Chicago information needed

Hi there..I'm from the suburbs of Chicago. Evanston is not to far from the city. I had my surgeries done at Northwestern in Chicago. If you'd like my surgeons name you can pm me. As far as GI's I would recommend university of Chicago. They have the best GI staff that is very familiar with j pouch as they work very close with their colorectal surgeons. although geographically not the best as its further south of the city of Chicago. Again I have been there and would recommend a GI if you'd like. If you want more info regarding this I'd be more than glad to talk to you. Additionally Evanston hospital has some real good GI's as well. I haven't been to anyone there but know of people who have. I have the names of those GI's and surgeons too.

I had a 3-step performed in 2008-09 at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The surgeon was Konstantin Umanskiy. All of it was performed laproscopically.

For surgeons I would recommend Stephen Stryker at Northwestern Memorial Hospital downtown (not Evanston campus). For GIs, Russell Cohen at U of C deals extensively with j-pouches. Mick Meiselman, a GI near Evanston, is also excellent, although I don't know if he works with many pouchers.

My best friend has many autoimmune problems and she goes to Univ or Chicago. I don't know if her GI deals with j-pouches but she does specialize in absorption matters.

I live close and have spent many fine Saturday's at ryan field watching NU play. It's a great area and I have many friends there. The hospital that is near campus in Evanston is northwestern hospital and it's part of the northshore network and ironically not affiliated with northwestern university. Instead it's tied to the university of Chicago's med school. Just because it'll be local to her and easy to get to in a pinch I'd recommend that for GI. In particular I'd recommend for you Dr. Laura Bianchi who is a young doctor but did her fellowship with Bo Shen at the pouch clinic in Cleveland. I currently see another northshore Dr. who is ok, but he recommended her to me when I was having some advanced problem. I never saw her as I got control of my pouch, but she came highly recommended.

Northwestern University's hospital affiliate is northwestern memorial and they're on the loop campus downtown. Your daughter would have to drive or take the train. Figure roughly 45-60 minutes by train from campus, 30-45 by car with normal traffic. There may or may not also be some kind of campus transport I'm not aware of. University of Chicago's main center is south of the loop which is far from where she'll be. Easily over an hour by train and probably around the same by car, but in terms of surgeons that's the place to be in my opinion. It's also currently under major renovations that are supposed to bring it up into the leading edge of hospital design when they're done.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me

Thank you all for your responses!

This is the first time she will be living that far away from home, undergrad was just an hour away and she did her master's at nyu and then commuted from home, so naturally with her extensive health history the past 20 years, we are both a little scared but hopeful that all will be fine in Chicago. I have always been able to go with her through all this and she will not know anyone out there, but our plans are to make an appointment that week when I help her move out there and that way she will have a dr already. Her health has not been the best, but we remain hopeful and she is determined to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity!

She sees her local NY GI on Tuesday and will ask him about the names all of you have so graciously offered. He was recommending Dr. Rubin at University of Chicago, but that sounds like it may be too far away? Does anyone know of him? She will not have her car out there and will rely on public transportation.

Thank you!

I just blew through some of your old posts, I forgot all the problems she had/has been having. They might want her at UoC. If so it is possible to get there by transit but it'll be a multi transfer trip and will not be a quick one.

You can also looking into zipcar and igo which are all over out here. Basically you pay a yearly membership fee and then can rent cars by the hour. gas and insurance are included. I use zipcar for the few days a year I actually need a car during the week while my wife has ours at her office. There are locations in parking lots all over the place.

I was thinking Dr Rubin as well. I'm no expert but I've been in touch with him about his research in the past and he was very thorough and prompt in his reply (of course he didn't have to be). He seemed like a really nice guy and he's the head, I believe, at U of C - he might be worth the trek and hopefully she won't need to see him much.

We had no idea it was so far away, U of C. It will be a hassle to get to, maybe a cab, she doesn't drive much around here. Hope she will not have to go too often.

Kill, did you email with Dr. Rubin? Her drs now are in NYC so she does a lot of phone/emails with them to cut down on the commute.

Hope her health changes for the better real soon.

Thank you for the information.

The University of Chicago is the best place to go for IBD or J-pouch related issues. However, it is not an easy trip from Evanston.
(And it involves going through some rough neighborhoods).

That being said, Dr. Hanauer is considered a god by all his patients. Drs. Rubin and Cohen are his proteges - but they all seem to have limited clinic hours and frequently run late.

Fortunately, Evanston Hospital (a few blocks from Northwestern University's main campus)is now affiliated with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, so it may be possible for her to see Dr. Rubin but also have a local doctor for routine visits, lab work and, if needed, emergency treatment.

I've heard that Evanston Hospital (part of North Shore University Health System) has attracted some IBD specialists in the past few years. (Dr. Meiselman who was mentioned by another poster, has, unfortunately, left private practice.)

We did not have great experiences with the IBD Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The head gastro left and I don't think anyone took his place. As for surgeons at Northwestern, Dr. Styker had been recommended for J-pouches, but he doesn't participate in any insurance programs. Halverson and McGee were both Cleveland Clinic trained.

As you can see, we have made the rounds. My son is now a grad student in Chicago, but he grew up near Evanston.

Please let me know if you have any questions - I've sent my e-mail in a PM as I'm not on this site very often.

Thank you all for your replies and pm's. I have MANY questions and concerns about this move away, especially with her past health issues, hoping they are in the past.

I am going to pm back the individuals that pm'd me with some addition questions since you have been so generous with your offers!

For the group - I was wondering if my daughter was to use someone close to campus, as suggested, for routine visits, but also hopefully have Drs. Rubin or Cohen if needed, does anyone know or have experience with Dr. Eugene Yen from the North Shore Med Grp? I looked at that group online and saw Dr. Laura Bianchi, who Lion suggested, and also saw Dr. Mick Meiselman, who Ray suggested, but I also saw Dr. Yen, who out of the 3 of those drs listed was the only one who had IBD, crohns and UC, listed as a specialty.

I guess this is going to be a little more involved, kinda like what we have at home, a hour or more trip into the city for the drs. only thing is she will be making it all alone if there is an issue and she has no one local to campus.

Thank you!

Of those just based on education I'd go with Dr. Bianaci. Although she doesn't have IBD listed on her main page, on this Bio page she does.
http://www.northshore.org/gast...erology/specialists/
She was also chief GI fellow at CC and I know has a personal relationship (according to my Dr.) with Bo Shen.

Dr. Meiselman also has his office location listed as Kenilworth, which is a jog north from evanston, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't see patients at evanston hospital at least a couple of days a week.

Just my two cents.