In a medical emergency, we were in experts’ hands

I am writing this with the strong encouragement of my wife, Rosemary, who just underwent emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder. She believes it is important to express gratitude to the medical profession, and stress the benefits of early medical attention and detection.

Three Sundays ago, early in the morning, Rosemary began feeling mild but persistent stomach pain and discomfort, which continued into mid-afternoon. She wasn’t concerned, but she contacted our family physician, Dr. Eric Barth, in Wantagh, to see if he could prescribe something to address her discomfort. Even on a Sunday afternoon, Barth got back to her within minutes.

As she answered his questions, he told her this could well be a serious gallbladder issue, and that she should quickly go to an emergency room for an MRI and blood tests. (Interestingly, it was Barth’s brother, Dr. Michael Barth, a gastroenterologist, who discovered a cancerous tumor in my stomach wall during a routine endoscopy last year.)

Still not overly concerned and having only mild pain, Rosemary calmly got dressed and sat down in the front seat of our car, which I was driving, joined by our 20-year-old grandson, Jack, who took the back seat. Barely five minutes into the drive to the North Shore University Hospital emergency room, we suddenly realized how accurate Barth’s diagnosis had been. Rosemary was struck with severe abdominal pains, causing her to scream and kick like she never had before, including during labor. At almost the same time, it started raining, and there was an accident on the LIE, which made Waze divert us off the expressway as I tried to maneuver through the rain and reassure Rosemary while Jack navigated from the back seat.

When we arrived at North Shore, the doctors and nurses worked calmly but feverishly to relieve the pain and determine the course of treatment. Melissa Zimmerman, a retired police detective who was on my security detail when I was in Congress and has become a close family friend, joined us in the emergency room and stayed with us at the ICU, where Rosemary was taken next and excellently cared for.

She was operated on late Tuesday afternoon by an outstanding surgeon, Dr. Geraldo Tamayo Enriquez, who had initially hoped to remove her gallbladder in a laparoscopic procedure rather than by opening her up. Several hours later, though, Enriquez was in the waiting room, explaining to my sister Barbara and me how complicated, difficult and extensive the surgery was and how it could not have been done laparoscopically. (Barbara is a retired nurse who is always there and invaluable to our family in stressful health care situations.)

The next few days were rough for Rosemary, but she received excellent care and is on her way to full recovery. I cannot begin to thank Barth for his initial diagnosis and the doctors, assistants, nurses and support staff at North Shore for all they did for Rosemary from the moment we arrived at the emergency room to the day of her discharge. She was truly fortunate.

Now that the crisis has passed, she and I have the chance to appreciate what a teaching experience the surgery has been. There is no substitute for staying in contact with a trusted family physician and other doctors you deal with regularly and know you well. This was proven true this month with Rosemary and Dr. Barth, and last year with me, when his brother detected a stomach tumor when I had no symptoms whatsoever.

Just as important were the skilled medical professionals at North Shore, who began immediate emergency treatment and then conducted so many tests and procedures over the next several days, including the complicated surgery itself, to restore Rosemary to good health. I admit my bias as a consultant to Northwell Health, but I maintain that the American health care system and its hospitals do extraordinary work that could not have been imagined even several years ago. (I say this as someone who grew up in the old Irish tradition of avoiding doctors.)

We should be grateful to the medical profession, and diligent and attentive to our individual health.

Peter King is a former congressman, and a former chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Comments? pking@ liherald.com.