Thank you "jan15" for your quick response! I will try to answer all your questions because I would really appreciate any advice! Right after surgery I started with skin irritation and excessive moisture (possibly this was due to two hernias that came after surgery, one to the left side of the stoma and the other right above my navel). Intubation was difficult because the "channel" from the stoma to the valve at the pouch was too long and crooked. About 6 months after surgery I started getting leaks, intermittently at first then more regularly. After a pouchoscopy in October my surgeon suggested that repairing the hernias might be a fix, which was done in November, along with a shifting of the pouch and shortening of the "channel." For the first four weeks I thought we found a cure; the catheter went straight in easily and the leaking and excessive moisture stopped. However, as the swelling went down it appeared that the peristomal hernia was not repaired. I sent a message to my surgeon last week telling her that the problem is getting more and more unbearable and so far she has not responded. Starting today I am trying to attach an outside pouch to see if that will at least give some protection from soiling my clothes. My surgeon is Dr. Jean Ashburn at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in North Carolina. She is highly reputed and I have absolutely no complaints about the pouch or her technical ability. It is the post-surgery complications she seems to not be able to correct. As you said, her nurse is very helpful , but so far, even she has not responded. If using the outside pouch is something I can live with, I am considering just having the whole thing reversed. By the way, you mentioned Sharon's posts. I have seem some of her postings, but obviously not the ones that describe her issues. Do you know it there is a way to search by her name, so that I can see all she has written? Or, how to to search the site for my problem? Although this seems to be a great site, my "navigational" abilities are sorely lacking! I hope I can get a resolution that will not involve more major surgery (I am getting too old for it!!) Thank you again for opening this line of communication, Jan. Bill