Carolyn Keene was facing dire circumstances when she arrived at Baylor University Medical Center. Then she met her experienced surgical team…
Carolyn Keene arrived at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas with holes in her stomach and a grave fear that her situation could not be fixed. What was supposed to have been a routine surgical procedure at a hospital not in the Baylor Scott & White Health system turned into a nightmare fraught with complications. Carolyn couldn’t eat, she experienced severe nausea, was intubated, and was in heart and kidney failure. As her situation seemed to
worsen, there was even talk of removing her stomach entirely. “We felt like she needed to be moved. We were scared,” remembered Kelli Keene Smith, Carolyn’s daughter. “We told them to take her to Baylor downtown.”
In the ICU at Baylor University Medical Center, the family met with a surgical team known for taking on cases where patients have had surgical complications. The team was led by an internationally known surgical expert, Steven G. Leeds, M.D., an esophageal and general surgeon on the medical staff of Baylor Dallas in the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, who has published research on how to help patients like these heal using minimally invasive surgical techniques.
Carolyn and her husband, Danny Keene, remember the relief they felt in working with a medical team who not only knew what was ailing Carolyn, but also how to treat it.
Through a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure, Carolyn’s surgeon placed stents in her stomach to drain the ongoing infection and allow it to heal. The surgeon would remove the stents
later, and stressed patience to the family—and hope.
“Patients often arrive in distress: They have been operated on, had a leak, are not getting the nutrition they need, their family has been living in hospitals, and the patients don’t feel like they can go on,”
“I owed Baylor Scott & White my life,” Carolyn said. “I said thank you, but I felt like we needed to do something more.”
—Carolyn Keene
Dr. Leeds explained. “We give them hope. When you give them a little hope, they want to fight. They want to heal and get out of the hospital.” With a prescription for patience, a healthy dose of hope, and support from their caregivers at Baylor Scott & White, Carolyn’s stomach healed and she was able to go home. “Not only did they save her stomach, but her life, too,” Kelli said. It was then that the Keene family decided to do something to show the extraordinary gratitude they had for Carolyn’s care. “I owed Baylor Scott & White my life,” Carolyn said. “I said thank you, but I felt like we needed to do something more.”
The Keene family donated $50,000 to support research in the area of minimally invasive techniques to heal leaks. “Given the extensive knowledge learned from previous research on this subject, the next step is to learn more about the bacteria that live at the leak site,” Dr. Leeds explained. “This would help us understand the microbiome living at the complication site and will assist in better treatment.”
Through their gift, the Keene family hopes to advance research so other patients have positive outcomes— and return to their normal lives—like Carolyn. “When we first entered Baylor, we were overwhelmed with fear about what Carolyn’s life—if she even survived—would look like going forward,” said Danny. “Today, we are overwhelmed with gratitude, and hope this support will make advances in research possible to help more families like ours in the future.”
These days, you can find Carolyn and Danny traveling to their ranch in Hot Springs, watching horse races and enjoying life, together. “We were able to get her home and feeling great and she can continue living a regular life,” Dr. Leeds said. “That’s the
best outcome we could have hoped for.”
