The Stories section of our blog is a place where we share stories about patient experiences. If you have a story you would like to share about your experience, we’d be glad to hear from you. Simply complete this online form to submit your own story for consideration. We also invite you to join us on our social networking sites at Facebook and Twitter to connect and learn more about health in the community.
56-year-old Franklin was legally blind in one eye due to cataracts. And, because of a large amount of astigmatism, she also had to wear thick, uncomfortable glasses.
Two years previously, Dr. Shiuey had performed a successful corneal transplant on Franklin. But now a worsening cataract threatened to steal Franklin’s sight. “I recommended a new astigmatism-correcting lens that would permanently fix her vision as well as her cataracts,” says Dr. Shiuey.
Longtime PAMF patient Jim Black, 73, takes good care of himself. He leads an active life and his health was always something he could rely on, until one Friday when his health took a dramatic turn for the worse.
“My first symptom was a tremendous fainting spell, and I literally collapsed on the floor,” says Jim. “I was able to reach a telephone and call 911. That triggered the entire response from the paramedics to El Camino Hospital in Mountain View and to PAMF vascular surgeon Robert Mitchell, M.D., to whom I owe my life.”
If you grew up in a beach town in the 1970s and 80s as I did, working on your summer tan was pretty much a rite of passage. Lie out, burn, tan, repeat. As teenagers, we never thought we’d have to worry about our skin later in life. Well, now it’s later in life and, at age 40, I am so happy to have met the wonderful dermatology staff at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
PAMF Dermatologist Dr. Kirstin Vin-Christian has been terrific at monitoring my skin for changes, and sure enough, she found some problems. One mole she had been watching, reached the point that it was a borderline melanoma – certainly progressing in that direction. Although the surgical excision was not exactly fun, she made me feel at ease by chatting about our kids throughout the whole process. She’s a lovely person and a terrific doctor. And now I tell every friend I grew up with back in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to go and get their skin checked! It could save your life.
Thank you to PAMF patient Melanie Norall for submitting this post to the “Stories” section of the PAMF blog.
As executive director of Familia Center, a family resource center for Latino families located in Santa Cruz, Yolanda Henry works every day advocating for people who often cannot speak for themselves. That’s why she takes her 84-year-old mother to the same Palo Alto Medical Foundation doctors she herself has trusted for the last 30 years. Henry knows that at PAMF, her mom’s doctors will take the time to carefully explain her mother’s medical condition and options to her in simple, unhurried terms she can understand, and often in her native Spanish. [Read more...]
“I leave the waves to my patients,” said Douglas Hetzler, M.D., FACS, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Palo Alto Medical Foundation Santa Cruz. But while surfing holds no allure for him personally, Dr. Hetzler, whose peers have dubbed him “Michelangelo of the Ear Canal,” has spent years perfecting a surgical technique to treat “surfer’s ear”-a serious auditory condition that robs surfers and kayakers of their hearing and, eventually, their sport. [Read more...]
Capitola resident Vincent P. Barabba made a career out of providing smart, reliable information using the latest technology. When it comes to his health, he wants the same service. That is why Barabba uses My Health Online to communicate with his PAMF doctors, request appointments, view test results, renew prescriptions, and stay on top of recommended screening tests and vaccinations. [Read more...]
What’s the best way to manage your family’s many health care needs when you are a busy mom with three young children under six?
PAMF patient, Ming-May Wu says it’s simple – just use My Health Online.
“Much of how we run our daily lives is through the Internet,” says Wu. “It’s just as critical to be able to manage something as important as my health care online, too. It’s simply the best way to do it.”
Wu has been using My Health Online, PAMF’s online patient service since 2009 for herself, her husband Andrew, Ina, 5, Aidan, 3, and Hannah, 3 months.
Whether it’s messaging with her doctors, making and canceling appointments, viewing her children’s health records or checking any test results, Wu makes full use of My Health Online’s convenient features.
As an experienced mother of two children, she thought she knew everything to expect during pregnancy. Not so. When she was expecting Hannah, she developed a thyroid condition and gestational diabetes.
“Both these health problems were new to me, and I had a lot of questions and concerns,” says Wu. “It was so reassuring to be able to use My Health Online’s messaging service to communicate with my doctors, get quick responses and my many questions answered.”
“As a busy mom with two small, active children, it was so convenient to be able to check my test results from the comfort of my home, when I had the time.”
Through My Health Online, Wu was also able to view any upcoming required prenatal tests or doctor’s visits and coordinate these to make the most efficient use of her time – and make sure her husband could take care of their children while she was at the doctor’s office or at the lab.
Now she loves being able to manage her children’s health care through My Health Online’s child proxy feature that provides instant access to her children’s medical records.
“I feel so much more in control of their health,” says Wu. “I can quickly see what issues each of my children has had in the past, what treatments and medications they received, and I can anticipate any upcoming health issues. I don’t have to try and remember and keep track of this myself.”
This is particularly important and helpful in regards to her middle child, Aidan, who has asthma.
“By being able to review his medical record, it’s much easier to remain in control of his asthma. We can quickly renew his medication and make sure we always have it on hand.”
Wu also feels My Health Online’s messaging feature has helped strengthen her and her husband’s relationship with their children’s pediatrician, Kenneth Vereshagin, M.D., at PAMF’s Santa Clara Center.
“Through My Health Online messaging we can stay in close contact with Dr. Vereschagin,” says Wu. “He always gets back to us quickly with answers to our questions, providing just the reassurance we need. He knows everyone in our family. As well as being our children’s trusted doctor he has become a family friend.”
Additional Information from the Wu’s on how they use My Health Online:
All my historical test results that occurred before the advent of MHO were fully integrated into my account when I signed up back in 2009. This allowed me to compare my thyroid values from the second pregnancy, to the third pregnancy, when I started to have a thyroid condition for the first time.
Similarly, I am using my husband’s historical results to track his lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides, cardiac risk, etc.) over the years and to make more targeted dietary goals to lower his risk.
When Tanuja Bahal and her family moved to Fremont 14 years ago from Dubai, finding good health care was a priority. She was expecting her second child in just a couple of months.
“Moving to a different country and expecting a baby – this was a very stressful time and a huge transition,” says Bahal, who is originally from New Delhi, India.
“I was glad to find PAMF’s Fremont Center and immediately receive excellent health care. My OB/Gyn doctor was so reassuring. Although up to this time I’d only received health care from female doctors, he instantly made me feel comfortable. He went out of his way to make sure I had all the information I needed.”
Since 2005 Bahal has served in variety of roles at the India Community Center in Milpitas, a not-for-profit organization that provides a comprehensive range of services, support and resources to Indians of all ages in the local community. Since July of 2010 she has been the center’s executive director.
“I’ve come a long way since I first arrived in the United States,” says Bahal. “But, there’s been one constant – I’ve been able to entrust my – and my families’ – health care completely to PAMF.”
Over the many years that Bahal, her husband Dinesh and children, Hiren, 20, and Siya, 14, have been PAMF patients, they have experienced excellent care from many PAMF doctors, nurses and other health experts in PAMF’s OB/Gyn, Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Pediatric Ophthalmology departments, as well as in PAMF’s ancillary services such as the Laboratory.
“It’s so convenient to have all these wonderful services close to home and easily accessible in one location,” says Bahal.
The entire family currently sees family medicine doctor Kuttancheri Rema, M.D., at the Fremont Center for their primary care.
“We all have a very comfortable, easy relationship with Dr. Rema,” says Bahal. “She knows who we are, is always ready to listen and extremely professional and capable.”
As long time PAMF patients Bahal and her family have also been able to build close relationships with some of their regular PAMF health care providers. For example, during yearly check up visits for Hiren and Siya with James Ahn, M.D., a pediatric ophthalmologist at PAMF’s Palo Alto Center.
“We see the same lovely nurse each year during our visit with Dr. Ahn,” says Bahal. “We really enjoy that personal connection and her interest in our family. It’s a great feeling when someone knows and cares about you.”
Firefighters are usually the ones to save lives. But for firefighter Randy Kelly, it was his family medicine doctor, Dr. Jeffrey Walton, who saved his.
In October 2009, Kelly, who has been a San Francisco Bay Area firefighter for the last 10 years, was in great shape. As well as the outstanding physical fitness required for his job, he was also training for an upcoming trail marathon in Susanville.
“I was at a training class for work and experienced terrible shooting pains in my temples and felt incredibly weak – I had never felt anything like this before,” says Kelly, recalling the moment he knew something was terribly wrong with his health.
“I thought my flying days were over, I really did. Until I met the doctors at PAMF,” says Eves Tall Chief. A highly skilled hang glider pilot for more than 30 years, Tall Chief felt his world was crumbling when a dislocated shoulder threatened to ground him for good. “But my PAMF doctors understood me and put me back together.” [Read more...]
Welcome! This blog is designed as a forum for engaging patients, their families and the community in conversations about health care, and to help promote health education and wellness with articles and tips from our doctors and staff from different departments. We welcome your comments and insight, however, please remember that this blog does not address specific patient medical issues or provide personalized medical advice. If you have a specific medical question, please contact your doctor directly.Thank you for visiting our blog.
