First Posted: 3/13/2015
I could hardly believe what I was reading, “St. Rita’s dismisses doctor.”
When I realized that Dr. Henry Gerad was dismissed (fired) by St. Rita’s the first thought that came to my mind was the phrase from the NFL announcers who open the pregame show with the section where they report foolish or stupid actions by the players, “What were you thinking, man?”
For more than six years, my wife saw all sorts of specialists in the Lima area for a pain in her side. All her X-rays and scans were read by radiologists at St. Rita’s hospital. They saw nothing that suggested she had cancer.
I then took her X-rays to my nephew who was the head of the radiology department in a large Columbus hospital, who within minutes found that she had lung cancer. After surgery in Columbus, we were told it was Stage 4 and there was little that could be done. Her life expectancy was from six to 18 months.
We returned to our home and visited Gerad. Again there was more testing and a review of her situation. Gerad was courteous and honest. He said he believed he could help her.
For eight years, Gerad not only kept my wife alive, but he gave her a good quality of life. We were able to go to Korea to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, go on two cruises, and celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. All of this, because we trusted Gerad, who never failed to answer any of our questions.
So again I say to those in charge at St. Rita’s, “What were you thinking, man?”
