Surgery while pregnant

Sorry you are dealing with all this :-( I can't offer advice about surgery while pregnant, but I can offer advice about surgeons in the area. I think if you are looking for the BEST in the midwest, you are likely looking at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio or even Mayo clinic in MN. If you would like a surgeon in Chicago, I was told that I had the best in the area. Dr. Saclarides at Rush, which is downtown. I think what you need to find out is who has the most experience doing this on a pregnant woman. I'd be happy to provide my surgeon's email address if you'd like to PM me. You could ask him some questions...he's very good about emailing back. From a structural standpoint, I think he did an amazing job. I've never had any issues (other than pouchitis), and he took special care during the surgery since I still wanted children in the future.

So sorry you are having such serious problems. You probably need and OBGYN with you in surgery too. I suggest Mayo's in Rochester, MN, where I go or Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. They are the top 2 hospitals in the country in GI.

If I were you I'd go to which ever one I could get into first. I don't know if your doctors are going to refer you, which would get your appointments sooner than if you'd be setting up your own - but maybe not.

Please take care and let us know how you are doing.

I don't think they would do a j-pouch during pregnancy. Even a colectomy would be only on an emergency basis, I believe. From what I've read, what they do is a diverting ileostomy to tide you over until you are ready to deliver. If it is safe or the colon really needs to go, they will do a total or subtotal colectomy. But, the j-pouch construction absolutely would not happen until after delivery. They leave the rectum intact so the j-pouch is possible later. The reasons are many, but mostly it is because of the time needed under anesthesia and the amount of manipulation of the abdomen needed. Not to mention the stress of delivery on a newly constructed j-pouch.

I could not find much in the literature but there is this article. Please note, all deaths were many decades ago, and techniques have improved greatly since then.
https://www.ecco-ibd.eu/public...uring-pregnancy.html

Good luck!

Jan

I'm assuming you are the same person that posted over on the healingwell forum. I was thinking of you and hoping you are ok. Did they start the Cyclosporine yet? If I can say one good thing about that drug it's that it works really fast.