Saw doc last week for what I & doc thought was hernia related. Had a abdominal CT w/ dye 3 days ago & now doc's asst just called mew/ results & said that problem is that my pouch needs to be widened. What does that mean? She said there was stool present that I guess should have been emptied out. Very confused & now scared. I have to wait to speak w/ doc until Monday. What does "your pouch needs to be widened" mean?
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I never heard of that before. I'd be happy if they could make my pouch as wide as the state of Texas or a Rolls Royce though. I must be stuck with a Rhode Island sized pouch.
Are you sure you just do not need to be dilated at the anastomosis? What were your symptoms? Were you unable to pass stool easily and had to push down repeatedly to empty your pouch? Could you have inflammation going on in the pouch and that is why the surgeon claims it need's widening?
I would feel more comfortable in requesting a pouchoscopy probably under sedation to get a full view of the pouch before doing anything surgically to it, that is assuming the fix is a surgical one.
I honestly have never heard of this situation before. I wish you the best luck. Try to gather more information before you get yourself upset with worry but I know that can be tough as we are definitely not the 'average' patient with our different plumbing. Best wishes and keep us posted as to what the solution is.
I would feel more comfortable in requesting a pouchoscopy probably under sedation to get a full view of the pouch before doing anything surgically to it, that is assuming the fix is a surgical one.
I honestly have never heard of this situation before. I wish you the best luck. Try to gather more information before you get yourself upset with worry but I know that can be tough as we are definitely not the 'average' patient with our different plumbing. Best wishes and keep us posted as to what the solution is.
Back in 1998 I had a situation in which a "septum" or wall of tissue developed in my pouch. As a result stool was not emptying properly. What it felt like was that something inside was blocking stool from emptying out of the pouch. Testing (pouchoscopy) proved that this was in fact the case.
I had 2 surgical J Pouch revisions to correct the situation, one in 1998, and then a second one in 2000 when the "septum" returned. My surgeon at that time compared the J Pouch to the British car Jaguar. He said it's a nice car, but it is high maintenance, and sometimes needs to spend some time in the shop for repairs. But he added that he was like a very good Jaguar mechanic and he would tune it up.
I never had any structural issues since the 2nd J Pouch revision in 2000.
I think you may have a similar problem to what I had. It is fixable, but the problem I had was not explained as a widening of the pouch but rather a compartmentalizing of the pouch due to the septum, which was cut and stitched.
I had 2 surgical J Pouch revisions to correct the situation, one in 1998, and then a second one in 2000 when the "septum" returned. My surgeon at that time compared the J Pouch to the British car Jaguar. He said it's a nice car, but it is high maintenance, and sometimes needs to spend some time in the shop for repairs. But he added that he was like a very good Jaguar mechanic and he would tune it up.
I never had any structural issues since the 2nd J Pouch revision in 2000.
I think you may have a similar problem to what I had. It is fixable, but the problem I had was not explained as a widening of the pouch but rather a compartmentalizing of the pouch due to the septum, which was cut and stitched.