UW Health patient stories: Remarkable patients; incredible stories

Siblings Mary Jo and Joe Pankratz are incredibly grateful for the extra time they got to spend with their father, Jack. They also participate in a new UW Health program designed to catch pancreatic cancer in certain people before it becomes deadly.

To minimize her risk later in life, Melissa Stucky wanted a double mastectomy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After seeking a second opinion from UW Health Northern Illinois, she could not be happier with the medical and cosmetic results.

In her late 30s, Kara Bercher was diagnosed with a rare cancer that affects smooth muscle tissue. She chooses not to live in fear, embracing the little joys in life, with plenty of support from her UW Health cancer care team.

Imagine completing medical school with a rare liver disease and undergoing three liver transplants in two years. Thanks to UW Health’s liver transplant team, this really happened for Nathan Baggett.

Dr. Aji Djamali, a former UW Health transplant physician who often thought of donating one of his own kidneys finally found the perfect recipient: His own patient, John Jartz. The close bond between John and Dr. Aji Djamali will always be unbreakable.

The word “gratitude” doesn’t begin to capture what Jeff Livingston feels to be alive. Thanks to UW Health’s Transplant Center, Jeff has survived a life-threatening infection, an artificial heart surgery, and separate heart and kidney transplants.

Diagnosed with end-stage heart failure, Dorothy Perpich had one last chance to live. It came in the form of a battery-powered pump implanted by UW Health’s heart failure team.

Diagnosed with a defective aortic valve in her heart, Holly Herlitzke is breathing a lot easier these days, thanks to surgery performed at UW Health known as the Ross procedure.

At the age of 38, Joe had a heart attack. He had emergency treatment at UW Health. That treatment and the support he received through our cardiac rehabilitation program gave him a new lease on life.

For more than two decades, Nathan Petesch has put on a staggering amount of mileage — not only on his cars but his body.

In his 69 years, Tom Nickel has fought more than his share of health battles.

Nearly six decades after first receiving care at UW, Susan's journey came full circle when she returned for a knee replacement procedure.

After suffering a highly traumatic head injury, Michael Smithback came home from the hospital just 19 days after his wife, Nicole, thought she might never see him alive again. The Smithbacks are eternally grateful to UW Health’s neurosurgery team for saving Michael.

Strokes can happen to young people too. An undiagnosed hole in Emily Miller’s heart allowed a blood clot to travel to her brain and cause a stroke that was successfully treated at UW Health.

Jim’s Schmalling’s wife Michelle called 911 as soon as her husband exhibited stroke symptoms while they were out walking. Her prompt 911 call and UW Health’s stroke team helped save Jim’s life, allowing them to celebrate their 50th anniversary together.