Kerry
Harthcock, MD
Yakima, Washington
As a long-time pediatrician in Yakima, Washington,
Dr. Kerry Harthcock has relied on Airlift Northwest to transport
many of
his young patients. But last February, the doctor became the
patient when he developed acute abdominal pain. “When he
said it’s time to go to the hospital, I knew it was serious,” recalls
his wife Gayle. Emergency room physicians helped relieve his
severe pain and arranged to have Kerry, now unconscious, transported
by Airlift Northwest to Virginia Mason Medical Center. There
an abdominal surgeon determined that Kerry had a ruptured bowel,
and he was rushed to emergency surgery. He had follow-up surgery
several weeks later, to help prevent a recurrence. “It
was pretty scary,” recalls Gayle. “We almost lost
him.” Today, Kerry still bears the scars of his ordeal,
but he’s back to his active life and pediatrics practice—with
a new perspective he gained as a patient. “Now I try to
be a better communicator with my own patients.” Kerry also
learned not to take his life for granted. “It’s important
to reconnect with what really matters,” reflects Kerry. From
Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital (Yakima, WA) to Virginia Mason
Medical Center (Seattle, WA)
(More
patient and partner stories here)
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