@ElizaB posted:Hi Sara,
For what it's worth, when I had my surgery in 1996 I went through the very same anxiety and difficult thought process that you are now experiencing. Due to having a young child at home, I ended up choosing my local moderately experienced j-pouch surgeon instead of a more well known distant big city surgeon. After a difficult recovery and terrible first year, I deeply regretted my decision. At my husband's urging we flew out to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (which at the time was the mecca of J-pouch creation) to try to find out what was wrong. After 3 days of testing, poking and prodding to see what was causing me such misery, their conclusion (to my surprise) was that the surgery was expertly done and there was nothing structurally wrong with the pouch or the surgery. My problems were the result of cuffitis, pouchitis, some narrowed loops of bowel and a few other things. It's been a tough road at times but eventually things straightened out. The pouch is not an issue in my life anymore. I don't take any meds, have 2-3 BM's a day and sleep like a baby through the night.
I just wanted to share this with you and wish you well in your decision. All things being equal it's always best to go for the most experienced person/location but these decisions are complicated and only you can decide what's best for you. Trust your heart and your intuition...it seems like you're making progress in getting this figured out.
Good luck...and have a nice night.
Thank you so much for sharing. I'm so glad it worked out for the best for you. And wow, 2-3 times a day is my "UC normal" while in remission! That's awesome.