My gastroenterologist recommended a surgical consult after my biopsy from the colonoscopy came back precancerous. I have had UC for 10 years and these last two years have been a constant flare with unsuccessful treatments. I am 37 years old and have been going to the Cleveland Clinic for several years for management. Does anyone recommend a surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic? Any recommendations or support would be greatly appreciated. Can anyone tell me about post op and recovery time? Thank you.
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i had a consult with dr. dietz for removal of j pouch and creation of k pouch. surgery is scheduled for 11-13--yup, friday--so i only have the experience of a consult. so far i am comfortable with him. he was so thorough in explaining things to me that i had very few questions, which is unusual for me. (in contrast i had a consult with a spine surgeon this week and am still full of questions.) my gi doc thinks highly of him. they had crossed paths at another hospital about 10 years ago.
i posted an article written by him, and others, on the k pouch korner. it is under 2014 article or recent article. if that's of any help.
what exactly will you be having done? best, jlh
I assume you are going the J-pouch route? First off, I think being at Cleveland Clinic is a great choice and you'd be well served. As far as surgeons are concerned, you will do well. My surgeon, Dr. Remzi, is very well known. I pretty much had two failed j-pouch surgeries until he corrected the issues. He probably does several a week!
My oldest had Dr. Fazio, but I think he is retired or semi retired now, and she also saw Dr. Kiran, and he was in the surgery assisting Dr. Fazio. We could call Dr. Kiran at any time and he would always answer our questions quickly and he was very nice.
Best of luck to you!
Dr. Victor Fazio died Monday, July 6, after a long illness at the age of 75.
I am hoping for a J pouch. I made an appt with Dr. Dietz so keep me posted on how the surgery goes! I know a registered dietitian that works at CCF, and she spoke highly of him and said he had good outcomes. I am not sure what I will be having done because my gastroenterologist at CCF called me on Friday with the results. He gave me the option of trying Entyvio first and let the inflammation calm down. Then perform another colonoscopy after 3 months and monitor the cells. He suggested to speak to a surgeon to discuss what they have to offer. Also of note, my colon was moderately to severely inflamed at the time of biopsy. Does this have anything to do with how the results came back positive for precancerous cells?
Yes it can. When the colon is severely inflamed, it is difficult to tell the difference between the dysplasia of inflammation and the dysplasia of precancerous lesions.
Of course, if you cannot control the inflammation medically, you need a colectomy withor without precancerous lesions.
Jan 
that is very interesting Jan. I was seeing a GI outside of the Cleveland Clinic for years due to my UC, after biopsy came back with low grade dysplasia I went to Clinic for a 2nd opinion. They did a fluoro??endoscopy, a more advanced scope, and also came back with same result. I was not doing really poorly and my UC was managed with meds pretty well. They recommended a have the colon out due to the LGD and referred me to surgeon. My biopsy on my colon once out, they did not find dysplasia??? Makes you wonder
Dysplasia can come and go, especially LGD. The point of colectomy once it has been found is because your risk of undetected carcinoma rises once there has been LGD or HGD found. Carcinoma can, and does, arise in areas that did not previously exhibit dysplasia. Cancer associated with UC is not like colon cancer associated with regular polyps (where you remove the cancer risk with the polyp). You cannot biopsy the entire colon. So, once you get that warning sign, the recommendation is colectomy. The cancer associated with UC usually is advanced when discovered, unless it is an incedental finding on a colectomy specimen (and that happens more often than you'd think).
Jan
Thank you so much for the information, Jan.
Dr. Remzi! He is my surgeon and he is one of the best surgeons out there for jpouch surgery. He also has the best bedside manner! I am some what complicated case now and my last procedure he knew how nervous I was he walked in asking how his girlfriend was then hugged me and said if someone doesn't tell me to stop I'm not letting go and then held my hand until I was asleep. He is seriously the best.
I see Dr. Remzi and Dr. Ashburn at the Cleveland Clinic and could not recommend either more highly. They are both stellar, kind individuals and incredibly skilled surgeons. Dr. Ashburn cared so much, she would even visit me on the weekends in the evenings in street clothes.
dr dietz will do my k pouch surgery in three weeks so have only seen him once for the consult. Any feedback on him? So far the surgical coordinator /nurse has been very helpful. Jlh
Originally Posted by JLH:
dr dietz will do my k pouch surgery in three weeks so have only seen him once for the consult. Any feedback on him? So far the surgical coordinator /nurse has been very helpful. Jlh
One of my roommates had him, and he was very satisfied with everything. He even got to go back to his career in law enforcement! Hope everything goes super smoothly for you.
Thanks for the info and support! Janet
Dr. Lavery is my surgeon at CC and Dr. Shen is my gastro...they are both great in my opinion. I have been seeing them for 20 years. Just had a seton put in on Thursday with Dr. Lavery, I trust him fully.
Hello...Dr Lavery saved my life back in 1989!!! To this day I consider him my hero. I now go to Dr. Ashburn in Cleveland Clinic because of emergency situation that arose this summer. She is fantastic too. But one always needs to remember that our bodies are all different and what may work for one may not work for another. With that being said...Cleveland Clinic is top notch!