It's REALLY important that you fill in your booking forms online. Do this at LEAST a week out from your procedure.

This is how the hospital knows who you are, and that you are coming to have a procedure.

If you don't do this, they won't register that you are coming, and won't know to contact you.

Your procedure will be at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse:

The lifehouse booking form link is sent by SMS to your phone when the booking is first made (along with the consent). Please look for them, and fill them both in. If you can not find the lifehouse form please let us know.

We can't do a procedure without a completed consent form.

You should have completed your consent form with your booking form in Step 1.

If you're not on weight loss drugs, blood thinners, or diabetes medications you can skip this step

Weight loss drugs

Weight loss drugs (GLP-1 drugs) - [Ozempic, Wegovy, Trulicity, Victoza, Saxenda, Mounjaro, Semaglutide, Liraglutide, Dulaglutide, Tirzepatide]:

Make sure you have a 24 HOUR CLEAR LIQUID diet prior to your test.

Blood thinning drugs

Blood thinners other than aspirin (anticoagulants/antiplatelet drugs) - [warfarin (Coumadin, Marevan), apixaban (Eliquis, Apibax), dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa), rivaroxaban (Xarelto), heparin, enoxaparin (Clexane), dalteparin (Fragmin), nadroparin (Fraxiparine), fondaparinux (Arixtra), danaparoid (Orgaran), bivalirudin (Angiomax), clopidogrel (Plavicor, Plavix, Iscover, Piaxa), ticagrelor (Brilinta), dipyridamole (Persantin), abciximab (ReoPro), eptifibatide (Integrilin), tirofiban (Aggrastat)]:

Click here to notify us! We will direct your email to your doctor at Alfred Gastro, and they will sort out a plan (often this involves speaking to the doctors who prescribed your blood thinners). We will try to do this really quickly, but sometimes, getting hold of people can take a while, and we need to put safety first and delay the procedure in order to get things right.

Diabetes medications

(we will go through these separately as there are lots of different types, each with different instructions!)

SGLT 2 inhibitors - [Dapagliflozin, Forxiga, Empagliflozin, Jardiance, Ertugliflozin, Steglatro, Xigduo XR, Jardiamet, Glyxambi, Segluromet, Steglujan,  Qtern]: Stop these drugs 3 days prior to your test, and monitor your blood sugar levels closely.

Metformin - [Diabex, Diaformin, Metex, Glucophage, Formet]: Stop these drugs the day before your procedure (when you start your preparation).

Sulfonylureas - [Glibenclamide, Daonil, Glimel, Gliclazide, Diamicron, Glyade, Nidem, Gliclazide MR, Diamicron MR, Oziclide MR, Glimepiride, Amaryl, Aylide, Diapride, Dimirel, Glipizide, Minidiab, Melizide]: Stop these drugs the day before your procedure (when you start your preparation).

DPP4 and others - [Januvia, sitagliptin, Trajenta, linagliptin, Galvus, vildagliptin, Onglyza, saxagliptin, Nesina, alogliptin, Actos, pioglitazone, Vexazone, pioglitazone]: Stop these drugs the day before your procedure (when you start your preparation).

Insulin: Follow your 'sick day' guidlines. Check your blood sugar levels regularly. Consult with your diabetes educator or insuline prescriber.

Other medications are usually fine, and you can continue taking them. If you have particular concerns, you can let us know.

If you are having a colonoscopy, you will need bowel preparation. Unless you have specifically been told to take a different preparation, you should follow these instructions. Download or view the prep instructions here.

Take care to follow the instructions specific to MORNING or AFTERNOON procedure, appropriate to what time of day you are booked.

If you have significant kidney impairment you will need different instructions.

If you have previously had a failed colonoscopy due to inadequate preparation, you will need a different prep and should let us know now.

If you are not having a colonoscopy or retrograde balloon enteroscopy you do not need a bowel preparation. You will need to have NOTHING TO EAT AND DRINK for 6 hours but can continue to have sips of WATER ONLY until 2 hour prior to your test.

You will receive a pre-operative check phone call from the hospital usually 1-2 business days before your procedure, or if everything looks very straightforward on your booking form, you may just receive a text message. At this time, you will be given the precise time to arrive.

Whilst there is parking beneath both Sydney Day Surgery in the RPA Medical Centre and the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, remember that you will not be able to drive home.

On the day you should arrive at the time you have been given.

Bring something to read as there is lots of waiting around, a bit like at the airport.

Your details will be checked, and you will be given some (more!) forms to fill in and sign related to the hospital claiming from your health fund.

If you have an excess or 'co-payment' with your health fund, this will often be the stage at which you pay your excess/co-payment.

You will be taken into the pre-op area, and given a gown to get changed into.

Toilets will be available.

A pre-op nurse will check your details and go through a health questionnaire.

Then you will meet the anaesthetist and taken to theatre. Sedation will be administered and then your procedure will be performed.

Afterwards you will wake up in a recovery area, where staff will make sure you recover safely, and you will be given something to eat and can change back into your normal clothes.

We will contact the person you have coming to pick you up, and make sure that you leave safely accompanied by them.

My medication is not listed in step 3 above - can I keep taking it? Generally speaking yes. You can email us if you would like to triple check.

I can not find my preparation information? It is in Step 4 above.

I do not have anyone to take me home can I still have my test? We can not let someone leave unaccompanied after having had an anaesthetic, so there are 3 choices: 1. We can reschedule 2. You can have the test and stay overnight (at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse only, there's nowhere to stay overnight at Sydney Day Surgery), 3. You can have the test with no anaesthetic.

Can I eat/drink this particular thing whilst preparing for my colonoscopy? It's hard to generate an exhaustive list of foods and drinks. Clear liquids are things that you can see through, so if you can't see through it, then the answer is no.

I have started my colonoscopy preparation and nothing has happened? The effect is extremely variable. It may be many hours before the preparation kicks in. Keep drinking lots of fluid and walking around the house.

The preparation has started working but what is coming out is not clear yet? This happens occasionally, about 3% of people do not achieve the desired result (and it's not their fault - we know that!). If you have an extra sachet of preparation available, you can take this, or if it's day time, you could arrive earlier than your booking time at the hospital and we can try to give you some more preparation. Often what happens is that by the time you arrive, things have cleared up a bit.