Patient Stories

They come from the world over. And they come not just because Baylor pursues the highest and best in medical science. They come because we pursue a high calling, inspired by the command to love thy neighbor. That is the bedrock on which Baylor has stood for more than a century. Today we stand, as well, at a threshold, ready to carry medical care, education, and research into a new era of achievement, and to elevate our entire region to greater prominence as a center of healing and hope.

Now is Baylor’s time to model for the world how outstanding medicine can be when the patient is truly at its center. Our patients find here a unique spirit of compassion and determination. And that makes us all better.

	SHAMEQUIA CASON Kidney Transplant Recipient At 25, Shamequia Cason was on top of the world. She had just graduated and was the first in her family to get a college degree. But then her body caught up with her. Diagnosed with lupus years earlier, she had to face the fact that the disease had ravaged her kidneys. Read the full story or watch the video.
	JAMES CHIPPENDALE Leukemia Survivor At age 31, James faced what could have been a death sentence. He was found to have a lethal form of leukemia. A bone marrow transplant was his only hope. Read the full story or watch the video.
	LARRY CRUMLISH Bladder Cancer Survivor Prostate Cancer Survivor Eight years ago, Larry Crumlish visited a urologist not affiliated with Baylor. He knew something was wrong and wanted to know if it was serious. It was bladder cancer. But it was the receptionist, not the doctor, who gave him the news. He decided it was time to find another doctor – this time, at Baylor. Read the full story.
	TINA DANZE Breast Cancer Survivor One of the hazards of being a mother is the habit of neglecting your own health while you’re taking care of your children and career. After her daughter headed off to college, it occurred to her that she hadn’t had a mammogram in years. Dr. Michele Ho, her internist, recommended she get a sonogram. The sonogram revealed a few errant cells in her breast but it wasn’t conclusive. Read the full story.
	BUNNY GINSBURG Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor Bunny Ginsburg’s life changed in the blink of an eye. She was vacationing in Spain with two friends when their car was hit head-on by another driver. Both her friends and the other driver died at the scene. Bunny was near death. Transported back to Dallas, she spent the next 107 days in the hospital, six weeks of it in a coma. Read the full story.
	MARY CATHERINE HEATH Advanced Neurosurgery Mary Catherine Heath doesn’t take anything for granted anymore. Not since experiencing the malformation in her brain that was blinding her and threatened her life. Read the full story or watch the video.
	RACHEL HERRERA Stroke Survivor Thirteen-year-old Rachel Herrera was an enthusiastic member of The Nutcracker cast but the next day at school, she suddenly lost control of her left side. What she thought was “the worst headache ever” turned out to be a stroke. Read the full story.
	MIKE HOLLEY Spine Surgery Not many things can rattle Mike Holley. He’s a large man, he rides a Harley, he manages a ranch, and he works for the government. But back pain brought him to his knees. He says it got to the point where he couldn’t walk; he couldn’t even put on his socks. Mike was suffering from spinal stenosis and a degenerative disc. Unbearable pain had virtually shut down his life. Read the full story or watch the video.
	ADELE ICHILIAN Breast Cancer Survivor For Adele Ichilian, riding horses is life and being told she had cancer was a stunning blow. When she got her breast cancer diagnosis and learned she would need a mastectomy, the first thing she wanted to know was how long she would be out of the saddle. Read the full story.
	MELVIN JONES Heart Transplant Recipient Melvin Jones had a sweet deal in Canton, Texas. Every month, he worked the popular First Monday Flea Market with his thriving concession stand. He was on the job when he suffered a massive heart attack. CareFlighted to a Tyler hospital, he was stabilized and stayed there until the Tyler doctors decided he needed more than the hospital could give him. He was transferred to Baylor. That, Melvin says, was the best thing that ever happened to him. Read the full story or watch the video.
	PEYTON NICHOLS NICU Graduate Our Children’s House Graduate It’s a miracle that Peyton Nichols is alive. He wasn’t expected to live. When his mother, Katie, was 25 weeks pregnant she went for a routine check up, but found that her blood pressure was high – dangerously high. Her doctor put her in the hospital, but knew she needed better care. So he referred her to Baylor. Read the full story.
	SUE PORTER Breast Cancer Survivor Life doesn’t slow down for cancer. If anyone knows this, it’s Sue Porter. In the summer of 2007, the avid golfer was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, her younger daughter was getting ready to enter college at TCU, and her older daughter was preparing for her senior year at Ole Miss. But once you get a cancer diagnosis, every day brings a slew of questions, and they have to be dealt with, just like the rest of life. Read the full story.
	ASHLEY REYNOLDS Cardiovascular Surgery Just weeks after the happiest day of her life, 19-year-old Ashley Reynolds was close to death. She had given birth to her son Raedyn and was already imagining what it would be like to watch him grow up. But three weeks after Raedyn’s birth, Ashley’s immune system attacked her heart. Read the full story.
	JENIFER ROSELLO Scoliosis Surgery Jenifer Rosello’s severe scoliosis was debilitating to her body and spirit. She remembers having constant headaches. She never felt rested. With a 55-degree curvature, her spine was compressing her lung, which cut off oxygen to her brain and made her chronically sleepy. She also remembers how it felt to go anywhere in public, how it was always about covering up her crooked back. Read the full story.
	SARAH TIEMAN Surrogate Pregnancy It takes a special person to dedicate nine months of her life to carry another woman’s child. In this case, it took a special relationship. Christina Kuhn and her husband had tried to conceive for seven years. They worked with a fertility specialist, she had a pregnancy and miscarriage, and they produced embryos to be frozen. But ultimately uterine fibroids made it impossible for Christina to have a successful pregnancy. Her only options were to adopt or find a surrogate. Read the full story.
	ALICIA TITUS NICU Graduate There are no words to describe what it feels like to watch your premature baby hooked up to leads, monitors and a ventilator day and night. But that’s what Anthony Titus experienced when his wife’s hypertension became so dangerous that his daughter Alicia had to be taken by emergency Caesarian section at 25 weeks. She weighed one pound, eight ounces and was immediately admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Baylor. Read the full story.
	LARRY WALKER Quintuple Bypass Surgery It was an ordinary day. Reverend Larry Walker was starting his workday, carrying a couple of cases of soda into his church. Then, he felt a twinge. Gut instinct told him something was wrong. So he called his doctor. In the doctor’s office, he learned he’d had a heart attack. Read the full story or watch the video.
	AARON WILEY Kidney Transplant Recipient What do you give a woman who loves you enough to give you her kidney? That’s what Aaron Wiley wants to know. At the time, he had chronic kidney failure and expected to face years of dialysis. In fact, it took awhile for him to accept the reality that he did have kidney failure. He had no medical problems and had always been fit. Could they have the wrong guy? Read the full story.