Diagnosed with a very serious antibiotic-resistant infection, Debe Soule was given only a twenty percent chance of survival when she arrived at Lakeside Hospital.  Throughout her lengthy stay, Debe’s family tirelessly stayed by her side – day and night - while her physicians collaborated to ensure that she received the best treatment possible.  While she battled for her life, Debe’s grandchildren visited her daily where they watched Sesame Street from her post intensive-care bed. To Debe, it was crucial to have her family and friends present and she is thankful to the staff at Lakeside for allowing her healing-environment to be uniquely her own – one that was perfect for Debe and allowed her to make a complete recovery. 

Debe has been in an out of hospitals all of her life and she has never encountered a hospital as unique and extraordinary as Lakeside.  From the dietary employee who made Debe a smoothie when nothing else sounded appetizing to the ICU nurses who were dedicated to providing a personalized healing environment, Debe said that “they went above and beyond anything she could ever expected.”

In 2006, Barb Grimes of Council Bluffs was diagnosed with breast cancer.  After a lumpectomy to remove the tumor and a lengthy series of radiation therapy, life for Barb returned to normal.  Until this past February when doctors found a large mass in Barb’s stomach – that mass tested to be ovarian cancer.  Determined to win the battle against cancer yet again, Barb was aggressive in her treatment.  She had a total hysterectomy and underwent six rounds of Chemotherapy. 

Overwhelmed and afraid with her diagnosis, Barb had remembered seeing a commercial about a nurse navigator program offered to cancer patients at Alegent Health.  In order to access the nurse navigator service - the only service like it available in the area - Barb decided to transfer her care from another local health system to Alegent Health. 

Kristin, Barb’s nurse navigator, helped ease Barb’s fears about her illness, coordinated and attended all physician visits and explained things in terms that Barb could understand.  Now, a trusted friend, Barb looks forward to seeing Kristin again at her three month check-up in October.  It was traumatic for Barb when her hair started to fall out.  Kristin referred Barb to Beki, the Clinical Cosmetologist at the Image Recovery Center.  Beki shaved Barb’s head and helped Barb find the perfect wig, as well as lots of fun new hats.  It was important to Barb that she did not look sick; the wigs and the hats have helped her to do just that. 

I feel lucky being healthy for the 31 years of my life!  I am Sheri from Council Bluffs where I live with my husband, Trent. I like to live my life carefree, but soon realized that a carefree lifestyle can change in one doctor appointment. 

I had felt a lump in my breast in October 2008 during a self breast exam.  I ignored it and did nothing out of fear- until my annual appointment 4 months later. The lump had grown rapidly and it was significant in size. My OB/GYN scheduled me for an ultrasound the next day.

I was informed of the next steps of biopsy and surgery. My mind started to go into overload- I did not know what it all meant or if I was going to be okay. I needed someone to put all the pieces together for me.  I had heard about the Breast Health Center at Lakeside, so I picked up the phone and just called.  I was emotionally a mess when I was connected with Patti, a Nurse Practitioner.  She was so kind and scheduled me to see Dr.John Shook, the Breast Surgeon.  Patti said they would take care of me. I truly felt I was in good hands and I took a big sigh of relief. 

After the biopsy, I was anxious to hear the diagnosis. The next day I got a call from Dr. Shook explaining that it was benign, but the lump would need to be removed.  He was so thorough and made sure I understood the next steps.  Since it was benign, I thought that there was no hurry to have the surgery. However, my husband and the Breast Health Center staff were persistent and made sure the surgery was done without delay. 

Surgery day arrived and I was ready for it to be over.  My nurse Sue was quick to notice my uneasiness and she talked to me until my fears subsided.  Throughout the whole procedure, they kept in touch with my comfort and shared information about my care. Dr. Shook and the medical professionals worked well together and kept me in the loop, so that I too felt I was a part of the team.

More than a 4cm benign phyllodes tumor was removed from my right breast.  This type of tumor is very rare. If I would not have taken action, and gotten the support of the Breast Health Center - I could be fighting a bigger battle with breast cancer.

Health is not something I will gamble with again.  I was dealt a lucky hand of good health and I will let it ride!  

— Sheri

I’m a mother of 3, working full-time in a very demanding job. Like most women my age with children, I always put them first. They had their regular check-ups and all the necessary preventative care, but I couldn’t say the same for myself. I saw an OBGYN annually and found a doctor that would see me and prescribe antibiotics when I had a sinus infection – that was my health care in a nut shell.

I didn’t realize how important it was to have a primary care physician until I started getting shooting pain in my face and jaw about 2 years ago. I had no idea where to go, who to see or what to do and I was pretty sure my OBGYN couldn’t help with this one. I started with my dentist who couldn’t determine a reason for my pain. He sent me to an endodontist who couldn’t find anything either. At this point I was in so much pain, I knew I needed relief. I went to an Alegent Health Clinic physician who gave me a prescription to try and ease the pain and referred me to a neurologist who confirmed the diagnosis we both suspected – Trigeminal Neuralgia, also know as the suicide disease. The pain with this disease is progressive so I knew it would get worse over time.

Unfortunately, confirming the diagnosis didn’t fix anything. The medications I took were not effective at all. There were lots of options to treat the pain, and all kinds of opinions available via the internet – very scary ones. The neurologist I saw would only talk about treating the pain with medications and the neurosurgeons would only talk about surgical options, so what I needed was someone to help me navigate the system and weigh my options. Dr. Benes with Alegent Health Clinic did just that. She warned me about the horrible side effects of the last drug I could try and gave me the courage to seriously consider a surgical option called microvascular decompression (brain surgery).

At this point, the pain got so bad that it began affecting my daily life in a big way. I couldn’t make it through a phone conversation or meeting at work without grabbing my face to try and ease the pain. I couldn’t help my daughters with their homework at night because it hurt too much to talk and I would scare my 4 year old when I could do nothing but scream into a pillow because of the pain. The final straw was the night I was up late working on the computer and it hurt so bad that my husband caught me crying and banging my head against the desk to try and take the pain in my face away. At this point he realized how bad it was and told me I needed to do something – even if it meant brain surgery.

It’s hard to admit this, but even though I work for Alegent Health, when I started looking into surgery, I went to another healthcare organization in town first. To say the least, I didn’t receive the personalized care I expected. I was familiar with the care delivered at Alegent Health and expected nothing less. Believe it or not, I felt like the type of brain surgery I needed wasn’t scary enough to excite anyone there. I left feeling more apprehensive than I was before the appointment – it was a giant set back for me.

After this appointment, I took a step back and realized that if brain surgery was my best option to become pain free, I needed to have it done where I was comfortable, where I knew I would receive excellent care from people who cared about me as a person, not just a patient or a big ticket procedure. I worked backwards by deciding first where I wanted to have my surgery - Alegent Health Bergan Mercy Medical Center. This was where I had back surgery in college, delivered my last child and saw many family members receive excellent care. After convincing myself Bergan was where I wanted to have the surgery, I found an excellent surgeon – Dr. Doran, who would perform it there. Ultimately, I was putting my life in the hands of these individuals so I needed to be comfortable with the hospital, the surgical team and the surgeon.

Once I had my mind made up, there was no looking back. I knew I was doing the right thing even though I was scared to death. The thought that kept crossing my mind was – “What mother with 3 young children has elective brain surgery?” But I knew the answer was – “A mother that wants to live again and whose children and husband want their mother and wife back.” My family was less afraid of brain surgery than the thought of what would happen to their mom if she didn’t have the surgery.

As you can imagine I was a bit emotional the morning of surgery, but the staff at Bergan had the ability to put themselves in my shoes and completely understand how I was feeling and what I was about to go through. A family friend and longtime surgical nurse, Mary Ellen came to see me before surgery, held my hand and hugged me like I was her own daughter. She assured me she would be with me in surgery and would not let anything happen to me. From that point on, I knew everything would be ok. I don’t remember this very well, because at this point the drugs started kicking in, but I told Mary Ellen I wanted the A team in surgery with me that day and she made sure they were. During my stay at the hospital, the “A Team” even sent me a card they all signed to wish me well.

I woke up from surgery completely pain free except for the spot where they cut into my head – that hurt a little but it was nothing compared to the pain before surgery. I was in the hospital for six days recovering and went from the ICU to a regular patient room. My ICU nurse was a former college friend who I was surprised to see in nursing because she had a business degree. She missed her calling the first time around, but she’s definitely in the right field now. She made me feel like I was her only patient while I was there.

The nurses and aides that cared for me the remainder of my stay were wonderful too. I was a pretty low maintenance patient, but I couldn’t stand just lying around. My being low maintenance was a perfect opportunity for them to just do what they needed to do with me - drugs and vitals and spend more time with their more needy patients, but that wasn’t the case. They stopped in every time they had a free moment and took me for walks – this is what kept me sane! They were all great and fun to chat with during our walks.

What started out as a painful experience for me and my family ended up remarkably. My pain is gone and my life is back. And I truly believe I work for the best health care system on the planet. As a marketing strategist for Alegent Health, I write and say a lot of great things about the organization – now I know they’re all true. The people who cared for me had no idea I worked for Alegent yet they treated me like I was a VIP. I truly believe our caregivers treat everyone who walks through our doors like a VIP - a very important patient.

– Lisa

Joyce had never really performed breast self-exams, even though she knew she should. One day she noticed a lump on her breast. After a visit with her doctor, she was scheduled for a mammogram and biopsy. Less than 48 hours later, her doctor called. Joyce was at the grocery store at the time, and requested to receive the results right away. The doctor told her that she had cancer and she later learned it was Stage 3 breast cancer.

Joyce felt very strongly about her responsibility to be informed about her treatment options, and did a lot of her own research. Joyce had read about TomoTherapy in her research. Joyce’s hairdresser gave her a business card from one of his other clients, Dr. Keit, a radiation oncologist at Alegent Health. When Joyce and Dr. Keit finally met, Dr. Keit confirmed that TomoTherapy was a great option for treating Joyce’s case.

When Joyce started chemotherapy, her husband helped her shave her head. She went to the Image Recovery Center to find wigs that made her feel more like herself.

Today, Joyce serves on the Patient Advisory Board at Alegent Health as a way to help continually look at cancer treatment and how to make it better for the patient. She also encourages others to take the time for preventive care.

Joyce now focuses on slowing down to enjoy her life, and has taken up boot camp workouts and jogging. She credits her husband, son, friends, family and her church for support throughout her recovery.