Hello,
Is you pre-op or your procedure on 11th?
You don't need to prepare for the pre-op, that will just be a million questions and a blood test.
For the procedure, make sure you drink plenty of fluids and take ducasate. The hospital might say 2 a day but you can actually take 2 twice a day if required to get your movement soft. You don't want it to be runny, but the softer it is the easier it will be to pass and the less you will need to strain. I use a 750ml bottle to drink from and made sure I emptied it twice a day plus a glass of water with each meal.
I prepared for mine by having homemade smoothies everyday for a week before (and several weeks after) with flax seed, pumpkin seeds and goji berries to increase soluble fibre in my diet. I also bought liquid iron supplements to try and help me not be so tired from the blood loss.
The other thing that really helped me was getting a sitz bath. It's like a child's toilet seat with a sold bottom that you can put in the toilet and fill with hot salty water after each bowel movement. It keeps keep it clean and is really soothing. I'd have one at least 4 times a day even without a bowel movement.
Also buy a child's toilet step or use something similar (I had a little pouffe) to raise your feet when you have a bowel movement. Lean forward and try not to strain at all as this will minimalise pain and straining for a fast recovery.
Buy some special incontinence wipes to clean yourself rather than using tissue. It does a better job, keeps it clean and is much less painful.
Also get some thick incontinence pads. This will help keep it dry, stop and leaks as you will spot blood for a couple of weeks and it will also help pad your bottom for comfort.
I also bought a doughnut inflatable cushion which helped on my journey home going over speed bumps etc when I left the hospital but it was embarrassing to take around and also put pressure on my bottom. I then got a cheap aeroplane neck cushion with polystyrene balls in it and used this to sit on. It was really useful to take out and about too.
Lastly, get a hot water bottle. It helped me relax if I had a bowel movement right before bed.
You'll probably get paracetamol, ibuprofen and dyhydrocodeine from the hospital. The dyhydrocodeine causes constipation so try to take it for as little time as you can. It also causes nausea for the first day or so and I found I struggled to eat much for a day or two. The amount of ibuprofen you need can cause stomach problems so I ordered gastrozyme from nutri-link to stop the effects. It makes your stools green so don't be alarmed!
Lastly, I prepared a few meals and put them in the freezer. I got an organic chicken and roasted it then put the carcass (not stripped too much) in the slow cooker for 24 hours with a few drops of cider vinegar to help break it down. I then strain out the bones added onion, carrots, some of the chicken, Rosemary, thyme and a little potato and let it cook for a few more hours then cooled it, blended half of it and dropped it back it then portioned it up in old soup pots and stuck it in the freezer. The bone broth is supposed to be really good for healing but also it was easy to eat, easy to prepare afterwards, easy on the stomach, easy to pass and fairly bland so still edible if you feel nauseous.
Also, stewed apples with live yogurt and a big spoon of flax seed is a tasty treat and easy to eat etc.
In terms of exercise, I didn't do much but found I could walk for about 30 minutes daily. This helped with bowel movements too. I walked 2 hours on one day about 10 days after and found this too much but I'm sure everyone is different.
I know this is a lot of stuff and can sound like a lot of work but it isn't really and helped me so much. There are many horror stories on here and it's true that it's not a nice experience but I haven't suffered anywhere near as much as some of the people on here and my bleeding stopped after 2 weeks which is pretty good.
I'm now 4 weeks post op and feel pretty good although I'm still tired and a bit slow, but I've had daily bowel movements (apart from one day post op) and I seem to be healing well.
Good luck and let me know how you get on.