Before surgery/procedure the hospital usually requires you to change your diet. This may not apply to all surgeries but it does apply to laparoscopy and anything bowel related such as a colonoscopy. The diet is known as low residue or low fibre, anything below 2g fibre.
I found it a little difficult to find a list of foods I can eat that was straightforward especially because the pre-op team wouldn't return my calls (that's a whole other story!). The information online was all over the place for my brain and I just wanted a simple little 'eat this' list.
Here's that list from someone who's allergic to a lot, eats baby food because it's gentle on your stomach and isn't a fan of soup + a generic list:
Cereal
Madeira cake
Clear juice
Jelly
Rice pudding
Melon
Baby apple squeezy
Baby banana custard
Biscuits - rich tea, custard creams, wafers, crackers, anything plain
Gluten free white buns and flatbread
Peppermint tea
White pasta (you need to eat anything white as it's low fibre, e.g. white rice, white bread etc)
Chicken (you can have meat, eggs and fish but I don't eat anything other than chicken due to allergies and cholesterol issues and general dislike)
Tofu
Potatoes without skin
Nothing with seeds or skin including vegetables
Melon, bananas, plum, apple, pears, peaches
Smoothies - no pulp or bits
Yogurts, milk and cheese
Ice cream, chocolate, milkshakes
Sauces - Worcester, tomato, brown, mustard, white, gravy, marmite, mayo, vinegar, salad
Personally, for my surgery, I was asked to stop eating at 8am the day before to start bowel prep and during this day I can take coffee and tea without milk, jelly, apple and orange juice, squash and clear soup (again, I'm not a fan but I do keep some soup with me so I have some type of food in me). This can continue until 2am the day of the surgery but between 2am and 6am I can only drink water.
It is important to remain hydrated up until 6am. I hate the taste of bowel prep so I mix in lemon squash and it really helps. Remember to take sips of water in between to help with the taste and for hydration.
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