now I'm being admitted to U of Chicago Hospital

Sounds like you have a good plan in place. Good luck with the surgery!

Thanks everyone. I made it back home ok. I think I got caught up in medical politics over at U of Chicago. The surgeons take turns with which service is "on call," and the general surgeon, who is not an IBD surgeon, was the one on call. There is a team of three IBD surgeons who work at U of C. I said I wanted one of those three doctors and I was willing to wait for availability. The medical resident absolutely refused to even call them, saying that the general surgeon was perfectly capable to do my surgery and that is what they were offering. It was extraordinarily frustrating! So at 8:00 PM on Thursday night, I called my GI from my home town. He called me right back, and then called our local surgeon at home and made arrangements for my surgery on Tuesday here at home. I do think that my local GI has mis-managed my Crohn's disease to some degree, but he is exceptionally kind and caring, and he came through for me this time in a big way! Dr. Rubin never came to see me in the hospital. I only saw his resident, who was kind of a sarcastic jerk and difficult to work with.

So I did the best I could with my very assertive negotiating skills. I will continue to have Dr. Rubin's clinic make recommendations for follow up and surveillance of my Crohn's because I do think that he knows a lot more than my local GI. But I will have my kind GI for all the local stuff. I think my local doc is perfectly competent to do the follow up colonoscopy in six months, and stuff like that.

I am a well educated and very assertive person. I was telling my husband that a passive or un-educated person in this medical maze would have been mincemeat!! It really makes me angry!! Part of the reason I am assertive and well educated is because of all of you here on this forum, who have taught me so much over the years. I will be forever grateful that I found HW and as always, appreciate your support!!!

The medical resident absolutely refused to even call them, saying that the general surgeon was perfectly capable to do my surgery and that is what they were offering.

What a prat. And by prat I mean another 4-letter word ending and beginning with 't'.

I can't help wondering if people skills are inversely proportional to reputation: the better the reputation, the worse the people skills. At least that was how it was for my old hospital, St. Mark's. But I think everywhere suffers from bureacracy nowadays: 'medical maze' is the perfect description.

Wow again!  I am so glad you at least have an answer that is working for you.  I am thinking about you as you get ready----keep remembering that this is an option to end some of your struggles.

Now...hahahahahahaha...I laughed when you said the strictures came on suddenly.  We both seem to be very good at denial.  I seem to recall you have been having issues for quite some time progressing to this (I could be vicious and find all the posts )  I know this is the pot calling the kettle black, but hey that's one thing we can do for each other!

Thinking of you and wishing all of the best outcomes.

Hi Gumby- You sound like such an impressive person, and it seems that you are managing this situation both medically and interpersonally in a perfect fashion. I hope all hope all goes well with you and please continue to keep us posted.

Thanks Baraket and Beave,
I just found out from my local GI that no one from U of Chicago even called him, like they said they would. (I think the medical fellow who was assigned to the inpatient care dropped the ball.) Luckily, I got a copy of the films and hospital summaries to take with me so I will still be able to have surgery tomorrow. This has all been a tremendous amount of work and negotiating on my part. I still want Dr. Rubin's group to follow me and make ongoing recommendations for survelliance and treatment, because I do believe they have some expertise. I just sent Dr. Rubin and the two medical fellows who saw me there an e-mail requesting again that they send info to my local doc.
I met the local surgeon today and he was incredibly kind...let's just hope he's also skilled. My surgery is scheduled for 5:00 PM tomorrow since he added me on. He said it should take 2-3 hours and he will try to do it laprascopically, but there is always a chance he may need to do an incision. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes. When I am feeling up to it, I'll write after surgery.

Thanks Bareket1,
I'm really nervous, but I'm looking forward to getting it over with!! Dr. Rubin did send me an e-mail and said that he has been trying to reach my doc, and sent me his cell phone # to give to my GI. So I feel better about all that too. I'll write after surgery once I'm well enough. Thanks again to everyone.