It Takes a Team
Chris Tremblay: In His Own Words
Nine years ago, my wife Karen and I were traveling on a rickety train through northern Russia, trying to safely shepherd our new son, Tristan, from an orphanage to our home in Parkton, Maryland. The journey was harrowing and traumatic for a multitude of reasons but our beautiful son has been a gift to us that is beyond measure. I share this story with you to let you know that I believe that I have been blessed with a beautiful family and have so much to live for, including a job I love, working with the best people in the world. And yet, I came close to losing it all.
In July of 2016, I suffered a heart attack and had the great good fortune to be taken to St. Joe's where a stent implantation, later followed by quadruple bypass open heart surgery, saved my life. The clinical care was superb but it was the entire team's total commitment to me that was so extraordinary, from the hospitalist who personally lined up specialists for me, the surgeon who visited me many more times than I ever expected, and the cardiac rehab nurses who measured my every exercise in the hospital's Fitness Center. In all honesty, I had neglected my health care, an irony given all the blessings I had in my life.
The extraordinary team at St. Joe's not only saved my life but they permanently changed it. Everyone with whom I came in contact thoroughly educated me about what I needed to do to become truly healthy for the long-term. Before my heart attack, Tristan and I had planned a fly fishing trip to Montana that had to be canceled when I spent our much anticipated vacation at St. Joe's. The team not only promised me that I would take my son fishing but that I would cry at his college graduation, dance with Karen at his wedding and spoil my future grandchildren.
The team at St. Joe's has a goal that is both simple and yet profound: to return their patients to lives that are suffused with light and love. UM St. Joseph Medical Center gave my life back to me, a gift for which I am enormously grateful.
To make a charitable gift online, please visit our online donation form. For more information about giving to the medical center, please call 410-337-1397 or e-mail SJFoundation@umm.edu.