Patient Stories

Bill Buskirk has worked for 22 years in waste management. From driving a sanitation truck to running a crew to managing all the crews, he's not afraid of doing the dirty work. When you ask him how's business, he'll tell you it's picking up. Bill is quick to smile at his joke. However, in the winter of 2015, he ran into trouble with a problem of his own.

When Gail Geiger turns the corner onto the cancer floor at Easton Hospital and walks toward the nurses' station, she only makes it a few steps before the staff spot her and surround her with hugs, talk and laughter

Janicca Covington isn’t your typical sales consultant. Maybe it is her relaxing demeanor. Maybe it is her career in social work. Maybe it is her focus on motherhood.

The pool is one of the last places where you can disconnect from the world - no interruptions, distractions or status updates. It's a place for just you, your thoughts and the lapping water.

In July of 2013, Audrey had her annual mammogram at a local facility. The results were negative. A few days later she felt pain in her left breast.

We often make a life of routines. For Kathy Roth, that routine over the past 20 years has had her cheering for the Dallas Cowboys during football season. It has had her arriving at The Third Street Alliance for Women and Children by 6 a.m. to teach the toddlers. And over the last month that routine has suddenly included chemotherapy.

The fine bristles of a brush dipped into water. A brush stroke loops across the surface of a board. An eye watches the art slowly evaporate until a clean slate remains.

At 88 years old, Dirby Kober says she’s lived two lifetimes. It’s easy to understand why she’d think that. She was born in Wisconsin but moved to Montreal, Canada, after her father, a chemist, died in a mining accident in South Africa.

Transport yourself to Manhattan’s Bryant Park on a Wednesday night this July and August. You will see 75 accordionists, entertaining visitors with a mix of music from Germany, Ireland, Columbia, Brazil, the Balkans and Louisiana.

Michael Center knows is way around a hospital. Switching careers in 1990, he began working as a nurse in an emergency room. Everyday was different, bringing unexpected miracles and sorrows.

Janine DeRogatis is a relationship builder. Literally, that is her title at a local Bank of America branch. So she is good at providing direction, answering questions and making people feel comfortable.

If you went to Alex Gale's house on a Saturday morning, it'd be filled with family. His wife, four daughters and five grandchildren would be sitting around the kitchen table chewing the fat about politics, health and world events.

Nestled in the back of Aura Ceramics is John Govan's desk. He has taught classes there for 35 years. The building hums with positive energy as staff clean ceramic casts, readying them for painting and glazing. John is the idea man, inspiring students to use various techniques that bring each piece to life.

Back in 2001, Joe noticed a slight chest pain. He had an EKG and an Echo test; neither went well. A catheterization revealed five blockages.

Charles Moretti has trouble listening. It began with listening to his body and then continued with listening to his cardiologist and finally his wife. But to Charles, it's really just a case of testadora - what the Italians call "hardheaded."

Bessie Moustakas walks through Easton Hospital's main entrance three times a week. Her glowing smile greets all the people she passes en route to Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Dale was diagnosed with artrial fibrillation and began a medical regime to control his rhythm disorder. The medication didn't help except in putting on weight. So Dale decided to try find a different doctor.

While his arteries are good, Mike developed arterial fibrillation (A-fib), a condition where the upper chambers of the heart beat too fast and with irregular rhythm. He treated it with blood thinners. Side-effects from the medicine took their toll on him… nose bleeds, spotted skin and internal bleeding.

David Reyes has been waiting for years to be dealt one good card - something to help change his hand. His hard luck started as a 6 year-old when his father died of heart disease at age 32. Not long afterward his mother's neglect and battle with drugs left him and his four brothers as wards of the state.

With 15 years as head coach and 27 years with the program, stress and pressure come with the job. "When the season starts, it's a top to bottom thrill ride of emotions," says Coach Tavani. "But certain things, like that vein on my forehead, are just a part of me."

On December 3rd, 2014, Don again was at work - an early morning phone conference from his home office with his team at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. He got off the call because he wasn't feeling well. This time the time bomb was his heart.

Chuck was undergoing a cardiac ablation - a procedure that maps the heart to determine where the electric signals are irregular so that tissue can be destroyed.

Louis Wood was nicknamed "Bones" by his family in grade school because "he ate like a horse but was only skin and bones." It was only after he turned 35-years old that the food began to stick to his bones.

In March many Irish Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the toast, "Slainte," but advocates of colon cancer awareness month will celebrate screenings with a cup full of cleansing solution and the toast, "Bottoms Up."

Art Skrenski describes the food in his youth from his Polish family as bland. It explains why he and his grandfather were obsessed with visiting Chinese restaurants and finding the best hot mustard. The hotter the better.

It began in 2011 with stomach pain so severe that he went to a valley-area emergency room. He would remain there under observation until the pain subsided. Such trips became fairly routine over a two-year period.

RJ was diagnosed with gallbladder disease two years ago. She had frequent attacks that caused pain in her upper back and stomach. When the pain was severe enough, she visited the Easton Hospital Emergency Room.

If all great leaders have a tragic flaw, then Superintendent John Reinhart's flaw is his love of scrapple. The Easton Area School District leader, who grew up enjoying many local delicacies, may have eaten one slice too many last January at breakfast. It seemed to have triggered a gallbladder attack.

Margaret Remick's favorite ice cream flavor is "plain old vanilla". She laughs as she says it, hearing how uncomplicated it sounds. "I like it nice and simple," she says. "Just like my surgery."

Judy Hambleton picked up running this past July. In that short time she has competed in five 5K events. It's a good outlet for the working mother of two daughters. "I find running very therapeutic," Judy says.

One thing she couldn't fix? Her menstrual cycle. "It was never-ending," she says. While it wasn't painful, heavy or horrible, it was just consistent. She lived with it that way for several years. While oral contraceptives should have helped regulate it, it did not work for her.

You can't woo a nurse who needs surgery. Nurses work in the business - they know how to talk shop, they do their research and they discuss everything with other nurses. To complicate matters, pile on years of experience...wooing a nurse then is especially difficult.

For twenty years she has lived with acid reflux. While it hasn’t always been bad, it has slowly gotten worse—both the burning in her throat and the interrupted sleep. For years she has slept with her head elevated in hopes to keep the acid down.

In Easton in 1916 at the home of an Easton businessman, Harry Mitchell, a group of concerned citizens gathered to discuss the lack of medical services to the poor. At that meeting the Easton Visiting Nurse Association was born.

Just look at a family photo and you'll see that Kimberly Gozum knows oodles about maternity units. Kimberly and her husband Freddy have seven children. They range in age from 19-years to 1-year.

Taryn began to see Dr. Blumenthal as a teenager. Her mom used him and trusted him, so it seemed natural for Taryn to follow suit. "I just love him," Taryn says. "He is such a caring doctor. He discusses any concern and takes the time to talk with me and explain everything."

When Mary met Jory in kindergarten, it wasn't love at first sight. They grew up in the same town, both played in the band and remained good friends throughout high school. "We never dated in school," Mary says. "But I always asked his opinion about my boyfriends. I'd say, 'Is this the one?' He always said no. I offered the same opinion about his girlfriends."

In March 2012, he woke one morning and was unable to see. Two operations helped restore a trace amount of vision, but not enough for him to read the sheet music that has stood before him for decades.

Her father had his first heart attack at age 43. He died of heart disease at age 66. Her mother had a heart attack in 2004 which required by-pass surgery. Her brother in 2010 had surgery to open five blocked arteries. Then Sandy finally received the wake-up call she needed. She and Don were on their nightly walk when she felt a burning sensation and tightness in her chest.

Ron Plantone is ready for a hobby again. That wasn’t the case over the last five years. Ron, who is semi-retired as co-owner of Strunk Funeral Homes, became ill in 2011.

When it comes to health care concerns, David Lotierzo is like most men… he waits. Most men think their condition will improve with time. And when most men see a doctor, they probably won't bring it up.

Eventually the physical strain caught up to her. She'd suffered from occasional bouts of sciatica pain that would start at her left hip and shoot down her leg. One day that pain wouldn't go away. In fact, it intensified.

It's not uncommon for a child to pass on an illness, so Desiree Torres wasn't surprised when she caught her son's cold. She has three boys, so it wasn't the first time that a cold traveled through the house. But Desiree's asthma made the coughing fits difficult. During one episode, she pulled a muscle in her neck.

Alison Lerch was always a healthy eater, lots of fruits and vegetables while avoiding processed foods. As a single parent of two active teenagers, she was always on the go—cheering practice, band, sports and scouts. Still she struggled with weight issues.

Troy Rush enjoys when the kingsize.com clothing catalogue lands in his mailbox. It's a reminder of how far he has come. He'll scan through the pages, pausing at the 7X shirts and the size 70 waist jeans he used to order.

Lorree Thompson made the decision as she was driving to work in Allentown. She immediately picked up the phone and called Mandy Nyce, the Surgical Weight Loss Program Coordinator at Easton Hospital.

At a local medical billing office, Marcia Burk, Saundra Velez, Elisa Martinez and Guadalupe Denizad have stood there to share their ups and downs, both literal and figurative.

For 27-years MaryAnn (DeVita) Niceforo worked behind the counter at a bank. Even after five years of retirement, she still misses the job, both the people she worked with and the customers she took care of.

Penny Dennis loves to swim. Every summer when the pool opens near her house near Fountain Hill, she's the first one in the water to swim laps for an hour. But in 2014, her healthy habit led to an infection.