Celebrating Excellent Care: Despite my best efforts

I recently attended a Beebe gathering at a neighbor’s home and learned about the Celebrate Excellent Care Program. I volunteered to share my story, as Beebe’s team truly saved my life. I am honored to give a gift to recognize the excellent care received by Dr. Deckmann and Dr. Stancofski. So here’s my story:

I didn’t want to have surgery. For 10 years, I flatly refused to treat a very common digestive disease until Dr. Robert Deckmann from the Beebe Medical Group essentially told me that my time procrastinating was up… Fast forward nine months and he was right.

Along with avoiding making a commitment to have surgery, I hedged on being a full time resident of Rehoboth Beach for years. You know, Do you live here full time? Well sort of… and I resisted deciding to get my primary healthcare in Delaware, too, even though my experiences with hospitals where I previously lived had been big, anonymous and less than wonderful. When I look back at my experience, thank goodness I was here, at home in Sussex County and under the watch of a great team of people who made sure that I received superb and professional care!

As predicted by Dr. Deckmann, I became very ill, but the Beebe team of physicians plotted together to make me well. Dr. Deckmann planned a surgical procedure with Dr. Erik Stancofski before I even needed it. I’m grateful to have been in their care, as they prevented me from having permanent damage and, in fact, saved my life.

The week that I really got sick, I was still avoiding surgery, relying on prescriptions instead. When the medication ceased to work, Dr. Deckmann recognized the problem and sent me to radiology. I wish I could remember the perfectly awesome radiology technician who literally ran down the hallway after me as I was leaving the hospital. Not catching me in time, he urgently called Dr. Deckmann with my results. Fortunately, Beebe’s staff and cellphone service were faster than me. Within minutes Dr. Deckmann called my cell phone - I needed to get to the hospital right that second.

Spoiler alert: I’m about to gush about community. Lemme tell ‘ya, this community takes care of its own. Within minutes of arriving at Beebe, I was admitted and found myself in the most capable, caring, and gentle arms of the Beebe nursing staff. They deserve their own article of praise. Gosh, they have it t-o-g-e-t-h-e-r. Each nurse knew where the other left off; everything was on the whiteboard in my room; they laughed, and they cared. One comes to very much appreciate such things when you’re in the hospital for eight days.

Last, but certainly not least, is Dr. Erik Stancofski - the surgeon who gets all of the glory. Ladies, you can decide if he’s more McSteamy or more McDreamy, but I never, ever felt like I was a McPatient. Thank you Erik for pulling off a flawless procedure! You and your team are great!

If you’re still reading and somehow interested, here’s the deal: there is great care available to us right here - from my perspective, the best. The people at Beebe work together and know each other, their community, and their patients. The nurses are awesome, and the facility is top notch. Truly, what more is there to ask? Now, I don’t sort of live here, I firmly live here, and I’m taken care of by Beebe. This matters and is incredibly important to our community.

Please, let’s all Celebrate the Excellent Care that we have and value in the community. My charitable donation to Beebe Healthcare through their Celebrate Excellent Care program is just a small way that I can say thank you to you Drs. Stancofski and Deckmann as well as support our non-profit healthcare system.

As Dr. Stancofski expressed his deep thanks and appreciation to me for giving a gift in his honor, he shared that my case was what happens at Beebe. He shared, “it was a good collaborative effort between gastroenterology, radiology, and surgery that provided the most appropriate and timely solution to a complex problem."

Beebe Healthcare's charitable mission is to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health for the people residing, working, or visiting the communities in Sussex County. Beebe’s vision is for Sussex County to be one of the healthiest counties in the nation.

As a community-owned, not-for-profit healthcare system, Beebe continues to depend on the generous support of individuals, corporations, business, and private foundations. All gifts, large or small, to Beebe Healthcare, are tax-deductible and are channeled through Beebe Medical Foundation.

To learn more about how you can Celebrate Excellent Care, contact the Beebe Medical Foundation at 302-644-2900 or write to foundation@beebehealthcare.org.