Grateful patient gives back after emergency care

Just a few days before Christmas, Tom* was working at his downtown office when he began to feel ill. He decided to take a taxi home to his Lincoln Square home to rest. During the ride, the pain he was experiencing was too much to bear, so as the taxi was pulling up to his home, he asked the cab driver to take him directly to Swedish Covenant Hospital’s emergency room.The on-call surgeon, Dr. Marc Adajar, recognized that Tom needed an emergency appendectomy and he was quickly taken into surgery.“Swedish really came through, and so did the on-call surgeon,” Tom said.Following the appendectomy, Tom received news from the pathology report. Goblet cell carcinoid tumors were discovered in his appendix. This rare tumor of the appendix occurs in only about 1,000 people in the United States each year.“I am very appreciative that the Swedish Covenant Hospital pathology department was so thorough in their examination and discovered these rare and dangerous tumors,” Tom said.Thanks to the early diagnosis and treatment, Tom is now disease- and cancer-free.To show his appreciation for the care he received at Swedish Covenant Hospital, Tom made his first donation to Swedish Covenant Hospital in honor of Dr. Adajar.As a resident of Lincoln Square for 15 years, and a member of Galter LifeCenter for 10 years, Tom continues to support Swedish Covenant Hospital “to show gratitude and support a great community hospital.”To learn more about the Grateful Patient Program at Swedish Covenant Hospital click here, or contact the Foundation at (773) 293-5121 or Foundation@swedishcovenant.org.*Last name withheld upon request.