Hi Myrna, I'm Chris (female) and have had my ostomy since February
2004, also from UC. I have heard of and know two people
with "internal" pouches. There is a hospital in Tampa Florida that
has doctors who perform this type of surgery. I had not heard the
term Koch before. Around here (Florida), we call them IBCR. I know
the "I" stands for internal. I'm not sure what the other letters
stand for. I'll have to ask my friend Karl. He has had his for over
6 years after having the "traditional" wafer and pouch assembly. He
loves the freedom afforded to him now of not having to worry about
leaks and changing wafers and pouches. If you would like I cam
forward your e-mail address to him.

--- In ileostomy@yahoogroups.com, "myrnaainslie" <mainslie@...>
wrote:
>
> Just stumbled on your group and thought I might like to post with
> you.
>
> By way of introduction, I'm 46 and have had this Koch's
> pouch/continent ileostomy for 25 years, the result of raging
> ulcerative colitis. The surgeon had at first attempted a pull-
down
> during the surgery to remove my colon but the rectum and anus were
> so badly diseased that he had to go for Plan B - the next best
> choice.
>
> After my initial "poor me" phase, I realized that this was not a
bad
> thing. Life was going to go on and I could choose to make it a
good
> life or a miserable one so I opted for the good life. I was free
of
> pain, bleeding and medications and could lead a normal lifestyle,
> although corn and mushrooms, peas and blueberries can cause "minor
> technical difficulties" clogging up my drainage catheter so I'm
> careful with my intake of those items. I had married only a year
> before I became ill and was so glad because I felt I wasn't
> very "marketable" - just didn't see myself as attractive. After
> several years my marriage ended - other issues, not the ostomy -
and
> I was reluctant to get into intimate relationships. However, I
have
> had two wonderful partners since then who have assured me that I
am
> attractive and desireable to them.
>
> Early on I had attended an ostomy support group a few times but
> didn't really find anything there for me. For one, these were
> people with conventional ostomies and I have no history or
knowledge
> of living with appliances. Secondly, I felt that a lot of the
> people there had their ostomies as the central focus of their
lives -
> the ostomies were "managing" them rather than them managing the
> ostomies. I prefer not to let this be the focus of my life - I
> decided that quite early on. In fact, I have many friends and
> acquaintances who have no idea I am an ostomate - there's never
been
> any real need to tell them. The people I do tell are always
amazed,
> somehow, that I am healthy and normal. I have never met another
> person with a Koch's pouch and would love to compare notes with
> someone some day.
>
> The only real annoyance that I have lived with over the years was
> having an embarrassing wet patch or stain on my clothing over the
> stoma because I could never come up with a dressing that would
> absorb the tissue fluid and mucus from the stoma. It took many,
> many years to discover bladder/urinary incontinence pads - I just
> cut in two and place over gauze dressing on stoma and the
absorption
> is very good. There probably is something better, somewhere, and
> I'd love suggestions but this works.
>
> Guess I've gone on quite long enough. As a writer and
storyteller,
> I tend to be a bit long. Just wanted to add encouragement to new
> people. It has been interesting to look back on 25 years as an
> ostomate.
>
> Myrna
>