Hi. I was just if anyone is from Illinois or Indiana? I have "met" Indydave who told me there are quite a few from Indiana...would like to hear from some..see where they had their surgeries, etc.

Well, I'm not that far from you...over in Bloomington, IL. Been in your neck of the woods many times for the Sunday night races!

I won't be much help on surgery location, though...b/c it's my daughter that has the j-pouch. She was 12 and had hers at St Louis Children's Hospital.

Well hello. Nice to find someone else close to home. Been through and to Bloomington..many times also..my brother lives in Peoria and I used to.

How is your daughter doing and how old is she now?

Hello, I am here in Central Indiana. I am having my surgeries done in Indianapolis by Dr. Robb. I am getting done in 3 steps, of which the first is completed. Dr. Robb works out of IU and Clarion North. My impression of him is that he is very cautious, but very competent. His cautious nature can be frustrating, as I am in a hurry to get this over with, but I trust, and appreciate, that he really is working to make sure that I end up with a well functioning pouch. Overall, I am very happy with him as a surgeon, and the progress that we are making. I just wish we could speed things along. My first step was done at IU hospital, as it was the first place he had a time slot open. Clarion North looks pretty darn fancy though and offers free parking .

-Tad

TadS ..well so far there are 3 of you (including my husband) who have had Dr. Robb for thier surgeon. He has been great for us but..we have had awful issues with the 2nd stoma and not being able to keep it from leaking...we called about that and he has never returned our calls. I also called about 5 days later when I had his script for Tincture of Opium filled...to see if he could still take Percoset with that...and I have never heard back from him on that either..that is not how he was with the first surgery and I am not sure why he is not returning our calls. He was very good about that last time. Have you ever been inside Clairon North? If it is anything like Clarian West..it is RITZY..and all the rooms are private and very nice. Danny has had all his at IU downtown. We had the option of going to Clarian North for his step 3 but it is a longer drive from home. Is he doing a 2 step or 3 for you?

sorry..duh. just read again you said 3 steps.

I have seen Dr. Robb 2 times at Clarion North, once pre-op and once post op. It’s very modern and nice. For me it’s actually a little closer drive. I am surprised about the phone thing. Dr. Robb has done a good job keeping my pain pills filled. I wish he would just give me couple of refills though, so I didn’t have to call him once a week. At least you guys are close to take down. Dr. Robb decided that I need more time to heal / lose some weight before I have step 2, so I am learning to be patient.
-Tad

The Dr. not calling back kinda surprised us also because last time he always returned our calls. I almost wonder if he was given the messages. I mean one was about whether or not he could mix 2 prescriptions..you would think he would call about that. We are surviving..even though Danny's stoma is giving us huge problems. 3 weeks to go. The only reason Dr. R said 6 weeks til the final surgery instead of 8 is because of the stoma issues.

I wish you luck. Do all you can to lose your weight and maybe he will let you have it sooner.

Heather

Hi All!

I'm from Indy. I had my surgeries at the IU hospital too and Dr. Jacobson was my surgeon. I had it done in 3 steps and my takedown was a little over a year ago. I loved my experience at that hospital (well as much as you can love surgery!) Dr. Jacobson was the best! He had great bedside manner and the nurses were fabulous too!

Hope everyone is doing well!
Jessica

I live about 30 minutes from Chicago in NW Indiana and go to the University of Chicago. Dr. Hanauer is my GI and Dr. Hurst did my first out of three surgeries. Both are so competent and I am so grateful I am so close to this hospital (ranked #6 in the nation for IBD). The only problem I had was the nurses/CNA's on the floor were pretty unsympathetic and really didn't take good care of me the whole three weeks I was there.

I am from NW Indiana and had the 2-step surgery down at IU med. center by Dr. Jacobson over 5 years ago. He was the best! I was hospitalized less than a week for both surgeries. The nurses there were pretty good. I had no problems with phone questions at all.
My stoma was a pain as well and thankfully there was no delay before take-down! Good luck with yours.

Hello there from southern indiana. I had my surgery in 2 steps at The Cleveland Clinic, by Dr. James Church. He did a great job and the clinic is top notch.

Hi, I live 45 miles south of Chicago and I had my surgeries done at the University Of Chicago. My Surgeon was Dr. Fichera. He did my three steps and he is an excellent doctor and surgeon. Dr Hurst assisted on the finally take down also an excellent doctor and surgeon.

Hello, I am from Louisville KY originally, we moved to Indiana in 93, and then I had my work done in 00/01. By DR Pierce in Louisville. Not the DR I wanted, but he was the only one that would do the operations with our insurance. Most DRs do no/did not believe in the pouch.