Yuku free message boards

First of all, sorry to hear about her needing all that surgery. I know what you are going through.....all the uncertainty, the unknown, the horror stories that some feel a need to tell you. But, there are a lot of other options that were not available 10 years ago. I'll be having mine on 9/27 at St.Vincents Hospital in Birmingham, Al. I did a lot of research and found lots of helpful information on this site>
https://www.mayoclinic.com/
this site> http://www.health.uab.edu/
and here> http://www.stvhs.com/
(the dial-a-nurse program on St. Vincents site was a big help in answering questions and finding physicians)

Do your homework on this. I was told repeatedly by my 1st surgeon that my surgery could not be done laparascopically. At the urging of Dan and Marsha, I began to look for info on the latest colon surgery techniques. There is a lot of information available on the web. I also had my primary physician do some checking on sites that are only accessible to physicians. He was able to provide me a wealth of options and also encouraged me to do my homework and to make the right decision for me. I basically spent a lot of time over several days span before I decided on looking for another physician that could do it by lap. My primary doctor told me that there is a new procedure to remove large polyps such as mine w/o cutting me at all. It was developed by the Japanese recently and is now in it's infancy in the the US.

Another avenue to look into is robotics. St.Vincents is dedicated to the development of robotic surgery and is making strides in prostate surgery using this method. Both prostate and heart bypasses have been done using robotics that require no large incisions.

To answer your last question, YES, I am a lot less scared of the lap. surgery. I have heard nothing but good reviews by people who have opted for this type of surgery. My sisters friend has already had her gall bladder and 12" of her colon removed by lap. She just left for UAB hospital in Birmingham to have her spleen removed this week. She had nothing but good to say about it. It's not always possible on all surgeries, but is well worth looking into.

Stan

Alain, I have already secured a surgeon in Birmingham, AL that can do this laparoscopicly. The risk for needing the colostomy bag will be cut in half, as well as the recovery time. I have Dan and Marsha to thank for putting me on to this new type of surgery for the colon. It really pays to check all your options out and seeking a second opinion.

I think that not being able to ride for an entire month will hurt more than the surgery itself.

Stan