{"id":9628,"date":"2023-08-14T17:19:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T00:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?page_id=9628"},"modified":"2026-02-06T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:34:07","slug":"trust","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/about-samaritan\/together\/trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Trust Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Building Trust Together – Suzy's Story<\/h1>\n\t\t\t
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\u201cShe had such a kind and effective voice…to be wrapped in love during that experience helped me get through.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Suzy Conway<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Care Team Builds Trust, Inspires Patient to Pen Story <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Suzy Conway wasn\u2019t planning to weave through the halls of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in  Corvallis on May 6th, 2019. In fact, she had other plans that evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d spent all day with Secret,\u201d she explained as she stroked the mane of her 13-year-old palomino paint, \u201cbut I just felt off. My abdomen was painful, I was tired, and it got worse throughout the day. I brushed it off because there was a Warrior\u2019s game on that night, and I\u2019m a huge NBA fan!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the retired medical librarian tucked Secret in for the night and biked home, planning on an evening of Warrior basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt halftime, I\u2019d gotten so much worse and a voice inside me told me I needed to go to the hospital,\u201d said Conway. \u201cBy the time I decided to go, I was in so much pain that I had never been more appreciative I could get in my car and drive to an emergency room.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After spending some time at Good Samaritan\u2019s Emergency Department, Conway was taken to her room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hi Suzy, I\u2019m Florita. I get to be your nurse today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI met a different kind of warrior that night,\u201d said Conway, eyes smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the hours that followed, Conway was warmly escorted from her patient room to the operating room for an appendectomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just prior to surgery, Conway\u2019s nurse encouraged her to take off her beloved ring for safekeeping. \u201cWhen my father died, my mother gave me my dad\u2019s ring and I haven\u2019t taken it off for 40 years,\u201d said Conway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nurse sensed Conway\u2019s reluctance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDorothy said, \u2019Suzy, I have an idea. I\u2019m going to find a box for your ring, and have a nurse take it upstairs to Florita, and when you return to your room, it will be next to your bed. I promise.\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly what she did,\u201d Conway said through tears as she turned the family heirloom on her ring finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before she was reunited with that ring, Conway had a hard time waking up after surgery, and remembers her recovery nurse, Kristi, next to her gently reeling her back into the real world with a repetitive phrase:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Suzy, I\u2019m Kristi. You\u2019re in the hospital. You\u2019ve just had surgery, and you\u2019re doing great.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI met a different kind of warrior that night.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Suzy Conway<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cShe repeated it, and I felt like I was on the end of a hook being reeled back to reality. She had such a kind and effective voice,\u201d Conway recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother\u2019s brother died from appendicitis in 1915.  I grew up with that story, so facing the same situation was terrifying,\u201d Conway shared. \u201cTo be wrapped in love during that experience helped me get through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after Conway returned home, she knew she wanted to write about her unique hospital experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I started the story the next night. I didn\u2019t want to forget the details. The nurses deserved an accurate and true description of their loving care and I didn\u2019t want to forget one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conway penned four chapters of her experience at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, shining light on the nurses, physicians and support staff who cared for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I began to share my story with my friends and colleagues in the medical profession, it really touched them. I read the story to a group of hospital staff and volunteers, and I think I made most of them cry,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the litmus test of a good story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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After Celestial Troops<\/a><\/em> took flight, Conway was approached about volunteering as a member of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center\u2019s Patient Family Advisory Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI spent my whole life as a career woman, so I guard my free time very closely,\u201d Conway explained when asked about volunteering. \u201cIt\u2019s just me and this girl right here that I want to devote my time to,\u201d she said as she patted Secret\u2019s neck, who stood by her side, \u201cbut sitting on this committee is important work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the inseparable duo still spend countless hours exploring the forest around Corvallis and meeting new friends, both four-legged and two, Conway now tucks Secret into her stall a bit earlier some days and heads to the hospital to continue sharing \u201cCelestial Troops.\u201d As a member of the hospital\u2019s Advisory Council, Conway volunteers her time to band together with patients and staff to ensure that every patient who walks through the hospital doors is also touched by the love, compassion and excellence Conway felt the night she met her care team.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI read the story to a group of hospital staff and volunteers, and I think I made most of them cry \u2013 that\u2019s the litmus test of a good story.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Read Suzy\u2019s touching and heartfelt story,<\/a> \u201cCelestial Troops.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Celestial Troops By Suzy Conway<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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The following is an excerpt from Conway\u2019s story Celestial Troops<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi Suzy, I\u2019m Florita. I get to be your nurse today.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not \u201cI am\u201d your nurse, \u201cI get\u201d to be your nurse. This is how I met an angel the morning of my surgery. She cracked the door open and peered in at me with a beatific smile on her face and with that, I melted. Eleven words and I was in tears. Why? Because I was steeling myself for surgery and Florita\u2019s greeting completely disarmed me\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall into Suzy Conway\u2019s touching hospital experience by reading the full-length version of Celestial Troops<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Estimated Lifetime Chance of Having Appendicitis Is 7 to 14%<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Appendicitis occurs if the small 3-inch long appendix\u2019s entrance to the large intestine (colon) becomes blocked and inflamed. Symptoms might include pain or tenderness in the lower right abdomen, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn About Appendicitis<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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See What the Appendix Looks Like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the appendix is small, the risk of a rupture and infection makes appendicitis very serious. Anyone with symptoms should see a doctor immediately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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