Anne Brower made a gift to the foundation, recognized our staff, and highlighted Michael Welker, MD; advanced wound care; and vascular surgeon Julie Gilkeson, MD, for the treatment her father received. Anne has been quoted as saying, “The Sycamore staff was so great with my father. It was as if they were dancing with the care.”
Her story is as reads below:
“I’m happy to be here to personally express our family’s gratitude for the care you provided my father in August 2018 during his total hip journey.
My 88-year-old father, who is struggling with some dementia, needed a total hip replacement. Our journey at Sycamore started with Dr. Welker. I can’t say enough about this man, this doctor, this healer. Thank you for your incredible bedside manner, for talking to and with my dad. Thank you for being interested in him and making my dad feel well, like a normal person. Dr. Welker told my dad, who is a chemist, he could tell he was a smart man. This made my dad’s day because my dad doesn’t feel so smart these days. They talked about his farm, crops, and garden. Thank you! Thank you for touching my dad’s soul.
Dr. Welker was confident he could help him walk again and repair his hip. Dr. Welker noticed a wound on his leg that had been trying to heal for several weeks. He said, ‘I know someone who can take care of this,’ and asked if we could hang around, as he was going to see if he could get us in to the wound clinic with Dr. Gilkeson that same day, because my dad lived an hour away.
Wow—he got us into her clinic immediately. It was close to lunch hour and, being a nurse myself, I was thinking these people aren’t going to be so happy that they have to slide someone in before lunch.
Well, I was wrong—we checked in and didn’t even have time to sit as they called my dad in. We were met with big smiles and ‘How are you doing?’ We had a team of at least four nurses and staff. It was a well-oiled machine as they brought my dad on the table, socks off, scrubbing, taking my dad’s information, and asking how it happened. It was all smiles as if they were dancing through their job. It felt like we were in a musical versus a doctor’s office.
Dr. Gilkeson came in, treated my dad with extreme kindness, assured him she’d have his leg ‘good to go’ for surgery in August, and she never knew he was an ‘add on.’ We were treated like VIPs. Dr. Gilkeson, hats off to you! For your staff to be ‘dancing through their work’ means they have a great leader and love what they do!
Last but not least, thank you to the staff on the ortho floor. I wrote a letter to their manager because I was so impressed with the care we received. The surgery was a great success by Dr. Welker. After surgery, Dad struggled with a break in reality and with surgery. His new hip was great, but his mind was not.
The nurses and technicians who cared for my dad were incredible! They responded to call lights every five minutes. On one day, my dad needed a lot of attention. There wasn’t one complaint from the staff—not one. They came in to assist as if it was the first time he called. He was difficult, and they earned every penny those two days he was there. Wow, we received incredible care—thank you!
Our family is so grateful for the total care you all gave, and it will never be forgotten. Thank you!”