This month, we asked our readers to submit replies to the following...
Is there a health care professional who you feel deserves special recognition?
Tell us about him or her!
A BIG HEART
They say good things come in small packages, and I would have to agree that is the case with my health care provider. Candace Kreiter is a family nurse practitioner at Sanford Health in Jamestown.
She’s a tiny gal with a big smile and an even bigger heart. She is extremely knowledgeable and wonderfully compassionate.
Due to several health problems, I have seen dozens of providers over the years and I must say that many of those providers could take lessons from Candace.
She puts you at ease the moment she walks into the room. She greets you as if you are an old friend, even if she is meeting you for the first time.
Her knowledge of women’s health is amazing. Her wisdom comes not just from years of experience, but from the fact that she really cares about each of her patients.
She doesn’t rush you. She has a marvelous knack for making you feel as if you are her only patient. She doesn’t just listen to you, she actually “hears” what you are saying, which is pivotal in helping you get healthy.
The Jamestown area is extremely fortunate to have Candace. Though she can probably see retirement in her headlights, I hope she’s around for many more years to come!
Judy Bennett
Member of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative
ALWAYS THERE
The health care provider I believe deserves recognition is Dr. Brian Selland, whose practice is now at Turtle Mountain Family Medicine in Dunseith. I met Dr. Selland when my husband and I were trying to expand our family. We had a beautiful daughter, but then we suffered three devastating miscarriages before I carried my son to term.
Through those miscarriages and my complicated pregnancy, Dr. Selland was always available if I needed him, and I needed him a lot. There were endless clinic visits, phone calls, and two hospitalizations, as he did everything in his power to make sure my pregnancy had a good outcome. He never made me feel like I was a burden or a pest. He would call me to check on me almost nightly toward the end of my pregnancy.
After his birth, my son had a dangerous health scare when he was 5 months old. The thought of losing my child made me overprotective and overcautious, but Dr. Selland always listened and made sure my fears were addressed in his usual calm, reassuring manner.
I have Crohn’s disease, so my medical problems were still an issue after my son was born. I had three surgeries, and Dr. Selland was with me every step of the way, always making sure I had the best care possible.
He is never afraid to say, “I don’t know.” But he always does his best to get to the bottom of any issues I am having. He takes whatever time is needed for an appointment and never makes you feel rushed or that “it is all in your head.” He has the best nurses, because he expects the best for his patients.
In this day and age of doctors who are pressured to push patients through, Dr. Selland is a true superhero who always puts his patients’ needs first. He truly cares about me and knows everything about my family and always asks how they are. They just don’t make them like him anymore!
Sue Casavant
Member of Verendrye Electric Cooperative
DECISION TIME
If it weren’t for Heidi Kaatz, I would have waited too long before seeing a doctor. As a TA (teacher’s aide) care provider, I was faced with a decision about changing employment. I would have to say goodbye to children I cared so much about, and a workplace where great ethics and prayer took place in the classrooms each day. At another TA job, I would receive benefits, but be faced with more challenges.
During the stress I felt making this change, I came down with a cold sore that would not heal.
Finally one Friday afternoon, I asked the nurse at my employment if she had a suggestion of what I could use. SHE DID! She told me I had better go to my doctor, as it looks serious. She also told me what I could put on the cold sore over the weekend, but not to wait any longer than that.
My doctor did a biopsy, which came back positive for cancer, and scheduled me with a specialist. He said it was an aggressive cancer and needed immediate care. This was on a Wednesday. On Friday, I had surgery.
In my heart, I believe the Lord sent Heidi into the building that day while I was in the hallway, since I would have kept on with cold sore treatment and the cancer could have progressed.
I owe recognition to Heidi Kaatz, the Head Start nurse in Jamestown.
Robin Dunwoody
Member of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative
CLOSE TO HOME
My biggest role model has a career in the health care profession. She works as an RN at a long-term care facility, instructs a certification class for nursing assistants, teaches in-home care providers about medicine and procedures, and helps children overcome developmental obstacles and meet goals through early intervention and screenings.
She gets up early and works late. She plans her schedule around children’s naptimes. Sometimes, her lunch breaks consist of a handful of almonds and a cup of coffee. She is the most selfless and caring person I’ve ever met, and luckily, she’s also my mom, Laurie Christensen.
I remember when I was 4 years old, I fell off my bike and scraped my knees terribly. While I was crying, she carefully picked out all the gravel, cleaned my “owies,” bandaged me, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I’m so thankful that the health care profession is filled with people like my mother, because they are the real reason it succeeds.
Victoria Christensen
Daughter of Frank and Laurie Christensen
Members of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative
SHARING A SMILE
I would like to recognize Terrilynn Braasch, a nurse practitioner from the Center for Family Medicine in Minot. She has been my daughter’s health care provider for almost 10 years.
She genuinely cares about what is going on in my daughter’s life, and checks on her mental health at every appointment by asking how my daughter and her family are doing, and even how I am doing.
She is so caring that these are not just standard questions, but sincere concern about all parts of my daughter’s life. Sometimes these conversations last for almost an hour, and my daughter comes out with such a good outlook on life. Now, that is what a doctor should do!
Nel Summers
Member of Verendrye Electric Cooperative
EXAMPLES OF CARING
At CHI Lisbon Health’s hospital and therapy department, there are so many special employees working faithfully each day in the health care field. You receive excellent care there.
But there are two exceptional individuals – Genell Carlson, a nurse, and Chuck Long, a physical therapist, who both deserve very special recognition for all their professionalism, compassion and giving of themselves way above and beyond what is expected. They are true examples of using God’s gifts, given to them to share with their patients.
Our son, Nick Anderson, has a traumatic brain injury and has been their patient for many years. He continues to get excellent care daily. We are so very fortunate to live in a small and caring community.
Karen Anderson
Member of Cass County Electric Cooperative
GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND
Dr. Frederick Ness deserves special recognition for duties above and beyond. I met Dr. Ness nearly four years ago at the Quentin N. Burdick Comprehensive Health Care Facility in Belcourt. He is fluent in a few languages, and has a dynamite outlook on life with a great personality.
He is caring and works long hours where needed, whether it is in the emergency room or the clinic. Anywhere you meet this man, he has a smile, a joke to tell and good advice. He goes to other countries in search of healing herbs and natural medicine. He speaks highly of his wife, Wendy. His four daughters have a protective father. I’m honored to have Dr. Ness as a doctor, friend and good listener.
June Boyer
Member of Northern Plains Electric Cooperative
A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
When our daughter was little, she was prone to croup attacks. She was hospitalized several times. At the hospital, she was put into a croup tent, where she could breathe. In a day or two, she would come home again.
When she was 3 years old, she had a bad attack on Christmas Eve. We took her to the hospital at 10:30 p.m., thinking it was the usual problem. She was placed inside the croup tent and we went home, with plans to return in the morning. Since the following day was Christmas, we went to church and then went to the hospital, hoping to take her home again.
When we went to the pediatric floor, the nurse came running. Our daughter had stopped breathing and they had rushed her to ICU, where she was holding her own. The doctor on call had diagnosed her with a bad infection of the throat, caused by allergies. If we had not taken her to the hospital that night, we would not have her with us today. The doctor on call was Dr. Nicely. What a good name for a doctor.
They gave her medications to combat the infection, and she was kept in ICU for three days and then moved to the children’s ward for another three days. We were given a list of foods that she would have to avoid. That was the last time she ever got so sick again!
We were so grateful to Dr. Nicely for his quick actions to save our little girl and to find out what had caused her to get so sick. He was heaven-sent to help us on the holiest night of the year. We will never forget him and his wisdom.
Bernice Wanner
Member of Roughrider Electric Cooperative
MAY: What is your favorite summer recreation in North Dakota and why?
Deadline for submission: April 10
JUNE: As farmers are in their fields and ranchers get cattle to pasture, what farm or ranch safety tip do you wish everyone would follow and why?
Deadline for submission: May 10
