It’s amazing to me how many medical professionals have absolutely no clue what a J-pouch is. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a doctor or nurse ask me to see my pouch. Really?!? I don’t know why it surprises me anymore but it still does. I don’t know what it’s going to take to educate these people. Shouldn’t they know?
A few days ago I had a pouch endoscopy because of the prolapse of my intestine into my pouch that happened a couple weeks ago. Because my surgeon was out of town while it happened (story of my life) he was unable to take a look while I was at the hospital so he wanted to take a peek to see if he could see anything that may have caused the prolapse. I went to the GI LAB at the hospital to have this procedure done. Did you happen to notice that I capitalized GI LAB? While I was there, I once again had a nurse ask if she could see my pouch…at a GI lab!! This amazed me. I again had to explain that it is an internal pouch and you can’t see it. Luckily, shortly after she asked me that question she gave me a hefty dose of Versed which saved her from a slap in the face, just for asking that question. Just kidding, but really, it kind of annoyed me. Anyway, the good news is that my surgeon said my pouch looked normal and that he couldn’t see anything that would have caused the prolapse. I guess now it’s just a wait and see game. If it happens again, we’ll deal with it then.
All of these experiences with these doctors and nurses make me wonder how or if we can educate the medical world about J-pouches so we aren’t constantly being asked about it. Any ideas?
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