Don’t you just love free advice? Everyone has an opinion and wants to share it. Marriage advice. Legal advice. Parenting advice. There’s never a shortage of free, unsolicited advice and much of it is totally useless. Well, take heart. Here is some free advice that is worth its weight in gold. The Colon Cancer Alliance compiled a list of free advice about colonoscopy prep and you are the lucky recipient!
Maybe you are getting ready for your very first colonoscopy and you feel nervous or unprepared. Maybe your first colonoscopy prep was a little rough and you would like to have a few more tricks up your sleeve this time around. Or maybe it’s not even time for your baseline colonoscopy, but you just want to read as much as you can so you are ready when your special day arrives! Whatever your reason might be, just enjoy reaping the benefits of someone else’s colonoscopy prep experiences. Here is a little teaser of the complete list from the Colon Cancer Alliance:
The Day Before the Prep
- Eat a large breakfast, small lunch and tiny dinner. The prep day will be so much easier.
- Stop eating meat at least five days before the procedure.
- Go to liquids-only diet at least three days before the prep.
- Write a nice note on your tush to surprise your doc.
On Drinking the Prep
- Drink it cold. Chase it with cold water.
- Don’t mix [the prep] with your favorite drink flavor because you may always associate that flavor with the prep.
- Use a straw to drink any prep…It goes down faster and you don’t really taste it.
- Gummy bears dissolve at body temperature to a clear liquid so they are okay to take with the prep and give you something to eat.
- Stick the prepared prep in the freezer for an hour or two before you drink it.
During the Prep
- WET TOILET PAPER/BABY WIPES. Towards the end, your bum will be pretty sore.
- Don’t let anybody cook anything. You can’t eat, and when you smell food, it makes you so hungry.
- Just drink the prep while on the toilet… you’ll be there for a while!
- Softest toilet paper money can buy!
- Laughter with a friend (whether via phone or in person) during the whole prep! Makes it so much easier!
- Ice, pinch my nose and lots of Preparation H.
Make sure to visit the Colon Cancer Alliance’s 27 Insider Tips and Tricks for Colonoscopy Prep to read more helpful and humorous insight on how to get ready for your colonoscopy. The best part is that all advice is FREE!