I was faced with a similar situation. In my case they couldn’t make a definitive diagnosis even when the pathologists were given my entire colon to examine. I went with a *one* stage procedure, and I’ve been fortunate enough to never have reason to regret it. I went through a similar line of thinking as you are describing, wanting to try the pouch even though it had a higher risk of failure than in clear UC cases. I was turned down by two surgeons, which was a bit of a nuisance. Pouch failure can be pretty nasty, but it all goes better if you have a good gastroenterologist, and you stay engaged in actively dealing with any issues that arise. Good luck!