Hi Everyone!

I've only posted a couple times before, but feel I'll probably be a regular now as I am going for a consultation for J-Pouch Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on Wednesday. Simply put, I have been treating my UC (Proctosigmoiditis)with Colazal/Canasa Suppositories/CortEnema and recently Prednisone/SoluMedrol (in hospital for 4 days) which my UC has not responded to anymore! I do not even want to try the powerful immunosuppressants. I'm familiar with the disease and the surgery as my Dad had it done at the Cleveland Clinic 13 years ago. However, I want you all to know that I've learned so much from this board and appreciate especially all of you that are doing so well that take the time to answer people's questions. What I can't wait for is to get my life back! I do have a question especially for those of you who had the surgery done at the Cleveland Clinic... What did you have to do the day before surgery? I'll be staying at the hotel connected to the hospital and my Dad remembers drinking some red liquid, going through some pretesting, having to see how long he could hold an enema in... Do they still do all of this stuff prior to surgery? Is the consultation long? Do I meet with an insurance lady as well? I tried reading through the posts, but didn't see too much posted regarding those questions. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, but I thought I'd ask those of you who recently had surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

Thank you,
Megan

Hi jandgmon,

My hubby is a patient at the clinic as we speak. He did not end up with a pouch, they were able to connect his colon back together. He received a packet in the mail that had all of his pre-op appointments scheduled the day before his surgery. He had to have his x-rays, blood work, heart listened to by a doctor, meet with the anogelogist (sp) all the basic pre-op work done. We were able to enter all of his insurance info on-line on their website, so we were not at that station very long. The final appointments for the day consisted of a meeting with the surgeon for one final talk before the surgery. My hubby was told by the surgeon that he did not have to do any prep because he had an ileostomy. After the surgeon he met with a nurse for educational training which amounted what to eat and what not to eat after the surgery. Our appointments began at 8:00 and lasted until 4:00. Your times may vary.It is a long day! You should also be given a surgery guide if you haven't received on yet.

The hotel is a very nice hotel! I spent one nite there back in the winter.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions about the Clinic itself, just let me know.

I hope all goes well.

Megan,

I recently had surgery at CC. As ddinohio said, you will get a list of appointments for the day before. I had an EKG, labwork, a physical with an internist, meeting with insurance /admissions person, meeting with someone in Anesthesiology, brief pre-op with surgeon, and meeting with his nurse to go over prep. You might also meet with an ET nurse to determine placement of the stoma. i would plan on being there most of the day, although my appts. finished ahead of schedule so I had most of the afternoon free.

My prep was clear liquids after 4 pm the day before since I already had an ileostomy. You might have to drink a bowel prep. to clean out the intestines before surgery.

Good luck!
Anjuli

Thank you ddinohio and Anjuli. Do you mind answering a few more questions?

Which doctor did you see?
How long did you wait between the consultation and 1st surgery?
What was the most difficult part of the first surgery?
Is there any information you can give me to prepare me for the surgery?

I'm nervous, but anxious. I'm pretty much a homebody right now as I can't get out because of the urgencies. My gastroenterologist has told me about a foot of my colon is pretty much ground beef (good description, huh?). He said out of a level 1-4 - it's 4 being the worst - and not responding to steroids. Given my history with my Dad, I'm not even attempting the immunosuppressants, especially because they may work once, and not again for me like Prednisone. I'm so tired, no energy and got to my breaking point. Dr. Fazio did my Dad's surgery, and I will be seeing Dr. Lavery. If anyone had him, I'd love to hear your experience. This will be a long road. I know I'm sort of trading in one set of problems for some different issues, but the issues have got to be better than what I'm dealing with right now!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It takes some of the apprehension away!

Megan

Megan,

I really cannot answer alot of these questions for you.

It turns out my husband did not need a pouch. They were able to reconnect his colon. Dr. Lavery was not his doctor. I have heard good things about him though.

We did have to wait some time between the consultation and his surgery though. I belive the consultation was in the fall and surgery was not until the beginning of January. He ended up with complications from the surgery and had an unplanned ileostomy. They reversed the ileostomy this past Wednesday and he is now a patient recovering from that. The reversal was also planned a few months ahead of tiime.

The one piece of advice I can give you regarding post surgery GET UP AND WALK as soon as the doctors want you to. I spoke to a gentleman yesterday who said he was up walking 3 hours after his surgery and he felt great. For whatever reason, my husband has not done that. I managed to get him up yesterday (3 days after surgery) and he was really struggling. I will be there in about an hour encouraging him to get up again.

There are many success stories at CCF. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers that yours will be a success also.