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Dear friends,

I can really use your collective help. My oldest daughter (age 10) has been
ill since January with unrelenting and intense stomach pains, reflux,
intermittent diarrhea and lots of gas.  After numerous tests, including two
endoscopy's, a colonoscopy, MRI, upper GI, and many stool and blood tests to
name but a few, remains undiagnosed.  My youngest daughter and I both have
biopsy-proven Celiac.

Here's the story:  In mid-January a nasty virus hit my daughter's school.
Over 20% of the students were out sick with 101 fever and headache which ended
after five days.  On the fifth day, my daughter - and two other kids and one
other adult who live in the same town as us, developed intense stomach pains,
gas, and reflux.  After the first week of stomach pain, our pediatrician had
an ultrasound done.  No results.  By the tenth day, she was in so much pain
(and had lost a lot of weight) that we had her checked in to Children's
Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

While at Children's, she had every imaginable test done, and they couldn't
find anything.  It was a horrific experience, which was capped off by the
Pediatric Gastronenterologist telling my daughter that the pain was
psychogenic in nature. Meanwhile the other four people in our town with the
same symptoms were encountering similar experiences with other doctors.

After Children's we went to The University of Chicago.  Better treatment, more
tests, same results.  During this time she had tried numerous antibiotics and
medicine for the reflux.  Since January there have been some modest
improvements.  The reflux has gone from many times a day to once every third
day or so. The diarrhea comes only every once in a while.  The gas seems a
little less.  She has put on most of the weight she had lost, however, she
still claims to be in the same amount of pain - as do the other four people.

We have checked for parasites and everything else you can think of.  We have
gone for second, third, and fourth opinions.  We have even tried some
alternative medicine.  Actually the best thing we did was get a puppy.  Her
pain didn't improve but her attitude really did get a lot better.

She is a brave and tough little girl who is in a lot of pain.  Any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.

Mark Achler