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hbonsky

hbonsky

Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
55
We are finally able to move out of Las Vegas and are going to be living in Michigan in about 2-3 weeks. Can anyone here living in Michigan recommend a good pediatric GI doctor? Was looking of U of M. Its about an hour away from where I am at, but don't care too much about a drive if the the docotor is worth it.
Thanks,
 
Check the forum's doctor directory (tab along the menu line above). Also check the website www.ratemds.com - can't vouch for the reviews/ratings but it's a starting point.

Good luck!
 
Mott's is the hospital you want. That's UofM.
I'm on the other side of the state.
I go to Helen Devo's Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids.
At first I had a few problems with her GI but now we get a long.
:ymad:Besides, I can't go to Mott's. I'm a State fan!:cool2:

QueenGothel goes there with Rowan. She'll be along when she can.


I'm glad your finally coming up to Michigan.
I live in Northern Michigan near Traverse City. I love it up here!

HUGS
 
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We lived in Grand Rapids and went to Helen DeVos Children's hospital and worked with Dr, Kunde and Dr. Cloney (Head of the Department). There are 3 pediatric GI's at Helen DeVos. We are now at Cincinnati Children's because of a move as well. Cincinnati has one of the best Pediatric GI units in the country. They have 22 Pediatric GI's. I would rate Helen DeVos right up there with Cincy.

I am sure you will find a great hospital in Michigan I would just try to go to a Children's hospital if you can.

Good luck and I hope you love Michigan as much as I did. Much less sunshine than you are accustom to so I would ask your Dr about a Vitamin D supplement.
 
Yes which means you can be a parent patient advocate and
Get things moving in the right direction
 
Hi, we go to Motts we see a Surgeon now not a GI. When Rowan had a GI she was more or less assigned a Fellow GI for anything outpatient. I don't know if this is the norm for all cases. We went there in a haste and were transferred as an inpatient. Her Fellow was Kelly Sandberg, M.D. he was really good with her he has 3 young daughters. In regards to the Attendings whom she saw only whilst addmitted, Dr. Chris Dickinson was awesome, I really liked him and how on top of everything in regards to medication and nutritional changes. A very pleasant man to talk with, and very smart. She saw Dr. Pamela Brown most of the time whom was a very good GI as well but very by the book and is "different" in regards to her personality. I liked her but once you meet her you will understand what I am talking about.

That was it. Granted we were only under the care of GIs for a short while and then we did the colectomy. My DDs UC was just too bad and uncontrollable. Being she had UC she is considered cured so unless things change I am happy seeing just a surgeon.

Motts in general I think is a great hospital. Keep in mind it is a learning hospital so they have a rotating schedule with attendings, fellows, residents, and med students. It is very up-to-date and advanced in every way. I was pretty amazed with the actual hospital. Hopefully you never have to be admitted, but if you ever are there are no shared rooms, they have a nurses union so no nurses are over staffed. Nurses do not do any sort of blood related procedures so my kiddo was never afraid of a nurse, well she didn't like the one nurse whom had to give her an NG Tube twice in one stay but for the most part they are very good at what they do and are not over worked. The food is excellent. They Child life department is wonderful. Don't ever go to Detroit Childrens Hospital downtown. No matter what! That was hands down the worst experience I ever had in my whole life it wasn't until I got to Motts that I realized how terrible of a place it really was!

Rowans surgeon is Dr. Meghan Arnold, I can't say a single bad thing about this woman I love her so much! She has a great bedside manner and is very good with Rowan. Rowan is very shy and when they met was a very scared little girl. She now talks to her and thanked her recently for fixing her belly.

Best of Luck, we are 35 minutes from Motts as well will you be East of it? We live in Taylor, what City are you moving to?
 
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Dr. Teitelbaum, whom I was told is awesome and has a wealth of knowledge behind him. With everything you kiddo has going on I would defiantly seek a consult with him if you can get it!!! He runs an intestinal rehabilitation program, I have met him once and I know he is very hard to get an appointment with. A nurse who's daugther has intestinal issues had recommended him to me. She told me he was the best but I don't have any real experience with him. Just the hearsay in the halls of Motts, he is highly respected amongst the surgeons. Only breifly spoke with him the one time when he was the attending while my DD was an inpatient he seemed pleasant and friendly. He works with the GIs for kids whom need both a GI and a surgeon. Which I am guessing you want his clinic CHIRP (Childrens Intestinal Rehabilitation Program)... (Dr Arnold also works in CHIRP. :)

http://surgery.med.umich.edu/pediatric/chirp/

His bio is...
http://surgery.med.umich.edu/pediatric/healthProviders/teitelbaum.shtml

He also has a laboratory...
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/teitelbaum/teitelbaum_laboratory_research

P.S. these would probably be why it is hard to get an appointment. You would probably qualify for the CHIRP clinic which would give you his undivided attention. ;)
 
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Oh and I am sure you are busy trying to move BUT after you arrive you can start the process for Childrens Special Health Care, I would contact the clinic nurse before your appointment and see if you can get that started. (That secondary insurance provided by the state that covered everything)
 
I'd recommend making the extra drive to the Cleveland Clinic. It is worth it. They go back and forth with the Mayo Clinic on being the #1 hospital for GI. They are considered by many as the best in the world for Crohn's Disease treatment. The doctors on staff literally wrote the textbooks used to teach about GI around the world.
 
purdueCrohns said:
If you need any contact information for the Cleveland Clinic, feel free to message me. One amazing thing about the Clinic, the Chief Medical Operations Officer is the guy who helped pioneer the biologic treatments.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff_directory/staff_display.aspx?doctorid=902
Click to expand...

I thought it was Cinncinati Colorectal center in Ohio that was for kids. I didn't think Cleveland Clinic saw kids. I could be wrong... I thought The Childrens Hospital in Cleveland was Rainbow Babies??? Are they under the umbrella of Cleveland clinic??? my Motts contacts said no, if we were to transfer for elevated level of care we would have ended up in Cincy with Dr Levitt and Péna.
 
I am 28 and still going to the peds group (My doctor wants to hang on to me until I finish grad school) :) They have a large peds group with a lot of Crohn's specialization. Dr Wyllie is regarded to by many as one of the best in the world. When I got sick in California, the panel of docs that saw me were arguing in front of me over who got to call him to consult. He developed the most widely used textbook in peds GI with a few others in the department. http://www.amazon.com/Pediatric-Gas...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370635393&sr=1-1

Their nursing team is absolutely fantastic. If you are having an issue between appointments you can call the nursing line. They will then work with the doctors and you to see if they need to adjust a treatment or schedule a response appointment.

They have a really nice procedure and remicade suite too. The kids get the procedures on the peds GI floor.
 
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Most insurance companies won't cover for her to leave the state for health care either unless it is an inpatient transfer and for an elevated level of care. Meaning her current doctors in state are stumped. I have a good friend whom has this issue they live in OH and come to Motts for their Daugthers Ebstein's anomaly (congenital heart defect) and they have been traveling for her care for 2 years now, and it is very costly unless she is inpatient. Granted she was an inpatient for the whole first year of her life.

www.miasbigheart.com

Feel free to check it out, she is an awesome little girl!
 
purdueCrohns said:
I am 28 and still going to the peds group (My doctor wants to hang on to me until I finish grad school) :) They have a large peds group with a lot of Crohn's specialization. Dr Wyllie is regarded to by many as one of the best in the world. When I got sick in California, the panel of docs that saw me were arguing in front of me over who got to call him to consult. He developed the most widely used textbook in peds GI with a few others in the department. http://www.amazon.com/Pediatric-Gas...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370635393&sr=1-1

Their nursing team is absolutely fantastic. If you are having an issue between appointments you can call the nursing line. They will then work with the doctors and you to see if they need to adjust a treatment or schedule a response appointment.

They have a really nice procedure and remicade suite too. The kids get the procedures on the peds GI floor.
Click to expand...

Are you still out of state? How does that work out?
 
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I live in Ohio. I have helped get people in from out of state though. It all depends on your insurance. I have a friend who is going to be coming from Virginia to the Clinic and it is fine with his insurance.

Cleveland has three hospital systems: Cleveland Clinic, Metro, and University (Rainbow Babies is in this system). Each is better at different things. Rainbow is ranked higher as a whole, but the Clinic has all the Crohn's/Colitis specialty. I have worked to get a few people transferred over from the other systems to the the Clinic for treatment. They all saw a higher level of care after the transfer. This includes one that was sick for years and saw remission for the first time in years after the transfer. The team at the Clinic helped pioneer using TNF-alpha inhibitors for the treatment of Crohn's Disease.

Under their care, I have been in remission for 12 years!
 
To draw a comparison to a ridiculous pop music song, I would catch a grenade for the Peds Gastro department at the Cleveland Clinic. I really do owe my life to that unbelievable team of doctors.

If you want a mom's perspective, I can PM you an email address for my mother. She would have equally as strong feelings towards that department. She worked with one of her coworkers to get her 2 kids with Crohn's into the Clinic. They really go above and beyond what is expected out of a doctor. They understand the mom component in a kid who is sick with Crohn's.

The Cleveland Clinic is in-network for most major insurance plans. I would call the insurance company and ask.

I can also say they were great when I wasn't local. I went away to college and worked away from home for long periods of time.
 
Wow, Thanks for all of the advice. I will definately check these places out and hopefully we will find a doctor that can help Zachary
 
Although you have to remember that those rankings are general GI and not specific specialties/diseases within them. It is a good starting point though.
 

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