Surgery Consultation Scheduled / Abscess Update

We'll I called my GI today and explained that the lump that I thought was an abscess wasn't any better. Both my GI and the Colorectal Surgeon he recommends were both at the outpatient surgery center across the street from where I work. They had me come over and the CR Surgeon looked at it and thank god said it wasn't an abscess and won't get a Sepsis infection from it. He wants to see me in a couple weeks for a follow up and possibly lance it if it's still there. I briefly asked him about the J Pouch surgery and he mentioned that they do it Robotically now and is minimally invasive. I'll have a consultation about that when I see him.

For those that have had the surgery, what are some important questions I should ask about? Usually in situations like this I'll forget to ask the obvious.

Thanks
Gordon

1. How many jpouch surgeries has he performed? (Numbers are important, the more surgeries the better experienced).
2. Does he have any jpouch patients that would be willing to talk with you? (This is also important, gives you the patient perspective on his experience).
3. What is the expected recovery time?
4. How many steps would he recommend in your personal case? (1, 2, or 3).
5. If doing a 2 or 3 step surgery, what is the time between surgeries?
6. If you were his family member, would you be recommending surgery now or do you think I should continue with medication?


I have no idea where you live but I urge you to consider seeing a surgeon with a lot of experience. They might not be in your home town. If you live in a metropolitan area, the surgeon you are consulting with, might be highly recommended. The best results come from having a very experienced surgeon. I had to travel 2 hours to have my surgery. No problem, I haven't had to see my surgeon since....that was 10 years ago.

Sue

I am currently considering surgery and I found it helpful to go on J-pouch.org and I did a search for my surgeon's name. I found two others who used my surgeon and they have answered a ton of questions for me!