Guidance Before and After An Operation

The following story is about Connie, who is currently participating in the First Health® Care Support Program. The care support program provided her with general guidance and educational information while she recovered from complications following a difficult hernia operation. Here’s what she had to say about her doctors and the care support nurse case manager who worked so closely with her:

“In March 2001, I had surgery to remove a massive hernia in my lower abdomen.  After the operation, I suffered from congestive heart failure and had to go on life support.  Then it was determined that I had sleep apnea because of the difficulty I was having breathing.  It took me a long time to get better, but my doctors were excellent. I’ve been with my primary care physician for over ten years, and every surgeon or specialist he referred me to was just as great. First Health really cared about me and worked to help me get through everything.  

“Working with my care support nurse has been wonderful.  She’s helped me with my sleep apnea tremendously, and I can’t thank her enough for the C-PAP machine, which is a machine that helps me breathe better.  I sleep through the night now, and my blood pressure has come down tremendously.  I’m not taking half of the medication I once was because of the C-PAP.  My nurse made all of the arrangements for me and made sure I received the machine right away.  She was very professional and would listen and talk to me for as long as I needed to.  She always called when she said she would, and that meant a lot to me.

“I still can’t believe how wonderful First Health was throughout all of this.  Everything has been taken care of.  Everyone at First Health has worked with me and my family so well.  The service was just incredible—they always came through for us.”