after 10 years and alot of pouchitis and related problems, my new ig doctor says the trouble is that my pouch is too small,the outlet is too tight and there are a couple of fistulas. he said it could be possibly crohens. i most likely have to have my j pouch rebuilt. does anyone know the top surgeons for this operation in the country [usa] or in new england/new york area or how to go about finding them?

You will probably hear most folks here tell you to go to the Cleveland Clinic and see Dr. Fazio. In NY I would recommend Dr. Jeffrey Milsom at Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. He is very skilled and originally came from Cleveland Clinic. If it is within your means, you could get an opinion from both.

Hi Mark,

I am likely facing a rebuild also. I have been going to Lahey Clinic in Burlington MA. I met with some folks in NYC at Sloan Kettering before my first round of opps and it ended up that Dr. Schoetz from Lahey had trained them. It might be worth a visit. Good luck man!

I use Dr. Milsom at Cornell/NY Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. He is head of colorectal surgery there and has done many pouch surgeries and corrections. He is also a very kind and compassionate doctor. I highly recommend him.

janna

Stell is right...you can't go wrong with the Cleveland Clinic. It's dept of colorectal surgery is ranked 3 in the US. I saw Dr. Remzi who is super and I've heard that Dr. Fazio is the best. Good Luck

It looks like you are from NYC, so I would put in another recommendation for Dr. Milsom. He's good, and he's close.

I wish you the best of luck!

Rick

I see Dr. Jeffrey Cohen at Hartford Hospital in CT. He is GREAT!! He is part of the CT Surgical Associates and is a colorectal surgeon. He not only is a great surgeon, but his bed side manner is awesome as well. Ann Stoddard works with him and she is very knowledgable and compassionate. I just had step 1 in Jan and step 2 in March. I wish that I could keep them as my regular physician.
Good luck
Amanda

thanks so much for those who responded to my question about a good surgeon to repair a j pouch. someone said clevland clinic was ranked #3 in the country . who is #1 and 2? how do you find those rankings?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jefff,

Hi Mark,

I recently had a J-Pouch (Nov, 2006) and a the Ileostomy reversal (March, 2007). Both procedures were performed by Leela Prasad and John Park in Park Ridge, IL. Both are outstanding who came highly referred from 1/2 dozen Gastro's. I am extremely happy with both surgeries and recovery.

Mark: Like Amzoro I had Dr. Cohen perform my surgery. As Amzoro said, he was outstanding both professionally and personally. I had step one in November 2006 and take-down in January 2007. Dr. Cohen trained at the Leahy Clinic, which is just outside of Boston and is considered, along with Mt. Sinai and Cleveland among the top for the J-pouch procedure. The staff at Hartford Hosp were terrific and the surgical floor is almost completely single rooms, which helps. I would recommend a consultation with Dr. Cohen. Choosing a surgeon is very personal and you need to connect with him/her. Best of Luck.

Kevin

Mark...US News and World Report did the ranking I referred to earlier for CC being number 3 in colorectal surgery. I saw it on brochure and literature when I was at CC. I believe as someone else mentioned Mt. Sinai is one of the top 2 and maybe Mayo. You could run a search I suppose. Good Luck..

I would definitely recommend looking at Johns Hopkins med center in Baltimore for your surgery. This is the #1 hospital in the country according to US News & World report and its colorectal dept. is superb. I had Dr. Susan Gearhart do my j-pouch and she does several of these every week. This was done two years ago and no problems since. It would also be closer and more convenient than Cleveland.

Dr. Nathaniel J. Holmes did all of my surgeries. The man is my hero. Not only does he have a great personality, but he's a great doctor. I'm sure he can help you out. He is the Director of The Colorectal Cancer Program working out of Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ, about 30 minutes west of NYC. He came from Mt. Sinia so he has a ton of experience.

www.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/rankings/specihqgast.htm

This is a website that will give you the rankings on the best hospitals. As with anything, you take these reviews and make your own judgements but you have to believe the consistency with which the same ones have held top ranking means something.

for the past 6 months i have been going to dr kwon at johns hopkins [ he, a gi doc who i like very much...he's a very good communicator and he has told me alot of things and figured out things that in 10 years of other g i docs didn't] he has recommended dr micheal marahon at j h to do the surgery but i have also heard that susan gilbert is the best surgeon from another doc who is a friend of our family and did internship there. i think that's who i will go with but i walk a delicate line overriding dr kwon's recomendation. question i have ...was it difficult to get an appointmentwith her?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jefff,