Before the Procedure:

You will have many visits with your doctor and tests before your surgery:

• Complete physical exam
• Visits with your doctor to make sure medical problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart or lung problems, are being treated well

If you are a smoker, you should stop several weeks before the surgery. Your nurse or doctor can help.

Always tell your doctor or nurse what drugs, vitamins, and other supplements you are taking, even ones you bought without a prescription.

During the weeks before your surgery:

• You may be asked to stop taking aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), vitamin E, clopidogrel (Plavix), warfarin (Coumadin), and any other drugs like these.
• Ask your doctor which drugs you should still take on the day of your surgery.
• Sometimes, you may take a special laxative the day before your surgery. This will clean the contents out of your colon.

On the day of your surgery:

• Do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your surgery.
• Take the drugs your doctor told you to take with a small sip of water.
• Your doctor or nurse will tell you when to arrive at the hospital.

After the Procedure:

You will stay in the hospital for about 3 to 4 days.

You will need to stay in bed until the next morning. Afterwards, you will be asked to move around as much as possible. Your nurse will help you change positions in bed, show you exercises to keep blood flowing, and recommend coughing/deep breathing techniques. You should do these every 3 to 4 hours. You may need to wear special compression stockings and use a breathing device to keep your lungs clear.

You will return from surgery with a Foley catheter in your bladder. Some men have a suprapubic catheter in their belly wall to help drain the bladder.