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Posted: 02/08/2023
As a primary care physician, Dr. Larissa Fordyce-Richards provides care to the people of Weston and the surrounding area every day. When her throat started to close while seeing patients, she trusted her colleagues at Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital to save her life. Dr. Fordyce-Richards, Co-Medical Director of Mon Health Primary Care, started her day like any other on January 12. She decided to grab overnight oatmeal and eat between treating patients at Mon Health Stonewall Primary Care a...
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Posted: 11/15/2022
Jodi Richardson and her husband were excited to welcome their first baby into the world. When it came time for her to pick a provider for her pregnancy and birth, Jodi trusted the team at Mon Health Obstetrics and Gynecology. “I appreciated the ‘small’ feel of the department, all of the wonderful postpartum resources provided, and the beautiful Family Birth Center where I would deliver. Not once did I second guess my decision,” she said. “Everyone truly cared about me and my baby, which is such a w...
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Posted: 10/04/2022
Jackie Hellyer is a mom of three, an avid runner, and a fourth-grade teacher. In 2022, she also became a breast cancer survivor. Jackie noticed a lump and scheduled a mammogram for July 5, 2021. Shortly after, she was informed by the team at Mon Health Cancer Center that she had HER2-positive, hormone-negative breast cancer. HER2 is a protein that helps cancer cells grow quickly, and these cancers tend to grow and spread faster than other breast cancers. “Hearing the words, ‘you have breast cancer’ is li...
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Posted: 07/11/2022
Aaron Hawkins wasn’t overly alarmed when he began using the bathroom more frequently, especially at night. His primary care provider prescribed medication to help the issue, but after some time, he decided to research the UroLift procedure. During that research, he found Dr. Shakuri-Rad, Urologist and Robotic Surgeon at Mon Health . “Dr. Rad did some testing after my first appointment and found a tumor in my prostate which had extended into my bladder. Further testing revealed that it was a stage III can...
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Posted: 05/24/2022
According to the CDC, an estimated 2.7 to 6.1 million people in the United States have Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). Steve Hedio Jr. was among this statistic and relied on blood thinners for nearly ten years before the Mon Health Heart & Vascular Center identified him as a candidate for the WATCHMAN procedure. AFib is a cardiovascular disease that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood normally. Many patients with AFib are at risk for a stroke when blood clots form in a small pouch of the left atriu...
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Posted: 03/02/2022
When Mon Health employee Correna Smithburger learned an old friend needed a lifesaving kidney donation in 2012, her immediate response was, “I’ll do it.” After not seeing each other for 15 years, Correna and her old friend finally reconnected on Facebook. This is when Correna learned that she was very ill with kidney disease and unable to find a compatible kidney donor, necessitating years of dialysis. Correna decided then to get tested to see if she was compatible as a donor. “Each week, I would go for...
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Posted: 02/15/2022
After realizing she was having a heart attack, Elizabeth Frum told EMS to take her directly to the Mon Health Medical Center Emergency Department. She went directly into surgery, with a team led by cardiologist Dr. Michael Englund and received two stents to relieve a blockage in an artery known as the widow-maker. Through her rehabilitation and recovery, her care team provided close medical monitoring, follow-up treatment, personal coaching, and lifestyle counseling to get her safely back on ...
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Posted: 02/01/2022
When Sandy Campbell began experiencing heart palpitations, she immediately knew that it could be a serious issue. After blockages in her heart were identified, she trusted the Mon Health Heart and Vascular team for her care. Sandy described the feeling of her heart palpitations as her heart "flip flopping" in her chest. She made an appointment with her primary care provider who scheduled an EKG and bloodwork to find the cause of the palpitations. Sandy had lost both her father and grandmothe...
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Posted: 01/07/2022
Mary Mazza Hendricks arrived at Mon Health Medical Center for her hysterectomy expecting to be back home within a day. But medical complications turned into a three-day hospital stay. "Apparently I have large blood vessels instead of small ones," Mary said, which required her physician, Dr. Susan Capelle, Mon Health Gynecologist , to take precautions that included two nights in the hospital. "I was scared, which shouldn't be surprising, since anxiety is a constant in my psyche," said Ma...
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Posted: 11/08/2021
Rita Lewellyn didn't think twice about the state of her health when she was grocery shopping back in August 2019. After an incident that sent her to the Emergency Room at Mon Health Medical Center, it was revealed that Rita had lung cancer. It was then that she decided to trust Dr. Ihtishaam Qazi and the Mon Health Cancer Center Team for her treatment and care. Rita was participating in her weekly shopping trip when she abruptly coughed up blood in the pharmacy. After her scary experience, the phar...