2 silly questions

1) i feel like i'm starting to get a head cold (either that or its' allergies which is entirely possible).  With surgery in 5 days i'm wondering what i can take that still meets my liquid diet guidelines of no sugar and no solids.

2) for the women:  my period is due around surgery day.  should i notify my surgeon prior to that day or don't they really care?  anyone have experience with this?  :)  sorry for tmi.

As for your first question, taking medication while your on a liquid diet is usually not a problem.  As for the sugar, unless you are drinking bottles of the stuff you should be fine.  I would definately consult with the office on Monday, but until then I would take medications to get healthier quicker.

Good luck!

Regular meds should be fine for your allergies or colds, just stick to the no aspirin, no NSAIDs (bleeding risk).. but decongestants and antihistamines should be fine.. on the period issue- they don't care. I had mine for surgery, no biggie. Bring your own pads or other needs.

They generally like to know, particularly if you have any kind of fever, productive cough or anything else that concerns the anesthesiologist in particular and the surgeon in general - the better health you are in going into surgery the better. Let them know what's going on and let them decide. I started feeling a cold coming on a few days ahead but it didn't go anywhere and the fever never got very high so they were fine with it.

You should be able to take cold or allergy meds.

As far as your period, I agree with what Jo said.  Just tell the nurse in the pre-op area to let her know, and then take your own pads/tampons with you to the hospital -- you really don't want to use theirs.  Use tampons on the day of surgery because they will make you take your underwear off for surgery, and you might need to have a catheter.   But, otherwise it doesn't matter.

The same thing happened to me, and I did not need to have a catheter, but you never know.  The anesthesiologist asked me to get up to void right before they took me back to the OR, so it all worked out okay.

 Try using a nasal wash kit. I am prone to sinusitis and head colds. If you use it in the early stages, it really helps to lesson the effects and wash away the allergen or irritant.  

Just don't take any pain meds for the period and the rest should be fine.

I started the morning of my surgery! They made me take the tampon out and tuck one of their nasty HUGE pads between my legs into the operating room and I had to use them for my entire stay in the hospital. I only brought tampons with me so, please go buy your own pads. It was the most disgusting feeling!