“Grief had eaten a hole in my stomach. I was losing the battle until Dr. Gray stepped in and saved my life.”

Hi, I'm Gloria, and this is my story of how Dr. Gray and his team saved my life.

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LIFE BEFORE

It all started two years ago when we lost our daughter to a brain aneurysm - I was so grief stricken. Then five months after we lost our daughter, I was rushed to the hospital.

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They told my husband 'Prepare to bury your wife now.' 

Grief had eaten a hole in my stomach as an ulcer which had opened up into my abdomen, spilling contamination into my belly. The hospital that I was rushed to didn't have many specialists, but they were able to repair the hole and I was able to heal.

Eight months later, unfortunately, I had developed a hernia as big as a soccer ball from the incision. I had also developed a massively enlarged ovary with a cyst that was as big as a cantaloupe. I went back to the same hospital and they told me that I was probably not going to live much longer.

Through the grace of God I was moved to Harris Methodist in Fort Worth where I met Dr. Gray. He and two other doctors saved my life!

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The other hospital had given up

There were many, many, many, many, many other doctors involved and they just flat gave up.

At Harris Methodist they don't give up. They don't give up and they don't let you give up.  

Dr. Gray said ‘I don’t think you’re going to die. We're going to get all your infections cleared up and in three days you're going to surgery and we will see if we can put things back together.’

Because of Dr. Gray and the other two doctors, whom I cannot praise enough, I am alive today. 

Dr. Brochu, my internal medicine doctor, cleared up the many infections I had and Dr. Freeman, the gynecologist,  took care of my ovaries.

Dr. Gray repaired the hernia. My stomach muscles had come unattached in the middle and had spread way apart. Dr. Gray, knowing it was going to be difficult, opened me up and took care of a hernia that was as big as a soccer ball. 

Those three doctors saved my life. They're amazing people and amazing doctors.

Those three doctors saved my life. They're amazing people and amazing doctors.

The procedure

Dr. Gray is the sweetest! Dr. Gray is a good human, he's a doctor with heart. He's just loaded with compassion and he put my son and my husband at ease.

He explained and even drew pictures of what was going to happen once they cut me open. It was a six hour surgery. That's a long time to be in surgery, but he took the time to explain it all. 

I no longer have stomach muscles to hold my intestines in place. I learned that sometimes your abdominal muscles can spread apart so bad that they can’t be brought back together. So I've got mesh reinforcing my whole abdomen, from my pelvis to my breastplate.

We joke about it now - he sometimes says 'Oh, you're a mesh' and I'm like, "I'm so meshed up. You don't even know!" That's a running joke with us.

Dr. Gray is the man who keeps me together, because I'm 'meshed' up now. He's a saint in my mind, an angel.

Along with the other two doctors, it's the most caring I’ve ever experienced. The nurses, the people who serve your food - they were all compassionate at Harris Methodist. Even the woman who brings you crafts, even though I couldn't do any. She still took the time to sit in my room and talk to me. She would talk to me about anything. I believe that we all matter, but those people that work at that hospital are truly truly truly angels. At the other hospital, they wouldn't hug me or let me hug them or hold my hand. They were very cold and isolated.

‍At Harris Methodist, it was as if they were family. They cared for me, they made me feel like I was worthy of care. That's a big part of recovery.

Life after

I'm so thankful I didn't leave there with a colostomy bag and that was thanks to Dr. Gray. I tell you he has wings on his back. 

My life has been completely altered. People don't know how much they use their stomach muscles. They literally use them for everything. One thing that doesn't bother me is my husband has to clean the toilet. So that's a 'Ha-Ha' that I can't do that. I feel bad for my husband, but there's things that I can't do because of the weight limit. I can’t rearrange my furniture. I can't scrub the shower. I can't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. I can no longer pick up my grandchildren. I can't vacuum. I can't mop anymore because you use your stomach muscles for all those things and I don't have them anymore. My back muscles have had to step up. Another thing that has changed in my life is I am no longer able to work at all. That has been something that we're trying to cope with. Because before that, you know, I worked.

Despite all that, my life is better because now I know I don't want to die. I had to fight hard to live and I was losing the battle until Dr. Gray stepped in and saved my life.

The doctors and staff made me want to stay alive for my other grown kids who are fabulous adults.

‍They said, 'You're not gonna die and you'll be fine. And ding-dang I was!’ They are miracle workers. I love them. I love them. 

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To all parents

So to all parents I’ll say this. Hug your kids every day and tell them every day that you love them and know that every day is a gift. Because God gave them to you and God can take them back at any time. I came to that reality after the fact.

Now Dr. Gray is a part of my family and even my sons speak highly of him. He's just a wonderful human.

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Dr. Gray’s mother raised him right

You can tell that God is in his heart because he cares about human beings in today's world.

I tell everybody, ‘Go to Harris Methodist and go talk to Dr. Gray. If Dr. Gray can't help you he’ll link you up to someone who's compassionate and caring because they care at that hospital.’

‍I've never met a more unified medical staff with hearts as big as the world. I think a requirement to work there's you have to have a halo and that's where all the angels gather every day because that's where they are. I was there for a month - I know. 

Before that I spent a month at the other hospital and it was ice cold. I'm sure that there were some people there that cared, but they told me that I was gonna die - I could either die there or I could come home and die.

‍When you hear that you realize, wait a minute, wait a minute! I do have stuff to live for!

Through the grace of God I was brought over to Harris Methodist and that hospital took care of me.

They're just wonderful people, they really are. They are saints walking among us, I believe. They saved me and they're doing it for people every day. Every day.

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- Gloria H., Fort Worth TX, Mesh Core Replacement Surgery