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Patient Stories

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Heart & Vascular

Getting to the Heart of it: Aortic Conditions the Focus of Hoag

Danniena (Danni) Sun thought she was too young to need major heart surgery. In 2013, Sun experienced an episode of chest pain and visited Hoag’s emergency department. As part of her work-up, she received a coronary CT scan, which uncovered a thoracic aortic aneurysm – a bulge in the wall of her aorta, the largest … Read More

Hoag Orthopedic Institute Keeps One Mouseketeer Dancing

“Everyone at HOI prepared and helped reassure me before surgery”

Harrowing Medical Drama Leaves Couple with Special View of Hoag

“I have no doubt that if we had landed at any other hospital, Mark wouldn’t have made it,” Cindy says. “It sounds corny, but Hoag is special.”

Surgery

Rapid Recovery From Joint Replacement Surgery

Hip pain can often discourage people from pursuing their daily activities, as well as stop them from enjoying favorite pastimes. Fear of surgery and the unknown can also be significant deterrents to getting a needed joint replacement procedure. Surgery to treat hip pain has often been assumed to be a long, painful route for relief. … Read More

Heart & Vascular

OC Businessman Chooses Mini Maze for His Atrial Fibrillation

For Sam Wolgemuth the problem was perplexing. After a day of clearing fallen trees on his vacation property in Wisconsin, Wolgemuth felt something he hadn’t ever felt before. His heart was pounding. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. It definitely wasn’t a heart attack, but then what was it? Wolgemuth’s wife, a nurse, listened to … Read More

Heart & Vascular

Ken D.

Ken Darby was in pain. His aortic valve had grown so calcified, his cardiologist likened it to porcelain. He couldn’t walk up hills without getting winded, he was tired all the time, and a trip he and his wife, Annette, had planned to France had to be put on hold. He needed surgery. Darby had … Read More

Cancer

Robotic Hysterectomy Treats Uterine Cancer

For about a year, Huntington Beach resident Janis Kirkpatrick, was experiencing irregular bleeding, so she decide to speak with a physician about it. She was referred to Jonathan Wheeler, M.D., a Hoag-affiliated Obstetrician/Gynecologist who discovered that Janis had been through menopause, and that the spotting she was experiencing was post-menopausal. “I didn’t even realize I … Read More

Cancer

Fighting against endometrial (uterine) cancer

Robotic surgery is also utilized in the fight against cancer – as was the case for Gloria Medlin, a devoted mother, grandmother and energetic Irvine resident. During her annual well-woman check-up, Gloria discussed with her physician that she had been having post-menopausal spotting. She was referred to a gynecologist who performed a biopsy, which determined … Read More

Cancer

When cancer strikes "below the belt"

​When cancer strikes “below the belt,” the results can be devastating to a couple. In addition to standard fears that accompany a diagnosis of the “Big C,” reproductive cancers carry the potential for sexual dysfunction and loss of intimacy. The Pinterpes of Huntington Beach faced those fears. Twice. Sam Pinterpe, 69, was diagnosed with prostate … Read More

Cancer

Families Trust Mom, and Mom Trusts Hoag

​​In 2011, Jennifer Yee went from being a happily married woman expecting her first child to an ovarian cancer patient overnight. The elation she felt after years of trying to conceive was suddenly at risk as her world turned upside down. The questions, confusion and fear could have been overwhelming for someone facing two significant, … Read More