Anyone have a colectomy (subtotal) done in the Minneapolis area?

if so, what clinic and Dr. did you see and how did the procedure go?

I have been an chronic constipation sufferer for over a decade, but have always dealt with it through laxatives.  I feel like it is time to look for some type of relief.

Thanks in advance

Here is another good choice at the U of MN, has trained many of the CR surgeons in the TC area. Notice on the "selected publications" listed that AC Lowry is a co-author, that is Ann Lowry.

It looks like Dr. Lowry is a surgeon, so I think I would have to go see a gastro and then get referred in to her if the gastro would deem surgery an option? I'll have to check if they see patients for general gastro stuff or if they take referrals only.

Guess I didn't include a name in one of my posts, look up Dr. Madoff at the U of MN.

sonnygarcia,
I was under dr sandgren's care for over 10 years. i went to him mainly because he was the gi doc at my clinic. we went through everything but as time went on my inertia became worse and worse and nothing worked anymore. i finally asked him to refer me as i could not deal with it anymore and he had nothing more to offer. by that time, nothing was working. there used to be a drug on the market, cisapride, that helped me for a long time, but it got pulled. dr. sandgren was able to keep me on it via an investigational use process that the drug company offered and the FDA approved but it quit working. you will have to run through a battery of tests, surgery should be your last option and any good surgeon will want specific info before operating. you'll need a sitz marker test to check motility, anal manometery, and a couple others i think. i'm sure others will chime in, we've all had them. this is to rule out other causes of your dismotility that would not be resolved by a sub-total colectomy. for instance, if the issue includes or is because of small bowel dismotility, removing your colon will not help. he referred me to the pelvic floor center for some of those screening tests. it turned out i had an "extremely redundant" colon but that never showed up on any imaging studies. but my pelvic floor tests and small bowel were fine so the surgery worked for me.

i hear you about the regimented battle, i and others here have all done the same thing. i ate fiber until it was coming out of my ears, it just made me feel worse.

i had my surgery in june 2009. recovery is a bit tough, it's a major surgery. once you figure out how to manage the increased frequency and how to thicken up your stool and once your small bowel adapts (frequency and consistency of stool will change somewhat on it's own over time due to the adaptation) things go very well for most people. the inertia, i feel, can be somewhat isolating because for me, i tried to hang out at home in my free time hoping something would happen. i never get the discomfort i used to have, i can sleep later in the morning, i used to get up early to drink as much coffee as i could get down my gullet hoping it would get things moving. overall surgery positively impacted life for me. let me know if you have more questions.