Dear Morrow County Citizens,
Recently we had to use the services of the Morrow County Hospital ER due to an infection my husband couldn’t fight naturally. He is a chemo patient and any time he has a fever above 100.4 degrees, he has to go to the nearest ER. If his infusion pump of which he is on for a 46 hour period becomes disengaged or starts beeping, we have to go to the nearest ER. Continual vomiting or diarrhea warrants a trip to the nearest ER.
In November, we went to the ER due to chills and a high fever. We were greeted at the hospital by friendly staff members who quickly got us into an exam room. There we met Dr. Ayub, Jerry G., Lexie H., Jarvin and Jen. This team moved into action getting Jim set up with antibiotics and fluids. Dr. Ayub called our oncologist in Cleveland and together they laid out a plan to make Jim as comfortable as possible.
Eventually he began to feel better and was taken by squad to University Hospital (UH) where Jim is participating in an immunotherapy clinical trial. Our drivers, Deanna and her co-worker were wonderful themselves and they made the one hour and 50 minute drive up to UH safely. It was 10 p.m. when we got Jim tucked into his room and it would be midnight before the ladies got back to Morrow County.
This past February, Jim once again had a high fever and vomiting this time. Off to the Morrow County Hospital ER and the processing of getting Jim into a room happened quickly again. Dr. Ayub was there to greet us and even remembered us from our November visit. Laura N. took care of Jim while in the ER giving him fluids and antibiotics until he could be moved to the ICU overnight as University Hospital did not have a bed available at the time. Mary, then Diane C took over his care until the following night when John and his co-worker drove Jim back up to University Hospital in the freezing rain.
The cultures taken at Morrow County Hospital revealed that Jim was fighting a bacteria and a virus. The antibiotic given Jim right after he was admitted, had killed the bacteria by the time he arrived at UH. Holly T. called us to tell us the names of the bacteria and virus to pass on this information to the attending doctor until she could fax all the blood culture findings to the head of Infectious Diseases at UH.
When the fax didn’t go through on Friday, Mike P. contacted Holly T. and she faxed the information again on a Saturday morning. A huge medical/teaching facility accepted the results from our own Morrow County Hospital without having to do additional cultures. Kudos to the staff at Morrow County Hospital for being a big help.
I apologize for not writing down and remembering everyone on staff at Morrow County Hospital that helped us on both occasions but they have not been forgotten. We received wonderful care, making not only my husband comfortable but asking if my son who sat with us and me if we needed anything. If we had to have gone to Galion or Marion, I’m sure we would have received the same standard of care, but the fact that we had some place to go close to home made it more comforting in a stressful situation.
Thank you everyone at Morrow County Hospital for your help, your kindness and your care. Thank you Morrow County Squad members who transported Jim up to University Hospital with care and safety. To both the hospital staff and squad members, thank you for your professionalism, thank you for your help and most of all, thank you for being here in Morrow County.
With the utmost gratitude,
Robin Brucker
Mount Gilead
