I met Dr. Steven Barrick in the summer of 2020, having just moved to Colorado from California. He was friendly, pleasant, courteous, and genuinely interested in his patients. However, I was very skeptical and cautious; he had to earn my trust before I allowed him to do anything to/with me.
I was a rambunctious child who enjoyed climbing trees, riding bikes, and doing anything outside. As I grew older, I began to ride horses on the weekends, sail sailboats, water ski, and even try downhill skiing. Of course, at some point, I would inevitably would get hurt. My parents came from the school of "hard knocks," "rub some dirt on it, and you'll be fine." And, honestly, for the most part, I was. However, there were times when I needed to see a Doctor, so off we'd go. Unless I were running an extremely high fever, the Doctors would tell me, "You're fine, go home and rest." They would say this without running any tests whatsoever. I had many times where it ended up as a life-or-death situation, and I had to be treated in the Emergency Room. As I grew into adulthood and had many different Doctors (mainly due to insurance), the response was always the same. I realized I could not trust doctors at all.
Then it happened: In February 2018, my colon literally erupted! I was in so much pain. I went to the Emergency Room, where they ran blood tests and eventually administered Dilaudid; I finally had no pain. They admitted me to the hospital because they had no idea what had happened to me; I was there for three days on pain meds. On the fourth day, the Doctors ordered a CT Scan of my abdomen - they found shards of colon throughout my system and everything "dumping" into the cavity; into emergency surgery, I went. After surgery, they honestly did not expect me to live. I had every known and unknown infection, and at one time, I had 11 different antibiotics pumped into me at the same time. I walked out of the hospital six weeks later and made a full recovery. I still had many, many surgeries to undergo, but I survived every one of them.
After surviving my colon ordeal, I moved to Colorado. When I first met Dr. Barrick, I told him I didn't trust doctors, and if you wanted me as your patient, you would have to earn my trust. He replied, "ok, thank you for giving me the opportunity." It was a year and a half before I allowed him to complete an exam on me. He was so patient, kind, and understanding, but what impressed me was that he told me everything he would do before he did it! The most crucial compassion he exhibited was that he believed me and all my stories! (Of course, I gave him all my medical records, which completely corroborated everything) But he didn't need to see them before believing me.
Since then, I have not hesitated to call and make an appointment if I need anything. He understands that I won't make appointments unless it's absolutely necessary. He also recognizes my extremely high pain tolerance, so if I say something is hurting or doesn't feel right, he does whatever it takes to find out what might be going on.
On September 5, 2023, I found a lump in my right breast. I called Dr. Barrick's office and got an appointment on September 7th. He was not convinced it could just be an inflamed gland, so he ordered a mammogram and ultrasound STAT. I completed those tests on September 11, when I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer; only about 1% of breast cancer patients will get this kind of cancer. It is extremely aggressive and carries a high mortality rate. He hand-picked and personally coordinated my oncologist (surgeon) and began running all tests STAT. After meeting with my surgeon and developing a plan, I began chemotherapy on October 6! My Doctors consider me "curable" vs. just "treatable," which is very uncommon. If Dr. Barrick did not run those first tests when he did, I would probably not survive; the key to survival with this type of cancer is EARLY detection. Thanks to Dr. Barrick, I have a fighting chance of being completely cured.
