IN addition, taking Gas-X, as one poster mentioned yesterday, is a great idea. If you haven't had the surgery yet, take heed. Get busy with the fiber laxatives, the stool softeners & the Gas-X a few days prior, because believe me & everyone else here, you are going to be constipated, full of painful gas and have diarrhea as well. You'll be vomiting a little & have nausea a lot in your early days of recovery.
Personally, I think my decision to pretty much stay unconscious by taking Percocet was the right one. It didn't make me nauseated like Vicodin & I was able to pass through the first two weeks uneventfully. I did drink water (it was August, after all) and broth & jello & every other liquid I was allowed to have & took my supplements faithfully. But I probably slept 16 hours a day, therefore not experiencing the pain all the time.
However, I did NOT take the stool softeners until I became constipated to the point where I was trying to pass a loaf of bread (alias for what was REALLY refusing to pass through me) through that tiny opening. Trying to have just one bowel movement, with all the opium-based painkillers that had constipated me, took me two days & I cried almost constantly as I went to the bathroom to try 100 times. After that, I was converted. Stool softeners make ALL the difference.
Forewarned is forearmed, but 12 years ago, the process was much different. What new patients are getting in their packets would have been helpful to me, but I got through it & live a life of joy & gratitude for it. Don't think anyone is exaggerating when they talk about what will go on with your bowels after the surgery. IT's for real. Ask your doc or nutritionist for corroboration, but get those things we're advising.
Brenda mentioned that she drank that stuff before surgery that allowed her bowels to evacuate. What a brilliant idea. As much as I hate that stuff, having an empty bowel prior to surgery would make your post-surgical experience about 10 times easier. See if it's part of your pre-op preparation and if not, suggest it.
