for days on end! :0)
Skeet-because I didn't know that is actually what they were talking about when they said they would remove the mystery bump laparascopically. They don't seem to want to say the words aloud...only describe it and then write it on the paperwork. As for how much, maybe just a nubbin but it will depend on the extent of the crohn's in the area
Well, any way you look at it, it shouldn't be in excess of two feet (like mine) so you should be back to "normal" pretty quickly (your normal not being perfect, but still ... functional!)
Fingers & toes all crossed & lots of happy-gut thoughts flowing your way.
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