Lung Cancer Survivor Feels Connected to Hoag
“I was impressed with his expertise with robotic surgery,” she said. “I thought, ‘This is good. I can stay right here and be treated at Hoag.’”
Read Mary's StoryA Diabetes Success Story 75 Years in the Making
“It’s never too late to make a life change.”
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A Stroke and Heart Condition While Pregnant: How Hoag’s care team saved a patient’s life and her baby
When Sonia revealed to her father over dinner that she was seven weeks pregnant with her second child, he was so overwhelmed with joy that he bought wine for the entire restaurant. The following morning, his excitement quickly turned to terror. “The next call he gets from me was from the ambulance telling him I’m … Read More
When a Hoag ER Nurse Became a Patient: How a cancer diagnosis saved her life and her family
When Amy Rudder first noticed a lump in her right breast, she wasn’t concerned. At just 27, the Hoag ER nurse thought she was too young to have breast cancer. Her perspective shifted dramatically, however, after she met with Hoag OB-GYN Brooke Hargrove, M.D., who ordered an ultrasound. “I made the mistake of looking over … Read More
From Paralysis to Marathoner: How a Hoag spine surgeon got one athlete back in the game
Two decades ago, Beth Sanden suffered her first spinal injury while preparing for the Boston Marathon and the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. Falling on a downhill stretch, she landed on her shoulder blades on broken asphalt. The crash rendered her paralyzed and wheelchair bound. “My spinal cord was like an accordion,” she said. “All smushed … Read More
Diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, patient finds path to healing at Hoag
In the summer of 2024, Janice Munemitsu, an Orange County native, found herself among a growing number of Asian women with a rare form of lung cancer. “As someone who doesn’t smoke and has been healthy all my life, it was a shock,” she said. What began as a sudden onset of a rare eye … Read More
From Misdiagnosis to Breakthrough: One Woman’s Journey to Endometriosis Treatment
As a teenager embarking on her freshman year of high school, Amanda Stratton began experiencing severe and mysterious abdominal pain. “Doctors chalked my symptoms up to irritable bowel syndrome, and that was all they could really offer me as a diagnosis,” she said. Months turned into years, and despite following prescribed protocols from specialists and … Read More
Higher Calling: How Hoag’s MS Program helped one patient gain control of her diagnosis and her future
In 2019, Brittany Quiroz found herself among the nearly one million people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the United States. She recalled experiencing early warning signs of the disease while building her music career ten years prior. “Because I was so incredibly busy touring and performing, I assumed my body was just really tired,” … Read More
From Diagnosis to Cancer-Free in 14 days: How Hoag’s highly specialized interventional digestive care experts treated aggressive esophageal cancer and won
Rick Letterman’s passion for golf spans decades. Now 77, he’s been perfecting his swing since high school, when he worked as a caddy at a local country club in Kentucky. “Golf is a very self-challenging game,” he said. “You align with your target in the distance, and you take your shot. When I received the … Read More
How a unique endoscopic procedure at Hoag gave one patient her life back after a decades-long battle
For 17 years, Roz Hodgins struggled with what many of us take for granted; the ability to comfortably swallow food. “I always had to be very cognizant of what I was eating and where, and there were foods I loved that I just couldn’t eat,” she said. “Going to a restaurant was difficult because I’d … Read More
Navigating the cancer gene at Hoag: One family’s story
Since the discovery of genetic mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the 1990s, testing for the genes has become a common course of action among patients and families with a history of certain cancers. According to the National Cancer Institute, the lifetime risk of breast cancer for a woman with a BRCA mutation is as high … Read More
Standing Tall Again: How Advanced Surgery Helped David Reclaim His Active Lifestyle
David Gleckman, 65, has spent much of his life doing what he loves most–playing full-contact hockey. An avid golfer who had also sustained a back injury while skiing years earlier, he was no stranger to the risks involved in playing sports. But by the time he had reached his early 60’s, the cumulative effects of … Read More