I had my surgery on October 6th to most likely excise the jpouch and convert to a permanent ileostomy. I, like Pouchomarx, have tried multiple exploratory surgeries with Dr. Shen in an effort to repair my tip of J leak. None had worked. Dr. David Dietz, my surgeon, opened me up. I woke up stunned to say the least.
As a stared up at my wife, she said the most amazing thing. He saved your pouch....... Supposedly i screamed out NOOOOOOOOO, as i was so mentally prepared to lose it. Sure enough though, he is 90% plus confident he was able to fix it.
According to Dr. Dietz, everything inside looked perfect. Pink, healthy, and meaty is how he described my insides. The fistula trac was complex, splitting 3 times, but all originating from my tip. He took those down and stated the flesh was raw on all sides when he put it back, so it should heal very well. Stunned.....
The most amzing thing though, is the pouch itself. He tried repairing this prior in April, but had a difficult time getting much space to work with. This time however, he claimed the pouch had stretched, giving him a ton of area to work with. Enough that he was able to excise almost or more than 1 inch, reseal it, and both staple and stitch it closed, just like when this was done originally. Stunned.....
Now the wait starts. I am home resting. I hope i do not de-hiss, as i have every time so far. When does the first abscess appear? The first fistula? The first fever or that familiar twist of pain with the subsequent loss of appetite..... I am trying to be confident, but the last year plus has been hard and i would be lying if i said i was not terrified.
SO i wait...and hope...and maybe, i will get my pouch back. Until my next test, i am just going to try to smile and be happy. Will update in a short time as this progresses.
Take care all
Derek.
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