I first met Irene when I was on the brink of despair of ever figuring out a solution for my daughter’s bowel issues. For the past year and a half my daughter had been on a wild roller coaster ride, complete with colonoscopies, monomatries, total clean outs, trying different meds and systems, to keep her bowels under control. By the time I got on the phone with Irene, officially just to arrange a consult about trying yet another system, my energies were totally depleted. My daughter, having to deal with the bowel issues 24/7 was anxious, not eating properly, not sleeping well, and generally – a mess. As I started speaking to Irene and telling her of our medical history, she actively listened. As I explained our frustration and despair, she validated. As I described M’s state of mind and stress level, she empathized, and then, she sprang into action. Irene updated the colorectal team on what we’d been through and offered suggestions as to other things we could possibly try. She made us a follow-up appointment in the next few weeks so we could regroup and reassess. She made it clear that we were going to support my daughter’s desire to go to college in NY and we were going to use every resource available to reach that goal. She was available constantly, for questions, concerns, always reassuring, giving us that boost when we were down. She then contacted a large colorectal team at Cincinnati’s Children's Hospital, to gain insight from them. She found out they were having a conference and she could present my daughter’s case to have many professionals chiming in. After getting our approval we started “Bowel Boot Camp”. A weeklong event that had us trying different medication, saline volumes, and nightly visits to the hospital to take x-rays to determine how successful we were. Every morning, Irene would get on the conference with the others to analyze the x-rays and discuss what to do further. Irene was in touch with us multiple times a day (!) to update us, encourage us, listen, and understand. Although the ‘boot camp’ was brutal, knowing that we had such an amazing cheerleader and such moral support made it doable. And now following the boot camp, Irene is still in touch daily. Helping us tweak and figure things out. I have never met a nurse who is so compassionate, so committed, and so invested in her patients. From staying up at night to make sure that the x-rays were taken to checking in via email at 5:50 am to see how the night went! We are so blessed and grateful to have Irene in our lives. She has literally transformed a situation that seemed dismal and dire, into one that has hope, light, and a beautiful future.