It looks like I'll be going to the Cleveland Clinic for a K pouch by Dr. Dietz. What should I expect for the recovery? Sounds like I'll be in the hospital for a week. Should I stay at my parents house for another few days or a week before flying back to CO? (They live in Cleveland.) What is life like during the next few weeks? Advice or tips are greatly appreciated.

Hey Steve I'm going to have my k-pouch done in Cleveland this Monday August 24th by Dr. Ravi Kiran. When are you having your surgery done. I'll let you know what my recovery is like if I end up with the k-pouch. I am trying to have my old S-pouch converted but due to many surgeries in the past it may or may not work depending on how long it takes and if he will use my old pouch or not.

Hi guys...you'll have alot of support here. More guys are now posting!

Here's one post with some newbie stuff (but, read through them all alot of great info):

http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/...1006091/m/1501067303

I suggest you stay at your folks for at least another week before you fly back - you'll be sore and have lack of sleep because you'll be on a strict schedule to irrigate your pouch as it matures in size.

You'll need baggy pants and loose shirt while the cath stays stitched connected to a leg bag for 3 weeks. It's a drag but you'll look back and say it's worth it!

Buy a shaving kit type size bag to keep your supplies in (syringe, cath (it can bend), paper tape, stoma covers, lube, small water bottle). You can take it with you anywhere - I new a guy with severe diabetes and he took this type of "kit" everywhere. DON'T check this in with your luggage, keep it with you...! Eventually you can keep this in your car's glove box, in your workplace desk drawer, etc.

Drink alot of liquids so keep the stool loose. Follow the soft diet for the three weeks.

Your stoma gets sore during the three weeks due to the irritation of the cath stitched in and will cause extra mucous output - but that will reduce once the cath is taken out. You'll always have some mucous coming out of the stoma, but it will not be as heavy.

Hopefully you'll hear from the guys and get some great tips!

Going in tomorrow for surgery with Dr. Kiran,I'll let you know how recovery goes, Steve.

Thanks Mark. Good luck.

Another recovery question... If I have the K pouch surgery in mid September, will I be able to ski this season? I live at the base of a ski resort and usually go for 2 hours, 4 or 5 days a week. There are plenty of bathrooms on the mountain, and if necessary, I can just ski down to my house.

How fun! Yes, you should be able to once your surgeon says it's all healed...8 weeks or so..just take it slow..your gut muscles will get sore until they rebuild. (KeithO went snowboarding soon after his surgery last Sep.)

A little tip: when you're out and about, you don't have to rinse out the cath..you just insert, tap out the poo, then wrap cath in toilet paper and stick it in a ziplock bag and rinse when you get home.

Oh ya you'll be ready! I had my surgery in November and was snowboarding by new years. I took it easy at first but went with friends for a few weekend trips first to Tahoe then down to Big Bear outside of the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area. By the time of the second trip in February I was pretty well back at where I was pre koch pouch. As for bathrooms, you'll feel the urge to go but its not like you have to go instantly. I'd stay on the mountain as long as I could tolerate being "full."

Oh Ya and Janice nailed it on the head with the post op. 3 weeks with the Cath in 24/7 (You can take it out to shower) then there is about 4-6 weeks to train the pouch which is pretty tough in the beginning getting up ever 3 hours to empty (I think thats where I started training) but It was pretty much the week after I was done training the pouch and on was on the mountain.

I hope all of you getting ready for surgery have an easy recovery and back to all the activities you love to do.

The most important thing to do is follow your doctors' advice.

I know that each doctor has different directives upon discharge and I see it mentioned here. Keith said that he was allowed to take the catheter out to shower while it was in 24/7. Did I get that right?

Just for you guys having surgery done in Cleveland, I had it done in 2006 and the catheter remained in until the doctor removed it at post op. Check to see if that it is the same.

Glad to hear that the rest of you are getting along so well. Life can be great!

I just had my colon, rectum, and anus removed with a K-pouch made 5 weeks ago at the Cleveland Clinic. I can not say enough positive things about Dr. Fazio, his staff, the nurses, etc. I had the best care before and following surgery in all aspects. I had to return to the ER 4 days after discharge due to infection and the ER staff and on-call colorectal surgeons were wonderful too. Dr. Fazio had instructed me to stay in the area for 8 days following my hospital discharge since I was discharged so early - just in case and I was glad I did. Travel home was hard - we drove 500 miles in 2 days and I was even able to lay down since we were in a RV, but the bouncing around made me queasy. I suggest taking starlight mints with you to help settle your stomach both in the hospital and during travel.

All of the rooms are now double occupancy (remodeling was going on while I was there to expand the units) so bring earplugs or headphones in case your roommate snores or moans a lot like one of mine did. Sleep is easier in the early morning and late afternoon in the hospital since they seem to coordinate taking vitals, labs, and irrigation better during the day (you might get 2 hours rest at a time) - at night someone is in every single hour to do something!

The constant drain does make the stoma sore, but remember it is only temporary! Also, make sure you ask at the hospital for some kind of bag deodorizer like M9 or Adapt (both by Hollister). I didn't know odor would bother me, but it made me queasy and made my blankets & clothes stink. I got samples from my ostomy supplier after I had been home a week and it made a world of difference, but you may be able to get some before you leave the hospital.

I'm still wearing loose pants/gym shorts because even loose jeans put too much pressure on the pouch at this point. Food is interesting. Try only one new thing every couple of days once you leave the hospital and wait to see what happens. Also, I had a lot of weakness/cold sweats in the first 2 weeks when my blood sugar apparently dropped too low (I'm not diabetic). I found that I needed to drink something (milk, juice, or Ensure shake) about 20 minutes before I would shower or do anything in the morning or I would become exhaused, weak, and break out in hot flash/cold sweat.

Most importantly, WALK, WALK, WALK! Get up the first day even though it hurts. Get up the next day several times and walk - even if its just 30 paces. It makes a world of difference in moving gas around, warming up sore muscles, etc.

Correctomundo I was allowed to remove my cath for short intervals (15 min max) to shower or for whatever reason. Mine was never stitched just taped like crazy. Indeed doctors orders vary and so does recovery. I was pushing the envelope to go snowboarding so soon but the key is to take it easy. No black diamonds and no jumps until you ok it with the doc.

I recently had my K-pouch done by Dr. Dietz. He is a very 'to the point' guy, but gets the job done and does it well.

Expect to be off your feet for quite a while! It's different for everyone, but you have a bag to drag around with you with a horribly painful cath sticking out of your abdomen a few inches. Yep, it sucks, especially going through airport security.

Then another few weeks of the drainage bag while you're back at home. DEFINITELY have someone there to take care of you during those few weeks, it's incredibly hard to do normal tasks since you aren't allowed to lift much.

It takes a while to get used to what you can eat, and I suggest starting with a lot of grape juice with every meal. I don't have to drink it anymore since I switched to TONS of water and a few cups of coffee a day to keep the stool thin enough to pass through the cath.

The GI floor at Cleveland is VERY nice, and you can go to the top floor and enjoy the patio when you're up and walking. Just make sure you stay on the nurses for your pain medication, they kinda suck at that. Just ask for a specific schedule so you don't have to ring them so much. Oh, and you can't digest pills well, so if they try and give you oxycontin, tell them to keep you on the pump or get a chewable pain killer.

It's not an easy process, but after you get through the hard stuff, life is 1,000 times better. Trust me!