Episode 107 (Raw & Uncensored): Dr. Elie Schochet — Fifth Time's a Charm, Pre-Op With My Colorectal Surgeon

Brian James (0:00)

You're listening to HungerFF Presents Brolapse, the podcast where nothing's off limits, sex, addiction, survival, culture, chaos, and the stories that nobody else is willing to tell. Raw conversations, unfiltered guests, and absolutely no bullshit. Welcome to Brolapse.

Hi, you guys. Welcome back, episode 107 of Brolapse, what I'm really looking forward to. Well, I don't know if what I'm looking forward to is the right word, but I am getting ready to have my colostomy-reversal surgery this week, on Wednesday, we're four days out, and my colorectal surgeon, Elie Schochet, is on the show today. Welcome to Brolapse land. Welcome back. This is your second time on the show. For anybody that maybe hasn't seen your first episode, can you walk us through how you got into your colorectal surgery?

Elie Schochet (0:40)

Sure.

I actually started med school thinking pediatrics. That last about a day. The pediatrics? Yeah. I thought I was only pediatric cancer. I always had a natural cancer. Then I was about a day into my pediatrics rotation, when I realized it absolutely was not for me. Then I thought adults have cancer and do chemotherapy. That lasted till the first week of my first surgery rotation. The guy I was with, a cancer surgeon, I did colon cancers, thyroid cancers, breast cancers, and just putting up pajamas, cutting it out.

Brian James (1:08)

Yeah.

Elie Schochet (1:09)

Then going to tell them that when I bring them that I don't have cancer anymore, I just got the buck for that. Out there?

Late, I switched from internal medicine to surgery. Then when I got to surgery training, I started looking at all different cancer surgeries, I really enjoyed Cancers of the Atom the most.

Brian James (1:25)

Enjoyed?

Elie Schochet (1:26)

Well, I didn't enjoy mastectomies, I didn't enjoy ruining breasts, I didn't enjoy, I really just enjoyed all the abdominal surgeries. So, surgeries of the stomach, gallbladder, colon, rectum, and anus, and I just really enjoyed it. Colorectal is a one-year additional training after the five years of general surgery. And then, I trained in general in laparoscopic. Later, I started doing robotic.

Brian James (1:49)

Robotic is?

Elie Schochet (1:50)

Robotic is like laparoscopic plus.

It's laparoscopic, but you're doing it from a console. So, it's slightly better imaging, better hand control. So, you're not actually in, you start off, you put in the same holes in the cameras, but no, there's a nurse up there playing the instruments, and then you've got a four-handed sort of spider instrument, and you're on a 3D VR panel.

Brian James (2:11)

That's crazy.

Elie Schochet (2:12)

That's awesome.

Brian James (2:12)

That's cool.

Elie Schochet (2:13)

Well, we're not doing this robotic.

Brian James (2:15)

Can you do these types of surgeries robotic?

Elie Schochet (2:17)

Yeah, a little by little. The truth is, going from general surgery to laparoscopic was an absolute revolution. The jump from laparoscopic to robotic is really some tweaks in the surgeries, where it's really better suited. There's a lot of surgeries where the outcomes are pretty much the same, but a lot of times it's smaller decisions quicker.

So yeah, so I spent an extra year, I came down to Florida, and then I got, I'm still in my first job. I'm still in the Florida rail here. Sweet.

Brian James (2:42)

Awesome. So, and so we met two years ago now at this point. Again, for people who maybe didn't see the first episode, we're together. What did you think when you first met me and you heard what I could do?

Elie Schochet (2:53)

So I was forewarned a little bit. Friend of mine, your primary care doctor at the time, you know, he called me and said, you were in the hospital, you had diverticulitis, and that the surgeon who saw you was recommending emergency surgery as a class to me. And he wanted me to just have a second opinion and see, you know, what I thought. So, I came in, but he told me a little bit about what you do. I didn't Google it at the time. I had no idea.

I had no idea the levels or the notoriety. But we met and, you know, you were pretty reasonable. And, you know, we had a good talk. I reviewed your case. You definitely have something that antibiotics alone, you know, may fix or antibiotics wouldn't be enough and we would still need some sort of surgery. And we talked about it. And, you know, my job is to not let patients die, first and foremost. Having a temporary osmotic vag is not worth dying over. And when it comes to perforations, you have a window. Or if you're going to get sick, you want to get in there before you get really sick. Gunshot to the belly is a slow way to die. You hear that on TV.