Dr. G. Howard Bathon, MD

I have been a 2 X Cancer survivor a lot due to the great and kind doctors and nurses and P.A.'s at GBMC. But..... I had one of the worst accidents in my life and was seen at GBMC emergency area the evening it happened. I was in so much pain that I felt like a child for doing something so stupid like being on a ladder with no one home and it fell out from under me and I attempted for about five minutes to claw onto plywood on top of our shed loft but knew I was going to go down. When I attempted to turn my body I could not and my arm to my finger tips were hurting so bad all I could do was cry and pray someone would come home and find me. Then I looked at my wrist and there was a bone out of my skin and it looked like my entire hand was not connected, it was just kind of hanging there.

I am 60 years young and have never had any broken bones. What a time to start. I was SO SCARED. About 10 minutes later my husband came home and rushed me to GBMC. I did not have to wait very long in the ER and was seen by a wonderful doctor that took good care of me and tried to make me feel at ease because I was scared. She attempted to get in contact with an orthopedic specialist and she came in and gave me great news that just by luck Dr. Bathon was at the hospital still. He was there in the ER very quickly. Introduced his self to my entire family and me. At that time I don't remember a lot and did not really care what his name was. I just know I needed fixed some how and I needed strength and he was there for that and so much attention to me to get my mind off of the pain. Yes, he even joked a bit with my parents and daughter and it began to relax me. The pain was so excessive that I felt like I was going to pass out several times and he realized this so quickly that he explained to us right away that he needed to but the bone back in place. He explained to us the technical term for it but I have forgotten already { Sorry Doc }. His kind and funny personality was all I needed right as he was placing each of my fingers in spring like vices and at the bottom was a five lb weight. As soon as the weight was released him hand was around my wrist pushing the bone back in place. Dr. Bathon was very attentive and I really don't know if there was someone else doing this if it would not have turned out very differently. Ever since I was diagnosed with the kidney and colon cancer I have prayed that a surgeon that cared would be there for us. After all I am really nothing to them (so I thought) except an ordinary older person. But Please believe me, I was so wrong. I have been seen an operated on a few of my Best Friends from GBMC. Dr. Bathon was there the entire time to make sure I was calm and not in a lot of pain. He scheduled an appointment for surgery about 5 days later. I cant begin to let you all know how much he cared and relaxed me in pre op. And not to mention the wonderful operating room staff that, when I ask to play some music and dance for me while getting me ready for surgery of course they all laughed with me but they did just as I needed. They had a radio playing some great dance music and they were looking at me, mostly mocking the words but it was for me and to me. Then in came Doc and he was right there with all of us like a large group of my friends with all their attention and great jokes they all gave me and the last thing I remember is wonderful laughing, music, and the cocktails ( which is what we all named the drug they put you to sleep with).

Thank you to all my new friends for making another milestone in my life so great that I talk about it to all my other friends at home. The post op nurses were fantastic also. Dr. Bathon was scheduled to leave on vacation the day after my surgery but called me that night to make sure I was feeling o.k. and staying in my seat and not on any ladders. He was very concerned that I continue to do my exercises and that my pain was tolerable. He scheduled me to see him one week lat