Can you relate?
PS I wonder which Upper East Side surgeon's office she was referring to. I bet I know!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/health/13case.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Good article, thanks for posting. Yes, I can relate.

Yes, unfortunately I can relate.

Sad but true...

I think all of us can relate to this article. I also have a pretty good idea who this surgeon is. If it's who I think it is I invariably waited 2-3 hours at each visit.
I ended up being operated on by Fabrizio Michelassi at Cornell. He is Chief of Surgery there. Besides being a truly great surgeon, he is a kind and compassionate human being. For anyone who needs IBD surgery in the NY area I wholeheartedly recommend him.

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting article. This is the 2nd article in 2 weeks in NY newspapers about Chrohns. NY Newsday had one two weeks ago about a high percentage of Chrohns in Long Island.

I loved this article. I feel like no one (except fellow sufferers) really knows what we go through each day. I have pain of some sort every day and sometimes my activities are limited by my health. But people can't tell by looking at us! We make it look easy

Thanks for the article. Even being thousands of miles away in Norway, I can relate. Reminds me of the GI doc at my local hospital who, when I refused to accept being put on Pred again because of extreme and debilitating swelling the previous time, said "Well, personally I like ladies to be a bit chubby." I could have committed murder. And enjoyed it.

I loved the article.
YOU ALL ARE MY WAITING ROOM!!!!!!!

Very good!

Wow! That was me. I love the part about everyone else not ever knowing how sick you really are until the hospitalization or surgery. We are such good secret keepers.

I can really relate. My surgeon is a great guy and all but I remember when I was struggling early on in the recovery process and he would go on about how tough I was it just made me feel worse for some reason--like I should suck it up or something. In retrospect I am sure drs. don't mean it that way but I guess there are some things only people who have walked the same walk can understand.

I stick out like a sore thumb in my Surgeon's waiting room. It always seems like I am the youngest person by at least 30 years!(I'm 38...)

I always wonder: "Am I the only J-Poucher here?"

What an excellent article! When we'd be waiting in the Dr's office, Paul and I would covertly diagnose what was going on with other people--not in a humorous way, but looking for some sort of camaraderie, hoping Paul wasn't the only one who was 32 years old with an end ileostomy.
We saw people who were carrying 2 water bottles, were fiercely thin, with a grocery bag full of ostomy supplies, and we knew Paul had a co-sufferer there. But they would often be older. The waiting room was always one of quiet desperation, it seemed. Then again, it could have been our own anxieties pouring forth! Every time he goes to the Dr now, any Dr, the anxiety in the waiting room does get a little overwhelming, like he's waiting for the ball to drop...even though he's doing so well! 'Wonder if that will ever change? We know where you're coming from , Six Million $ Sphincter; we often wondered the same thing!