Bowel prep, etc.-THE TRUTH UPFRONT PLEASE!!!!

[Guest guest]

> Why is it that some of you had to do a bowel prep and

> others didn't for the SAME operation?

> And were you informed, in ADVANCE, that this would be

> part of your procedure?

I asked about it in advance and my doc said that bowel prep is only

necessary if there has been previous abdominal surgery. I don't know

if that's his particular practice or more general. I guess? it's

because there may be adhesions to be addressed from previous surgery

that could involve the bowel.

> So, ladies, I am about to have surgery-PLEASE, could

> you share some of the pop surprises that you were

> presented with? I have not had surgery before, so I am

> clueless.

> Thanks, Dawn

I had two surprises: first, an EKG irregularity turned up in my pre-

op testing and on the next-to-last business day before surgery they

were ready to postpone if they couldn't get medical clearance from my

internist saying that this particular irregularity had existed

previously and would have no impact on the surgery. Internist was out

of the office, he was interviewing resident candidates yadayadayada.

My surgeon's office was able to get the head of anesthesiology to

clear me, and at the same time I was able to get a quick referral to

a cardiologist who could explain to me what this was all about (which

no one else could or would). So that was a last-minute panic, let me

tell ya.

Second -- as regular list readers know by now because of the many

times I have posted this story -- my surgeon's office scheduled me to

bank two units of blood, one two weeks before surgery and the second

the week before surgery. Turned out I was anemic for the surgery and

no one knew it because this second unit was taken after the pre-op

tests. I ended up in the recovery unit for 8 hours rather than the

typical 1 hour, because my blood pressure would not go back up to

normal and it took that long for everybody to figure out what was

going on. And they had exacerbated it initially by pumping extra

fluids, which only diluted the blood I had (the big concern with low

blood pressure after surgery is internal bleeding, though nobody

really thought that was happening since I was alert, feeling well,

etc. -- but it's a real concern). Irony is that I had virtually no

blood loss during the surgery itself and the blood banking was

probably unnecessary -- they ended up giving me back my own blood,

thank you very much.

One of the post-op surprises was that urinating felt different. At

first, the stream would stop and start and I would know I had to go

but there was no " urge. " Hard to explain. The nurses said this is

normal. It's probably due to nerves that numb out as a result of the

surgery and then come back later. Now, at 4 months, things feel more

normal again.

Best of luck to you! I had never had major surgery either. It went

fine and I'm sure yours will too.

Sunny

[Guest guest]

I did not have the bowel prep when I had my myo 2 months ago, and I had

a cesarean section done 18 yrs ago. It may be depending on doctors

particular practice?

Jackie

[Guest guest]

I had a myo in August 1998 and I also had to do a bowel prep. It was not much

fun at all. My surgeon wanted me squeaky clean! I think it was because he was

going to be removing many, and wasn't sure excatly where they were (inside,

outside, etc.). I think he wanted to keep his options open for anything, and

make sure there was room to manuever.

Now I have been told to have a hyst. because I have new ones, and they are

rapidly growing. I'm only 36 and don't really want to have a hyst., though I'm

also not planning on having children. It's something about my not wanting to

part with my organs. So I am in the process of seeking second, third, fourth

opinions...