Wow Ginger, lots of questions, but I think I can help. Ok, the epidural for pain control. I had one for ovary/tumor removal. It was very good, it streams in medicine continually plus you can hit it for extra jolts every few minutes. Second, gas pain, the only other thing you can do besides walking is move your legs around in bed. Keep your legs moving around, slide up and down. This will help a lot! Clear liquids,according to my doctors office is chicken boullion, water, crystal light, sugar free popsicles but nothing RED. IE no cherry popsicles or red cyrstal light. Also, completely flat ginger ale ok. Well, Ihope that helped. Take care, and good Luck. My surgery is 8/9/02, if ya think of it say a prayer for me.