Diane Roy's eyes get misty when she thinks about her son Jordan turning 18 on June 29th and having to see a new doctor. "It's kind of fearful to be transferred to someone who might not know Jordy. But Dr. Rubin took care of everything. It was very comforting to see that she had a handpicked team. They had thought of everything."

Jordan Roy is the first patient enrolled in a new program called Teens in Transit created by pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Karen Rubin. It establishes an infrastructure to provide care for kids with chronic diseases as they transition to adulthood.

Dr. Rubin has coordinated much of Jordan's care since he was an 11-month old baby. He had surgery and radiation to remove an astrocytoma, a brain tumor. Shortly after Jordan turned seven, the tumor returned and also affected his spine. After more surgery, localized radiation and chemotherapy, a host of metabolic problems plagued the boy.

Jordan's adrenal glands and thyroid are affected. His body is unable to regulate fluids. Jordan takes medication to control seizures. And he is on growth hormones and testosterone. His daily medication regimen includes 10 different pills and a complicated procedure that sprays some medication up his nose while he also swallows some of it orally. It is no wonder that Diane Roy makes a 50 mile drive one way from the family home in Belchertown, Massachusetts to see Dr. Rubin at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.

Dr. Rubin has been juggling his medications for the past 10 years," she says. Diane notes with a sense of awe that Jordan has not had to be hospitalized overnight at all during that time.

So the idea that Jordan would eventually need new doctors once he turned 18 could have been troubling. "It's very hard to think about your doctor going away. I know Jordy is already realizing it will be sad to see Dr. Rubin for the last time. I could not imagine how we would cope if they just gave us a list of names of new doctors." Diane learned that would hardly be the case. And she was not surprised that Dr. Rubin had organized what Diane calls Jordan's "tactical team of everybody it would take to keep Jordy going. I was comforted they had a good battle plan of all the things you have to keep track of. It's nice to know that working together as a team, everything has been transferred to the right person." Still Jordan's last appointment with Dr. Rubin on May 24 will be an emotional time for everyone. Jordan says, "I'll miss Dr. Rubin, I've been with her my whole life."