# HalfLytely - anyone??



## AnnMarie (Mar 1, 2008)

Okay, so I have to do this tomorrow starting at 2pm... and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the flavors? I'm going to mix it before bed tonight so it can get cold in the fridge, but I'm torn between the orange and lemon-lime. 

I'm leaning toward orange... but I thought I might get lucky and have some first hand accounts from previous users. 

I'm not looking forward to this at all.


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## Friday (Mar 1, 2008)

You'd think that they could at least make it margarita flavor.


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## AnnMarie (Mar 1, 2008)

No kidding! It comes with a cherry packet too, but that sounded sickening to me, and I'm not supposed to have anything red or purple at all... I figure it could be colorless, but I don't want to mess up anything, so I'm staying away from it.


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## Friday (Mar 1, 2008)

Can we mix it with al-ki-hol?

No? Well it was a thought.

Prep is always the worst part of the whole circus.


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Mar 1, 2008)

Is this the saline stuff I had to take before I had a colonoscopy???

Before my operation I only had to fast from 6pm the night before.


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

Nope, the over the counter stuff, magnesium citrate or an oral saline laxative, is I guess the fairly normal prep, but this is the prep people have before a colonoscopy and my surgeon ordered it for me. I guess it actually reduces the size of your bowel so there is more room in there. 

It's a prescription - 2 pills, then after your first "activity" you drink an 8 oz glass of this stuff every 10 mins until it's gone. If you don't have activity within 6 hours, you start the drinks anyway. I guess the cleansing can continue for up to 2 hours after the last drink. 

FUN!


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## Friday (Mar 2, 2008)

Why all the prep? They aren't doing anything with your colon are they? They made me not eat for 12 hours pre-surgery when they took mine out because they don't want to risk nausea and vomiting, but why the colon cleanse?


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Mar 2, 2008)

Brace yourself AM that stuff is foul. Take deep breaths once you get it down you don't want to throw it up.


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

I actually have no idea, but I know the size has given pause to everyone I've talked to at the hospital and offices, so maybe they need as much room as possible to get the best chance of success with the laparoscopic method. Just not sure to be honest.


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## Friday (Mar 2, 2008)

Good response. I never thought of that but it makes total sense. It was not applicable in my case since lap. wasn't even an option, so it fits. It would be nice if they thought to be a little more explanatory about the reasoning behind the more unpleasant aspects of the whole thing. We're big girls, we can handle it.

Maybe it would help control my 'I don't want to and you can't make me' attitude. Or not.


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## Leesa (Mar 2, 2008)

:blink: As I remember my gall bladder surgery, that awful drink was MUCH worse than the operation. :blink:


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

Leesa said:


> :blink: As I remember my gall bladder surgery, that awful drink was MUCH worse than the operation. :blink:



hahah, thanks Leesa, at least I'll know much of the worst is over when I finish it up!


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## Friday (Mar 2, 2008)

Now that I think about it, I remember an enema the morning of surgery...not my finest hour. I'm not sure which would be worse. Sprained dignity can be extremely painful but is rarely dangerous. Explosive bowel action? Don't even want to go there. :doh:


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

hahah... ok, I definitely would rather suffer at home, in private.


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## Friday (Mar 2, 2008)

Point.....:bow:


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

Hey... wow, this sucks!

Terrible taste, terrible effects, just... yeah, not fun. 

And the flavor?? HA!!!

You can only smell it, not taste it. 

It's a tough call, but I think I'd rather have Bari-Cat right now. 

GOD.


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## moore2me (Mar 2, 2008)

I don't think it matters what flavor you pick. They all are pretty much poor imitations of something that tastes good. But we must do this thing, so buck up and drink the swill. The drink and the laxatives and the clear liquid diet are to make sure your lower intestinal tract is free from things that will obscure vision during the test. No red koolaid or popsciles because they are also looking for blood leaks too. But mainly, they want the lower GI to be clean of fecal matter and all that prep is to roto root so to speak. 

They will be blowing gas into you once you are put in a twilight state to plump up and straighten out your intestinal coils. Once the colonoscopy is thru you will spend the next several hours tooting and passing this gas out of your lower intestines. 

But, it is all worth the temporary hardships if it keeps you from dying from colon cancer.


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

moore2me said:


> I don't think it matters what flavor you pick. They all are pretty much poor imitations of something that tastes good. But we must do this thing, so buck up and drink the swill. The drink and the laxatives and the clear liquid diet are to make sure your lower intestinal tract is free from things that will obscure vision during the test. No red koolaid or popsciles because they are also looking for blood leaks too. But mainly, they want the lower GI to be clean of fecal matter and all that prep is to roto root so to speak.
> 
> They will be blowing gas into you once you are put in a twilight state to plump up and straighten out your intestinal coils. Once the colonoscopy is thru you will spend the next several hours tooting and passing this gas out of your lower intestines.
> 
> But, it is all worth the temporary hardships if it keeps you from dying from colon cancer.



I'm actually doing it for a surgical prep, not a colonoscopy, but thank you.


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## Miss Vickie (Mar 2, 2008)

Oooh, AM, you poor dear. That stuff is nasty. I had to take it for one of my surgeries a long time ago. It was nastypants. I'm not sure what kind of surgery you're having but if they think there's any chance they're going to "nick" your bowel they want it all clean as a whistle, just in case. When I had my RNY I was afraid I'd have to have it because many WLS docs order it but fortunately my guy was "old school" and didn't make me have it. It's usually one of those "just in case" kinds of things unless they are operating on your bowel and then it makes perfect sense.

Best of luck with your surgery, and take your pain meds!!!


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## AnnMarie (Mar 2, 2008)

Miss Vickie said:


> Oooh, AM, you poor dear. That stuff is nasty. I had to take it for one of my surgeries a long time ago. It was nastypants. I'm not sure what kind of surgery you're having but if they think there's any chance they're going to "nick" your bowel they want it all clean as a whistle, just in case. When I had my RNY I was afraid I'd have to have it because many WLS docs order it but fortunately my guy was "old school" and didn't make me have it. It's usually one of those "just in case" kinds of things unless they are operating on your bowel and then it makes perfect sense.
> 
> Best of luck with your surgery, and take your pain meds!!!



I was told by the surgeon it would shrink my bowel, giving them more room to maneuver around. I'm having a large ovarian cyst removed, so yeah... being in the same lower abdominal area of the bowel, seems good sense to have it cleaned and ready! Ugh. It's almost over, 2 more glasses to go. 

*shudder* it's really bad. 

Thanks, Vickie.  I know you're a surgery pro with all you've been through lately, so I appreciate the well wishes.


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## moore2me (Mar 2, 2008)

Dear Ann,

Sorry I misunderstood what you were having. Your procedure will be a little more serious - I apologize for being flippant. I took had multiple ovarian cysts removed about 15 years ago. But the doctor (a woman) and I decided they were so big, and I was so fat and 40ish (multiple surgical risk factors) that she would go ahead and take out the whole ovaries & tubes. Instant menapause.

But, I do remember the prep and it was worse than the colonoscopy prep (if that is possible). Miss Vickie is right tho, good drugs are the best thing to get thru all this and don't be shy in asking (or demanding) them. I'll be thinking and praying for you tomorrow. Good luck and may the force be with you.


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## D_A_Bunny (Mar 2, 2008)

I had to drink that stuff in 1996 and I STILL remember how nasty it was. Of course, the nasty nurses did not chill it for me which is supposed to make it a little better. Of course, my thought was, how do you make the Hudson River taste better?
Sorry for anyone that ever has to drink this stuff. You would think that in this day and age that somehow they would find a way to make this crap palatible?

*shuddering at the memory of her Hudson River experience*


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## Miss Vickie (Mar 2, 2008)

AnnMarie said:


> I was told by the surgeon it would shrink my bowel, giving them more room to maneuver around. I'm having a large ovarian cyst removed, so yeah... being in the same lower abdominal area of the bowel, seems good sense to have it cleaned and ready! Ugh. It's almost over, 2 more glasses to go.



Oooh, I had one of those, too. (What HAVEN'T I had?) I was pregnant with my middle child and they had to remove the cyst without hurting the baby. It worked just fine but since I was pregnant they couldn't do it laparoscopically. That was probably the surgery that required the bowel prep. I'm with you -- nasty, nasty stuff. But you'll feel much better after that cyst is GONE. They can hurt like the devil.



> Thanks, Vickie.  I know you're a surgery pro with all you've been through lately, so I appreciate the well wishes.



Hey, no problem. Good luck with everything and take it easy. And let me add to the admonition of pain meds to think about a stool softener, too, 'cause those narcotics can make having a BM a real adventure.  Better not to wait to get constipated or it'll feel like having a baby.


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## Risible (Mar 2, 2008)

moore2me said:


> I don't think it matters what flavor you pick. They all are pretty much poor imitations of something that tastes good. But we must do this thing, so buck up and drink the swill. The drink and the laxatives and the clear liquid diet are to make sure your lower intestinal tract is free from things that will obscure vision during the test. No red koolaid or popsciles because they are also looking for blood leaks too. But mainly, they want the lower GI to be clean of fecal matter and all that prep is to roto root so to speak.
> 
> They will be blowing gas into you once you are put in a twilight state to plump up and straighten out your intestinal coils. Once the colonoscopy is thru you will spend the next several hours tooting and passing this gas out of your lower intestines.
> 
> But, it is all worth the temporary hardships if it keeps you from dying from colon cancer.



A couple things I remember from my gallbladder lap surgery was the pre-surgery enema shocked, and waking up with my belly distended from the intra-abdominal gas they used to inflate the abdominal cavity. In fact, the majority of my post-surgery discomfort came from that gas.

It did abate pretty quickly though, and I was discharged a few hours after the surgery. Went home - and ate. Scrambled eggs and buttered toast - :eat2:

Good luck tomorrow, AM. I'll be thinking about you.


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## Jes (Mar 3, 2008)

I think this post should be on the Foodee board. That stuff sounds DEELISH!


ugh. My parents have told me about this stuff, and the great leveler of health is that we will all, at some point, be forced to go through it. My hope is that I don't have to 'til I'm old, at which point medical procedures will happen using magic powers.


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## SocialbFly (Mar 5, 2008)

Hope the surgery goes smoothly, sending good thoughts your way AM


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## AnnMarie (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks folks... surgery is over, now it's just recovering... time and rest.


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