Consulting Surgeons

BOWEL PREPARATION FOR COLON SURGERY

Name:

Operation:

Date of Surgery:

Your colon operation requires that the inside of the bowel is clean, so that the bowel ends may be sewn together safely. The process of bowel preparation involves several steps, and is designed to effectively remove the stool from your bowels and to reduce the amount of bacteria present. Please read these instructions very carefully as this preparation is of critical importance to the success of the operation.

Items you will need (from a pharmacy of your choice):

Your antibiotics:

Step One (two days before surgery):
Beginning two days before surgery, you must restrict your diet to clear liquids only. This includes most fruit juices with no pulp (such as apple, grape, cranberry and prune), carbonated soda, Jell-O, low fat bouillon, and popsicles. You may also have hard candy. Common liquids that are NOT permitted include milk, orange juice and chicken noodle soup. In general, any liquid which contains no solid elements, and that you can see through is acceptable including Gatorade.

Step Two (the day before surgery)
There are two major things which happen on the day before surgery; cleansing the bowels with Fleet Phospho-Soda and taking oral antibiotics

  1. Cleansing the bowels
    This involves drinking Fleet Phospho-Soda, an agent that washes out your intestines. Drink 1 (1.5 oz) bottle at 7 a.m. Repeat at 1 p.m. Refer to "How to Take Fleet Phospho-Soda" for more instructions. You should stay close to the bathroom because you will have diarrhea! It is all right to drink some juice in between drinking the Fleet. At this time, your bowel movements should be yellow in color, and mostly clear, with no formed stool present. Important: If you still have formed stool after taking all the Fleet, you must contact our office for further instructions.
  2. Taking the oral antibiotics Once your bowels are clean on the inside, the prescribed antibiotics will eliminate most of the remaining bacteria from your intestines. Finally, take the last dose of each antibiotic with a small sip of water.

Step Three (night before surgery):
Please do not have anything to eat or drink after midnight! This includes even water. If you need to take any medications, you may have a sip of water to swallow the pills. You may be instructed by the pre-admission testing nurse to take your usual medication on the morning of surgery. A preadmission testing nurse will call you before surgery with additional instructions.

Special Instructions:
You may be given Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory, to take the morning of surgery with a sip of water

Questions?
You may call our office at any time if you have questions or concerns about the bowel preparation. Our phone number is 708-579-0018. Sue x23, Lee x24 or Janet x31 will be happy to address your problems and if necessary contact your surgeon. One of the doctors is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for any problems.

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Fleet®

PHOSPHO-SODA,

BOWEL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS
READ CAREFULLY. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED DOSAGE AS SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS MAY OCCUR. (SEE PACKAGE FOR OTHER IMPORTANT WARNINGS.)

Clear Liquids Diet List

Beverages:

Soups:

Desserts:

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