How Dr. Degnan saved my wife's life.

Dr. Degnan, But for your excellence as a physician, my wife very likely would have died. You diagnosed anemia and sent for a confirming blood test. The count was so alarmingly low you suspected perhaps something went wrong with the testing. You repeated the test on an emergency basis. The result was worse than the first test. You called me and asked for an immediate transfer to our closest ER. I said we would go quickly after gathering a few things. Dr. Degnan retorted that I wasn't listening--I was to leave immediately and go directly to the ambulance entrance. They would be waiting for us. Because of your calling and arranging, the emergency staff whisked her into a room, drew blood, reconfirmed the blood count (then at 3.2), checked blood type, found matching blood, and had an IV transfusing in an amazing short time. Then more units of blood interspersed with blood count tests. I think 3 units in the ER, followed by 2 more in hospital room 525. 5 units for a small women is amazing; I think about a liter and a half? The staff at Aiken Regional were also astonished—Oh, you are the person that had a blood count of 3.2?? My wife responded very well, color back and total exhaustion reduced. Everyone there was most competent, attentive, and friendly. The colonoscopy required Leon to drink 3 liters of electrolytes with PEG. Her inability to swallow well required straw sipping, and this huge imposing jug of foul tasting medicine was just too hard for her to do during the night. Dr. Patel came in the next morning and cancelled his colonoscopy for that day, giving Leon a rather stern lecture. Then the nurses encouraged her greatly, and she managed to down almost all of that huge jug before going to sleep. All these sipping were interspersed with 5 very messy transfers to a portable potty and back. The nurses and staff were most encouraging and never complained even a bit. In the morning Dr. Patel agreed to do the colonoscopy. It showed some concerning observations but no internal bleeding. He then performed a similar investigation (ECG?) through her mouth and found my wife had a hiatal hernia. He then found a Cameron ulcer that was the bleeding culprit. These ulcers are somewhat rare and very often missed; Dr. Patel succeeded in finding my wife’s problem and this avoided repeating the search and decreasing her chance of stopping the internal bleeding quickly. Thanks for the amazing swift action you took for us. You are always available on your emergency phone, and will do whatever it takes, whenever it is needed. Thanks for saving my wife's life!