Usage - This is my personal diary. You may link other web pages to this post, but you may not re-post or reuse this information without written consent from me.
Disclaimer - I am not medical professional. I am describing my experiences in hopes I may help others facing this cancer.
Week Before Surgery
During the pre-surgery visits covered in Post 4, I was instructed to:
Discontinue all vitamin supplements seven days before surgery. They sometimes contain small amounts of blood thinners. This worried me, because I take Vitamin B-12 sublingual tablets to control anemia – my stomach stopped producing intrinsic factor around year 2002. That factor enables the body to absorb B-12 from the foods we eat.
Discontinue blood thinning medications. I take none.
Discontinue taking NSAIDS (Advil, Ibuprofen, Excedrin, Motrin, Aleve) five days before surgery. They too can thin the blood. Fortunately, I do not need or take these drugs on a regular basis, but I did not take any of them for a week before surgery.
On the day before surgery, I was on a liquid diet, pretty much like the pre-colonoscopy diet. At 2 PM I had to drink a 10-ounce bottle of Magnesium Citrate to purge the bowel. This mixture is available over the counter in most pharmacy sections of drug and grocery stores. We got lemon flavor because it was the only choice. I have not and will not do any research on which flavor is best! Fortunately, this was much less violent than the normal colonoscopy prep.
Day/Night Before Surgery
Drink plenty of non-caffeinated fluids the day before surgery
Bathe with Hibiclens soap the night before surgery. I cannot remember the specific way to use the soap, but I did get instructions. I think I used the soap only (no water) on a clean washcloth).
Nothing to eat/drink after midnight. This includes gum, mints, water, ice, ice chips, etc.
Sleep. Right!