Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and the girlfriend of someone with UC. We are in the process of trying to decide whether or not to move forward with the j-pouch surgery. Dr. Juan Nogueras at the Cleveland Clinic Florida was recommended to us by my boyfriend's GI. Has anyone worked with him in the past? What are you thoughts about him or any doctors at the Clinic in Florida. Also, has anyone had surgery in the Philadelphia or Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania area as he will be recovering from the surgery with his family who lives in Carlisle, PA and that might be more convenient for everyone involved. We would really appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!
Melanie

Melanie, I can personally highly recommend DR Nogueras for your friend's J-Pouch surgery. I Have seen him often for my J-pouch and in fact he is doing my pouchoscopy on Monday. He is VERY experienced and has a nice bedside manner. I had my original surgery (23 years ago) at the Clinic in Cleveland but re-located to Florida many years ago. I am curious why your friend, who will be recuperating in Pa. isnt having his surgery at the Ohio branch as it is closer to Pa. and is ranked number two in the country for this surgery. The Clinic down in florida, tho also quite well known for its colo-rectal surgery dept is still not as esteemed as the Ohio one. That being said, the doctors in Weston are all very good but have different styles and personalities. I highly recommend Dr. Nogeras, from my own encounters with him and from others opinions (friends and acquaintances) that use him. IF your friend lives down here, then it probably would be a positive thing to have the doctor that follows him up also be the one that perporms the surgery. If you want, feel free to PM me anytime. Best of luck to your friend. Hattie

Hi Hattie,

Thank you for taking the time to write back to me. The reason we were looking at the Cleveland Clinic in Florida is because Lior's GI here in Chicago recommended Dr. Nogueras. We were planning on Lior recovering with his parents who live in Carlisle, PA because I still have to work and won't be able to take care of him full time. We are now re-considering Nogueras as logistically it might not make the most sense. We do have an appointment to meet with him at the end of February. Who was your surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland?

Melanie... My surgeon at CCF in Ohio was Dr. Jaigelman but unfortunately he has since passed away. Any of the surgeons at CCF in OHio are well skilled in this procedure but the names that come to mind to me are those that have been there the longest, such as Dr Church, Dr.Strong,Dr. Lavery, and of course DR Remzi but as I said, this hospital is top notch for colo-rectal and sphincter saving surgeries and I would be comfortable having any one of thier surgeons perform the surgery. The nursing staff is extremly competent in this type of patient care as well. If you do a search on this cite under Cleveland Clinic, specific names of surgeons we have used will come up but you may also want to look into doing a search in Phila. too as I know many of our members had their surgeries done there too ( since your boyfriend's are there). And just to confuse you even more, DR. Nogueras is also excellent, even tho logistically, maybe not the most convenient choie. Keep in touch. Hattie

.... I meant to type " your boyfriend's parents" instead of "your boyfriend's". Pardon the mistake.....! Hattie

Melanie
Dr Andrew Richards in Harrisburg has been the surgeon to a few members on the site, VC and Mikeplatt8, who recemtly posted a thread regarding his battle with UC, you may want to consider calling his office for a consult, some Drs will ask for records to be forwarded and actually do a phone consult at a reasonable cost.
717-232-4567
Best to you and Lior
I don't know how to link you but this was his last post
mikeplatt8
Posted February 08, 2008 11:12 AM
This is my personal story how far I have came over the past 3 years.
Its an simple video, but it gives a great example of how I battled and conquered UC.
Feel free to tell me what you think.
Oh yea, I could have talked for hours and went into great detail but 10 mins is all I could upload.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEE4KL8FhPs

I sent him a Pm and asked him to contact you

This message has been edited. Last edited by: "FLGF",

Hi Melanie,

While all of the surgeons at C.C. are excellent. You have 2 fabulous surgeons here in Park Ridge, IL. Dr's Leela Prasad and his partner John Park. They perform the surgery at Lutheran General. Great surgeons and great bedside manner. I had a handful of GI's tell me to go with them. They did my surgery in 2 steps. Did it laprascopically too. If you would like more info, let me know.