“Without Dr. Paul Gray I wouldn’t be alive today. That’s the bottom line.”

Life Before

Well, I had stomach problems so I went to my family doctor, Dr. Kretzschmar, who sent me to the hospital for treatment. They diagnosed me with diverticulitis of the colon and discovered this had developed an abscess in my abdomen. They placed a drain in the abscess through my skin which was guided by CT imaging. 

I came home and started to have problems right away. I went back to my family doctor, who  sent me back to the hospital. They took out the defective drain and put a new one in. I came home the next day and I noticed the tube that went into my stomach was backed up a little bit. This second drain wasn’t working either! So, I went back to our doctor and he sent me to a different hospital. So I went to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in downtown Fort Worth. That’s where I met Dr. Paul Gray. 

The Procedure

I was out of it, high fever and hurting pretty bad. I barely remember hearing Dr. Gray say “We need to operate right now!” That’s the last thing I remember until after the surgery. The CT scan revealed evidence of an abscess with sigmoid diverticulitis. He opened me up and spent five hours cleaning all the mess out of my abdomen because it had gone septic. In addition to my perforated colon infection, he discovered that the drain had caused an additional injury to my small intestines. He removed the sick part of my intestines but had to bring up a colostomy because it wasn’t safe to put the bowels back together. The colostomy was temporary to allow time for my abdomen to heal. I wore that for seven months and everything was good. I mean, it wasn't comfortable, but it worked and I was alive.

The first time I really met him was when I woke up after the anesthesia wore off. Right away I was impressed with his bedside manner - his personal attention is really impressive. I've had a lot of doctors do surgery work on me but Dr. Gray seemed to put more effort into his visits. He explained the procedure more than a lot of other doctors, and he kept me assured that everything was going well, looking good on the inside. 

Life After

My wife couldn’t come to the hospital because of COVID so Dr. Gray kept her informed of how I was progressing. He came by and checked on me every morning and then called to give her the update.

No one can appreciate him any more than me or my wife! I believe he saved my life, because without his expertise I wouldn't be talking to you now.

Dr. Gray is the reason that I’m alive today, that’s the bottom line. In my opinion, he’s a fantastic doctor I’d recommend to anybody.

– Roger McIntire, Dallas TX

Colectomy for perforated diverticulitis