My Doctor/My Friend
Dr. Dan Whitmer has been my doctor for almost 40 years, maybe more. During that time I have come to completely trust his judgment of my health care. He has never been wrong in his diagnosis of anything that I came to him for. He’s always been very kind, caring and available when I needed to see a doctor for medical treatment. I have never left his office with questions still unanswered. He’s patient and thorough and when you are there for an appointment, you are never rushed. His focus is on you. He listens.
A few things come to mind immediately when I recall a special time Dr. Whitmer had gone over and above. I did something to my back, so my husband called to see if he could talk to Dr. Whitmer and ask if I should go to his office or to Emergency, and because I was in a lot of pain and could not get off the couch, he said he would make a house call to see what was going on with my back before determining what needed to be done. A house call! What? Doctors rarely do that anymore. He determined, because I had been sitting on the floor for hours at a time, that stretched into a couple days, wrapping Christmas gifts, I pulled a muscle and irritated s nerve. He told us what we were to do, called in a muscle relaxer and of course advised that I not sit on the floor to wrap gifts anymore. It took a few days to work itself out but he called to check on me during that time.
Before a family trip to Disney World, I had Bronchitis a couple weeks before we left and was being treated for that. He had told me to call him anytime if I felt I wasn’t getting better. We did have to contact him one night on his cell phone and he immediately called into
the pharmacy the hotel had provided us with, for an additional prescription of the antibiotic I had taken beforehand. This was very comforting to me knowing my doctor could be reached to help me at any time, from Ohio to Florida without having to go to an emergency clinic.
On September 18, 2021, my husband Mike, age 74 , suffered a heart attack in his sleep and passed away. It was very sudden and shocking. Dr. Whitmer, when he found out, had talked to one of our children and expressed his concern for us and that if I needed something for anxiety during that time, to please call him. Obviously we were all in shock and so very sad, but I didn’t want any medicine. He, however, called to check on us. He ran into one of our daughters at the grocery store and instantly asked how we were doing, and again, stressed that they should call if they had any concerns. His presence at the funeral home was so greatly appreciated. I had my yearly checkup in February and while we were going over results, one thing led to another, and I mentioned my late husband and he instantly said, he will be gone 3 years on September 18. How did he know this off the top of his head? When I asked him how he knew that, he said I don’t know. I just remembered the day that happened to Mike.
He always asks, by name, how our kids are and what they are up to. He genuinely wants to know. I have a lot of things I could mention as well and I know what I wrote may seem trivial to some, but to me it’s huge. To have a doctor do the tiniest of things, to larger issues, is very comforting. Many patients are afraid and nervous to go to a doctor. Well, I am not, because I know I will be getting the best care possible from a wonderful doctor who I trust to give advice and a diagnosis, who honestly cares about me. I am so very grateful and thankful that I found him in the phonebook when we moved to Beavercreek from Dayton all those many years ago.
Kathy Stahl