One concern that I have about removing the rectal cuff at this point is the chance that it would compromise the anal sphincter, thus increasing leakage. Hopefully others who had that surgery could relate their experience with it. In my case, I had a malignant polyp in the anal cuff, recurrent high grade dysplasia and significantly weakened sphincter muscles, so the J pouch had to go. An ileostomy was recommended in a second opinion, but that was an option I very strongly did not want. I already knew about the K pouch and learned about the BCIR, two procedures that do not require having an external bag. For various reasons, many doctors do not recommend these procedures or are unaware that they exist. There is a lot of information about them in the internet. I opted for the BCIR 6 years ago and have had very good results with it. My thoughts are to try to save your J pouch, but be aware that you have options if that does not work out.