Dr. Dietz did my K pouch surgery in 2015 when he was still at Cleveland clinic. I have no problems with him or the surgery and highly highly highly recommend him. Any Doctor who has since looked at the valve and pouch says it was an excellent job. Everything about the manner in which Dr. Dietz handled discussions and after care was excellent. During the surgery he noticed a considerable amount of scar tissue and extended the surgery to remove all of it.

Jan, thank you very much for the quick reply and the very affirmative news about Dr Dietz. I'm in NYC and have a video-appointment with him on Feb 1st.

I've been really, really lucky --Dr Fazio created my K-pouch in 2002 and the only work I needed for a long time was when the valve slipped in 2018 and Dr Kiran here in NY did a great job repairing it. I am very concerned, however, about what Dr Kiran did to my pouch and valve recently, when the valve again became problematic. Glad I could come to this site and ask about Dr Dietz because the trust we have to give to these surgeons is pretty absolute and not every surgeon deserves that.

Dr Dietz has been amazing. I’m in Chicago. On a couple of occasions I’ve had to call his office after-hours to leave a message for the on-call resident. Both times he called me back personally within 15 minutes. He has a very calm and confident demeanor. He is thorough. He took time to remove additional scar tissue he found and coated the area to slow the growth of additional scar tissue. I had 7 major surgeries before meeting him and had never heard of that. Feel free to email me (slfdartmouth@gmail.com) if you want to hear more details about him, his team, and the facility - UH Cleveland. I highly recommend him. Good luck!

Shavon, I will definitely email you to ask more but I am so glad to hear of your experience -- thank you! I have a video appt with him on Feb 1 and I'm starting to feel like I'll be in good hands.

sd

I had three surgeries from Dr. Dietz, September of 2020, March of 21, and takedown in June of 21. He  has been excellent the whole time, a true professional. I would recommend him every time. I have the utmost confidence in him and his staff.

Thank you, Richard. I've got a Feb 1st 'telehealth' appointment with Dr Dietz and its eased my anxieties quite a bit that everyone who has replied has only got the highest praise for him.

Sldrx - how was your surgery with Dr Dietz?  We’re you pleased with the experience?   I’m trying to decide whether to have Dietz or Dr Scott Steele at Cleveland Clinic perform my k-pouch surgery.  Both seem very accomplished but Dietz seems to have much more experience with the procedure, having performed 100+ k-pouch surgeries to about 30 for Steele.  That said, Cleveland Clinic sounds like the go-to spot for k-pouch surgeries.  Curious to hear your thoughts and anyone else’s.  

Dr. Dietz did my conversion from J-pouch to K  surgery in 2015.  I now go to NYC/Columbia due to convenience and just for routine scopes. If I needed a major revision I would go back to Dr. Dietz.  He is fantastic. Every Doctor who has scoped my pouch comments on how well-made it was.

Many of the Cleveland clinic K pouch doctors have left and are in NYC. What you hear is it’s past reputation. Dr. Dietz had been at Cleveland clinic.

are you converting from J to K?

Hi Jan15 - I’m converting from a loop ileostomy, which I’ve had for about 7 years.   I’m about 45 and have had Crohn’s since I was 20, although it has never been in my small bowel — which makes the k-pouch a viable (and the only) option for me to get rid of my bag.   I’m a very active person and have been on a quest to get rid of the bag ever since I got it.  I have wonderful doctors at a world class IBD center, but nobody mentioned the K-pouch option until I did a virtual second opinion with Cleveland Clinic regarding a total colectomy.  However, I’m very concerned about all the potential complications with a k-pouch, so want to be sure I have it performed by the best surgeon.  I’m not sure that doing more k-pouch surgeries necessarily makes you better at them, but it can’t hurt!  I’ve read many good testimonials about Dr Dietz, but haven’t heard many/any testimonials about Dr Steele. He seemed very confident and capable and I like the idea of being treated at Cleveland Clinic, although I was under the impression that he had performed many more k-pouch surgeries.  

I am a 70 yo retired physician diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis at age 15.I experienced the ulcerative colitis hell until I was 18 at which time I recieved a Brooke ileostomy (bag) in 1970.I was happy as a clown in that the U.C. Joint arthritis,weight loss,etc. disappeared. For cosmetic concerns I recieved a K pouch in 1979 at the Mayo Clinic and a redo in 1980.It served me well for 40 years until I had a valve slippage in 2021. After doing some research I opted to have Dr. Dietz perform a k pouch reconstruction in August 2022.Everything went well for this now 70 yo ostomate. Dr Dietz is a suburb surgeon with great bed side manners He currently is affiliated with university hospital in Cleveland Sincerely, Robert L. Boyer M.D.