Hi All,
I'm a 37 years old and have been having problems with my colon for the past 4 years. I'm seeing a top motility guy at Cedars Sini in Beverly Hills. I have tried everything I possibly could (diet, drugs etc) to have my colon work correctly with no success. I am currently discussing colon resection with my Dr. and this seems like it might be the place to find some answers on how my life will be with out a colon. I don't have the same diseases but it looks like the end result will be the same. My current problem is incomplete evacuation, I can feel when stool moves to the rectum but the urge is never strong enough so that more than 25% or so comes out. This leaves me basicly bloated and aggrivated all day every day. I guess a few of my questions are.... With a J-Pouch is is possible to have incomplete evacuation. How does the stool get propelled out without a colon to push it? Does stool leaking into the rectum cause you to be unconfortable until there is enough to cause a bm? Thanks for any information you can provide. I'm miserable every day of my life and am hoping this might just be something that will help me smile again.

I presume you have colonic inertia? I have met many folks who have had surgery for CI and many still suffer. It seems the surgeons don't always remove the entire colon, only partial, but the motility disorder remains a problem. I don't know why for these patients the entire colon isn't removed but I would ask this question before submitting to a partial removal.

With a j-pouch there is complete evacuation and what pushes it out is peristalisis. If your peristalisis is good in your small intestine a jpouch should work for you. In the early days of recovery complete evacuation might not be achievable but it does improve over time.

Sue

Plus, since the stool tends to be loose, rather than formed, gravity makes for fairly easy emptying. This is not to say you cannot get constipated with the j-pouch, but definitely less likely.

Jan