I go to the one in Rochester, MN. I don't know how they rate compared against each other but somewhere I'd heard Mayo in MN was #1 and Cleveland Clinic in OH #2.

Before I get slammed on here, I believe there is an overwhelming number of j-pouch people on here that go to Dr. Shen at CC and refer to him as the best j-pouch doctor.

Of course I think Dr. Edward Loftus Jr., my GI at Mayo's is a good j-pouch doctor too. There are more than one doctor at each facility.

Maybe someone else can tell you more about Phoenix. If you don't get much response you might want to repost putting Phoenix in the topic too.

Can't speak about Phoenix Mayo, but, I do goto Mayo here in Jacksonville and they are the BEST!

Just began my 3-step process at Mayo in Rochester, and couldn't be happier.

Its funny, I thought the MN location was THE IBD center of the US. Though, it makes sense that all three Mayo Clinics are undoubtably well versed to deal with our specific situations.

Hey Iron............they have a "shared" knowledge and cooperation between ALL of the Mayo sites.......it's pretty sweet actually, when they were doing stuff for/with me, they were in direct consult with other Mayo Docs at other Mayo Facilities and actually had round table discussions about ME! I am actually a "case study" in Mayo!

I think it all depends on you, your case and the doctor. I went to MD anserson since they are the best for cancer treatment but I HATED the nurse in charge of the jpouch dept and could not imagine being with that place through it all. I go to CC because I think they are the best for my issues and I get nerve blocks done there, the top pain specialist in the world is at CC. I am sure every hospital has capable doctors and surgeons.

For FAP related crap though the place I go to is Hopkins since they are the ones that first diagnosed FAP and hold the highest grant awarded as of last year (8 million) for FAP research.

So it depends on you, your disease, issues and surgery and what doctor you click with.

I don't think you can go on just one person's opinion you need to go and check out the facility for yourself. But in the end it's all up to you. This is assuming you are wanting j-pouch surgeries. Please find out how many surgeries the surgeon has performed over how many years. If s/he will perform a laproscopic or open surgery and if you have UC how much of the rectum will be left at the rectal cuff, if any, and if there will be a mucosomy performed. Will they do a double stapled procedure or hand sewn procedure.

If I were you I'd go to the facility that was the closest to you, travel wise. You might want to go to the facility closest to where you will recuperate at, etc. If you want recommendations for doctors at that facility please ask and also look them up with the state boards etc.

Best wishes to you!

LisaT -

I'm new here, hi! I just had takedown surgery (9/10/13) at Mayo in Phoenix. I don't know what their status is, but I flew from Utah to have the surgery here and I couldn't be happier with my choice.

I had an incredible - extremely cautious, careful, and conservative - but incredible surgeon. He has been really good to me. I had no problems except dehydration post ileostomy (that's my body dealing with no colon, not the surgeon's fault). I feel amazing 1 week post op takedown and have been recovering much faster than I expected.

That said, like everyone says - everyone is different, including surgeons. I came here because it felt right. I don't know that PHX is the best, but it has been good to me! I'm sure there are great surgeons everywhere, I researched a lot before choosing one though! I suggest you do the same.

Good luck!