I was wondering if most people have their anal canal removed and anus closed during the surgery to remove j-pouch to go to permanent ostomy. If not do many have to go back later and have it done?
I had a permanent ostomy placed in June of 09 and have had to have a pelvic abscess drained twice since then and it seems to be coming back again. We tried flagyl and cipro but I have built up an intolerence to them (I now puke my guts up with them both) and the surgeon says the abscess probably has about a cup of fluid in it. It is really starting to cause discomfort in the anal area and now I am getting a lot of nasty smelling drainage from it. He says the next step will probably be surgery to remove the anal canal. When I asked him why he did not do that during the other surgery he said he leaves the anal canal and anus if they appear ok because they are working on another pouch for people who have had a permanent ostomy and may be able at a later date to go back to the new internal pouch. I can not even imagine going through another one of these surgeries for an internal pouch and wish he had of talked to about my choices before surgery. I guess I assumed he would remove everything and we would be done with all of this. I would need a 150% guarantee the new internal pouch would work before I even considered another surgery or for my ostomy to completely fail for some reason.
Sorry, I seem to be rambling but I was really hoping almost 2 years after surgery I would be feeling a lot better than I am.
Janita

I had mine removed during my J Pouch removal in Oct 2010 and now have a "Barbie Butt" It's fine and no one can ever call me an A%$#$hole

I am going through exactly the same thing. Just had a pelvic ct done which was negative but still have nasty drainage from anus. Not sure what the surgeon will do next. I think i'd rather have the butt hole left in so at least all that nasty stuff comes out and doesn't stay inside the pelvic area. I do know i will never want another j-pouch. Eight years of pouchitis and a crap load of meds was more than i could handle.

they are working on a new pouch.. that's interesting news to me.

I had no choice in the matter. everything was determined during the initial first surgery and everything was removed. I remember them saying they removed all the tissue from the inside.. rectum, anus.. everything. From the outside It still looks kinda normal.. but its completely closed. I think they call it false anus or something weird like that. Is this the same as barbie or Ken Butt?

Nope...I'm just disconnected. My surgeon said I will eventually have to have the j-pouch removed...but I'm in no hurry.

I have a small, about 1/2inch deep "space" there. I assumed he would close the anus totally but he left this thing that feels like little bumps. It still drains a small amount of bloody mucous stuff - about 2 tsp. a week. I asked him when the drainage will stop. He said "it will stop but the timing just depends". Didn't get a clean answer on it just depends means. I can bare sown like I am having a bm and force the mucous stuff out - usually about once a week at this point. I never got a clear answer as to why he didn't just sew it closed. His PA said "it is the way he prefers to do the closure". I have no pain or excess drainage with it.

If anyone knows why some make Barbie butt and others leave something behind (no pun intended) I would love to know the answer.

By the way the permanent ileostomy was definetly the best decision for me. I feel so much better withut the pouch.

I also have a disconnected Jpouch which is pending removal due to chronic pain, abcesses and pouchitis/cuffitis. My Doc also gave me the option of a pouch removal and having a new pouch constructed, but I didn't want to go thru another 4 surgeries and the "loss" of another 2 feet of small intestine should a new pouch not work. I was given only a small percentage of "actual success" and was guarenteed at least some chronic leakage and loss of control.
When I opted for a disconnect I asked them to remove my pouch, but they wouldn't because of the complications involved. They partially disconnected me, )perm loop ilio) and 8 months laster I went in for a perm disconnect (perm end ilio).
Some docs will leave a small amount of anus or anal canal intact, some will not; it all depends on the doctor. Most prefer to leave it partially open so that any drainage has a way to leave the body.

Thank you Diane for the info. Sorry about the typos in my post - I know I should re-read before posting.