Patient Stories

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Do you have a story you'd like to share about your experience as a patient at Spectrum Health?

Patient Story

‘You need to stay happy’

For Hope Gonyon, a 9-year-old who has spina bifida, surgery gives a boost in independence.

Patient Story

‘My December miracle’

A 21-year-old college student battles back from a stroke and returns to the hospital a year later to thank the team who saved her life.

Patient Story

A merry little holiday party

Kids take a break from hospital rooms and medical appointments to play, meet Santa and choose gifts.

Patient Story

‘I’m going to live’

Screening found early-stage cancer in Marty LaBrecque’s lung. After minimally invasive surgery, the former smoker is free of cancer and ready to live.

Patient Story

‘A better version of himself’

For a preschooler with autism, play-based speech therapy challenges him to use language in a natural context.

Patient Story

‘And so I kept living’

Sara Riemersma overdosed on pain medication. Spectrum Health saved her life. As a paramedic, she's now paying it forward, saving other lives.

Patient Story

A new resolution: ‘Running again’

When swelling and pain sidelined his marathon runs, Wallace Isaac Gaunichaux turned to specialists to uncover and treat a potentially dangerous vein syndrome.

Patient Story

‘We’re not made of glass’

Swimming in the World Transplant Games lets Fred Nelis test his limits.

Patient Story

Double the love

Best friends have babies the same morning in the same hospital.

Patient Story

‘This will be life-changing for her’

Susan prayed every night for two years someone would come to her orphanage in Myanmar and offer the surgery she needed to speak clearly.

Patient Story

‘I managed to dodge a big, big bullet’

In defeating Guillain-Barré syndrome, a drywall finisher reclaims his good health—and recovers a long-absent sense of smell.

Patient Story

‘I thought someone shot me’

Sheriff's detective Marcus Glover thought he'd been hit by a bullet. The culprit? A ruptured Achilles tendon. After a new type of surgery, he's back on the beat.