Colleen saw the gastro doctor on Friday February 10th. She is going to be in the operating room next Tuesday February 21 to be scoped "both ends". Scheduled time is 10 AM. Her diarrhea continues, when we stopped the immodium (per doctor's orders) diarrhea poured out of her, so it isn't the magnesium after all and the immodium definately helps her. They are concerned that she has GVH (graft vs. host disease) in her gut. We are asking for prayers. She was scopped and biopsied last October and she "looked" like GVH, but the biopsies were all negative for GVH. Please pray for her, GVH is BAD BAD BAD. Sometimes in a cancer bone marrow transplant (BMT) they want a "little bit of GVH" to get the body fighting, but NOT in sickle cell transplants. If this is GVH, she will be treated very agressively, and WITHOUT the immune system "immuno-suppressants", and her risks will increase a hundred fold.

Mark won't be here this week. We had our summer vacation pre-empted by the corrupt child welfare system when they tried to take our foster son away from us last June (still not adopted, but still with us). Mark is taking three of our boys to Florida today to see our oldest son Mike, who is working at Disney World. So, daddy won't be here when Colleen goes to the operating room Tuesday. I would NOT let him reschedule the trip, and the airfare is not refundable, and it took six weeks to get travel authorization for our foster son, and we NEED a vacation even if it is only half of our children still at home, etc.

Here's the "bitchy" mom (also known as "Mrs Sweetman you are such a good advocate for your daughter"). Colleen's BMT doctors wanted her to see the GI doc immediately after her February 7th BMT clinic appointment, as she had STOPPED eating and was LOSING weight again, and we tried stopping IMMODIUM which made her worse. I called GI and they said "We will see her the end of MARCH." Unbelieveable, because the receptionist can't get her an earlier appointment. So I didn't argue, just called her BMT doctors. THEY made her an appointment for Friday the 10th. (Why do parents have to pull rank to get the medical care required?) She saw the GI doctor and he wanted her back within two weeks, he did NOT want to "wait" too long. I went to check out to make the follow up appointment and they couldn't give me an appointment in two weeks, "We can see her back in April", so I said I would call back the next week, which I did without success. I told her BMT doctors that the GI doc wanted to see her by February 24th, but they won't give me an appointment until APRIL. BMT concured that was inappropriate and told me to call GI back. I called back and STILL, "Let me schedule her for April, and then we can change it later" says the receptionist. I told her that won't work, and hung up without a follow up appointment for Colleen. So I called the BMT doctor back and told them I couldn't get a follow up GI appointment, strike three for mom. BMT called the GI doc, and she got not only the appointment, but the surgery scheduled one week later. Do receptionists think we are LYING when we say the doctor wants our child seen within such and such a time frame? WHAT is their problem? Are they incapable of just picking up the phone and ASKING the doctor if he really said this patient needs an appointment by this date?

For the record: Colleen's pediatrician and the whole staff at that office are WONDERFUL. Colleen's hematologists and the whole staff at that office were WONDERFUL, and we still attend the monthly support group. Colleen's BMT doctors and the whole staff there are WONDERFUL. Colleen's inpatient doctors (only one exception) and the entire staff on 7 Mott are WONDERFUL. The GI staff, NOT.