Kaweah Delta Patient Success Stories Search by Category: Select Spine Injury Stroke Heart & Vascular Orthopedics Neurosurgery General Care Cancer Care Shawn Myers SHAWN MYERS Good deeds do get rewarded. Visalia resident Shawn Myers can attest to that. As a goodwill gesture, Shawn prepared a meal of barbecue ... Read More Cancer Care Susan Geis Cancer Care Susan Geis was a hot and sweaty mess. She had just spent hours pulling weeds in her new Visalia home on a warm October afternoon when she came inside ... Read More Shelia Nelson Cancer Care Story: Sheila Nelson was living the good life. She and her husband, Steve, were retired, traveling and enjoying time with their children and ... Read More Shelly Cox Cancer Care The news wasn't completely unexpected, but still untimely, coming just a day after Shelly Cox celebrated her 44th birthday. Shelly had been ... Read More Bruce Livingston Cancer Care At Kaweah Delta, patients like Bruce Livingston can find cancer-fighting services provided by caring and supportive medical staff close to home. ... Read More Victoria Capello Cancer Care Victoria Capello knows firsthand how attitude can influence her health. Routinely, you will find her listening to country music to lift her spirit. ... Read More Kay Vandever Cancer Care “Cancer makes you more empathetic, kinder. I recommend to extend that kindness to your nurse, who is doing everything [he/she] can to help you. ... Read More Cassandra Baker Cancer Care “Initially I was going to hide and not tell anyone, not even my 25-year-old daughter. Dr. [Russell] Dounies convinced me to do otherwise and it ... Read More Felicia Mendoza Cancer Care Felicia’s journey started in June 2014 when after eight years in San Diego, she moved back to Visalia. In San Diego, she had been diagnosed with ... Read More Stacey Pownell Cancer Care Stacey’s journey started in 2017 after her move to Visalia, when she went to see Dr. William Holvik, who agreed that the dimple on her breast, ... Read More General Care Rose Marie Boen General Care When Rose Marie Boen needed a surgeon to remove gallstones, she turned to social media. After posting about her medical issue on Facebook, a consensus ... Read More Christina Tank General Care A pain-free existence has been a longtime coming for Christina Tank. Shortly after the emergency cesarean section delivery of her first child, Kellie, ... Read More Chris Morton General Care “I love you. I can’t breathe and I’m going to die.” Those were Chris Morton’s words on Sept. 6, 2016, to his wife Maddy, ... Read More Kristen Santos General Care It was May 3, 2016. Something wasn’t right. Kristen Santos knew it. She was dizzy and running a fever. It felt like the flu, but worse. Not well ... Read More Heart & Vascular Connie Pinedo Heart & Vascular Open Heart Surgery "Life is a collection of moments that fill the heart." Kaweah Delta's comprehensive cardiac services are close to ... Read More Annette McMasters Heart & Vascular Kaweah Delta Medical Center’s surgical team, in collaboration with vascular surgeon Dr. Omar Araim, is keeping Annette McMasters, 77, of ... Read More Coy Weldon Heart & Vascular Coy Weldon has twice witnessed a fellow senior softball player die at the field after suffering a heart attack during a game. The 79-year-old Orange ... Read More Noel Baker Heart & Vascular Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery The news from Noel Baker’s doctor wasn’t good, it was shocking. The 70-year-old Lindsay man was more ... Read More Marvin Phillips Heart & Vascular Heart attack survivor Marv Phillips put his race to recovery in the hands of skilled, board-certified cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and ... Read More Tom Schneider Heart & Vascular Tom Schneider played senior softball on some of the nation's best teams over the past 23 years before health issues derailed his 2017 season. But ... Read More Michael Ramirez Heart & Vascular Triple - Bypass Open Heart Surgery Like most men, Michael Ramirez is not one to cry. But on that day last September when the doctor delivered the ... Read More David Mitre Heart & Vascular Aortic Valve Repair It's hard for 30-year-old David Mitre to believe it really happened. Less than a year ago, he struggled with shortness of ... Read More Barbara Wong Heart & Vascular Coronary Artery Bypass Barbara Wong is pinching herself these days. Last summer, the retired school teacher's plans suddenly changed from a trip ... Read More Judith Kistler Heart & Vascular Cut, Color & A Stroke of Luck Strangely, on the day of her standing 4-week hair appointment, Judith Kistler’s arm was numb. “It felt ... Read More Maria Falcon Heart & Vascular Minimally Invasive Valve Replacement Maria Falcon of Tipton knew she had a problem with a heart murmur, but was unaware of the life-threatening nature ... Read More Ben Garcia Heart & Vascular The team that brought my heart back to life. Ben Garcia is one patient whose story illustrates why Kaweah Delta consistently earns ... Read More Penny MacDonald Heart & Vascular Cardiac Stent Penny MacDonald of Visalia is full of life and would never shy from starting conversations with strangers. However, an unforeseeable ... Read More Roy Dressel Heart & Vascular Roy Dressel takes pride in being in good shape and of quick wit. The jovial Visalia photographer has been a regular at his gym for 17 years. But in ... Read More Stephen Welch Heart & Vascular Breaking down barriers through surgery By weekday, Stephen Welch is a courier; by weekend, he’s head usher at First Presbyterian Church where he ... Read More Lee Guild Heart & Vascular Dr. Erik Miguel should have been home. Actually, the emergency medicine doctor could have been working anywhere but Visalia after completing Kaweah ... Read More Neurosurgery Steve Armagost Neurosurgery Fathers dream of walking their daughters down the aisle. Seven weeks before living that dream, Steve Armagost heard the crack. Steve was in an attic, ... Read More Samuel Franco Neurosurgery Kaweah Delta’s emergency trauma services unexpectedly meet weekend warriors, like Samuel Franco, when the risks of adventure are greater than ... Read More Remigio Florez Neurosurgery “I have 100 percent confidence in Kaweah Delta’s neurosurgery program. I believe, given the circumstance, I had the best possible ... Read More Orthopedics Bob Chavez Orthopedics It would be an understatement to say Bob Chavez loves Disneyland. Before moving to Visalia in 2000, the 62-year-old social worker spent nearly every ... Read More Jesús Gamboa Orthopedics After 45 years of running and the injuries that go with anyone’s sport of choice, Jesús Gamboa, 64, was no stranger to pain. He had ... Read More Mary Akin Orthopedics Shoulder and Knee Replacement When Mary Akin’s knee, then shoulder began keeping her from her favorite activities, she looked to Dr. Bruce Le to ... Read More Austin Albison Orthopedics Knee Surgery Austin Albison's injury didn't sideline him during his senior year of high school football, but it did leave him with a nagging ... Read More Dennis Durbin Orthopedics After 36 years of teaching at Porterville High School, Dennis Durbin was looking forward to enjoying retirement with family and enjoying his favorite ... Read More Charles Cooper Orthopedics Knee Replacement Surgery Charles Cooper, of Exeter, needed a knee replacement. But when he chose Kaweah Delta, his local hospital, he didn’t ... Read More Steve "Doc" Blizzard Orthopedics Knee Replacement Surgery When you are responsible for directing overall farming operations for Lagomarsino Group, a major agricultural services ... Read More Gary Rosenberger Orthopedics Partial Knee Replacement Gary Rosenberg’s mind was made up. Yeah, he was 62, but age and a balky knee wouldn’t slow down this ... Read More Megan Taylor Orthopedics Shoulder Surgery Megan Taylor, of Hanford, has a reason to cheer again thanks to a successful double shoulder surgery performed by Dr. Bruce Le at ... Read More Glenda A. Orthopedics Glenda Armstrong isn't the kind of teacher who sits behind a desk all day. The long-time educator prefers to stand up, walk around and interact ... Read More Marcos Reyna Orthopedics The only thing Marcos Reyna values more than his family is his work. So when a head-on collision threatened to take him away from both, the skilled ... Read More Spine Injury Doug Henderson Spine Injury When Doug Henderson, 68, of Exeter, accidentally stepped off of a roof on April 9, 2012, he had no idea that he would step into an entirely new life ... Read More Stroke Felix Quintero Stroke Feb. 13, 2018, is a day that Felix Quintero will not soon forget. It was the day he had a stroke at age 36. “I was scared, confused and ... Read More Agnes Dias Stroke Strokes can happen anytime, anywhere In fact every 40 seconds in the U.S. That’s why it’s important to know the symptoms – facial ... Read More
