The surgeon who cut off too much tissue knew I had a prime malpractice lawsuit on my hands... so (without mentioning 'lawsuit') he offered to send me to his surgical mentor — who happened to be the head of colorectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and the top K-pouch surgeon in the world, Victor Fazio. I would never have found out about K-pouches if this idiot surgeon hadn't been trying to save himself from a lawsuit! And I could not have gotten luckier -- the late Dr Fazio is a legend who other colorectal surgeons talk about with reverence and awe. So a disaster turned into a miracle. Yes, I was angry but I was also choosing my battles carefully. I'd been so sick --down to 75 pounds at one point -- and I had to focus on the future.
