Five decades of care

The impact of YNHH on my life has stretched over five decades. The emotions ranged from despair to sheer joy, and the experience still remains in the minds of my family.

It began in 1950, when my husband and I brought our very ill four-month-old baby girl “Bonnie” to the then Grace-New Haven Hospital for special care. My daughter spent the last three months of her life in the compassionate care of all the attending staff, doctors, nurses and volunteers. Although Bonnie passed during surgery, I can’t help but remember how she affected not only our lives, but also those of her caregivers. They cried along with us and one nurse comforted us by saying, “You now have an angel in heaven to look over you and your entire family.” I have passed on these words many times and hopefully have offered the comfort I once received.

Twenty years later, in the seventies, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer at my local hospital. Having received all the treatments available, I was sent home to succumb to my illness. A good friend of the family alerted us to a new doctor who was arriving at YNHH. His specialty was oncology. My friend arranged for me to see him. Dr. Charles McKhann arrived and I was his first patient in Connecticut. He was the first physician to offer a shred of hope and performed a ten and a half hour surgery. The result was miraculous to say the very least: I received a new lease on life, all of the cancer was removed and I was sent home to recover. The time was totally joyous for my family and me, and I was able to look forward to the future knowing I would be able to enjoy watching my grandchildren grow.

With renewed hope my life was given back to me. I was thriving until the late 1980s when age caught up with me and my knees started to fail. I made the decision to keep my mobility and consulted a Dr. Richard Pelker, an orthopedist. Over a period of three years I had both knees replaced, and I praise the compassion and care I received during therapy and post-surgery. Since then, I have had routine follow-up visits and a subsequent surgery from my cancer, but I am still “kicking,” as they say!

If ever there was a testament to a facility and staff, my life’s experiences at YNHH surely would be a good example. The legacy of the hospital will live on; I am the proud mother of two other daughters, three grandsons and just recently I celebrated the birth of my first great grandchild “Daniella.” I will be 75 years old this December, and I am very grateful for the personal care I’ve received over the past 50 years. To say the least, the past 30 years would never have come to pass without the knowledge, assistance and dedication afforded me at one of our nation’s greatest medical facilities.

THANK YOU!
Rose Colandrea Pester
Clinton, Conn.