Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Take a look at her blog archive and follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
My daughter was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease last week.
This is a tough diagnosis to get. Crohn’s is a type of inflammatory bowel disease. There are lots of good treatments and reasons to be optimistic, but it is a disease that can bring pain and risk—and it is forever. There is no cure.
Michaela’s had stomach problems for years that have never been fully clear, despite various appointments and tests. Things had seemed better, although she still had vague complaints that came and went. At the end of her winter college break, she told me about some new symptoms. I thought about calling her pediatrician and the pediatric gastroenterologist she’d seen, but Michaela is 20 years old. It was time, I decided, to officially move her out of pediatric care and into adult care. With the help of writing colleague and All-Around Great Person Dr. Lori Tishler, she quickly got appointments with an internist and gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, right near her college campus. Full story »
Children’s Judith Palfrey, MD, FAAP, 
