Testimonial - Local Same-Day Kidney Stone Removal Surgery

I'm Andrew L'Amour from Brookings, South Dakota, and in my spare time, I like to do gardening, reading and cooking.  
 
What procedure did you have done at Brookings Health System?

The most recent procedure I had at Brookings Health System was a removal of a kidney stone. I was getting ready for back surgery and the CAT scan revealed I had a kidney stone, so we did a preemptive strike on it. And I wasn't really having any problems with it, but they decided it would be better to get it out before back surgery than while I'm recovering from back surgery.  
 
Why did you choose Brookings Health System for kidney stone removal?

I prefer to have as much done locally as I can. I've had surgeries in Rochester and Sioux Falls and this minor one in Brookings. But it's close...you're close to family. You don't have to worry about traveling back and forth if there's any complications or any problems at all with that. So I just live down the street on 3rd Street, so it's just...it's like it's in my neighborhood. And the people here are really nice and they're competent and they know what they're doing, and that, you know, it gives you the assurance that when you go in for a procedure that you feel comfortable with the people that you know and that you have confidence in their ability to do it.  
 
How did Dr. Park of Urology Specialists accommodate you?

Dr. Park was...he was very attentive to the needs that I had being here. And he's here once a week from Sioux Falls and he tried to accommodate the schedule that I...he knew I wanted to do it here, and so he tried to accommodate that as much as possible, and we were able to do that.  
 
How was your pain managed?

They put this stent inside your ureter, and every time you go to the bathroom, there's a little bit of an...you feel it. And it wasn't as bad. It wasn't real bad. It was just more of an irritant than a pain, and I did have some pain meds that I think I took a couple of times. But mostly, I just tough it out.  
 
What did you appreciate most about Brookings Health System?

The thing that I appreciated most about my stay here this time was my wife was there.They were very attentive to my needs.They were very...watching out to make sure I was okay as a patient obviously, but they were very attentive to her needs too, making sure she was comfortable, if she needed anything while she was waiting for the process to all play out. And I think that made me feel really good too that...knowing that my loved one who was there giving me support is getting the support from the hospital.That, to me, is the picture I remember from this experience more than almost anything else.  
 
How is collaboration between Brookings Health System and other health systems?

And the cooperation that I've seen and I've experienced between the health care systems in our area, I can't imagine trading it for anything else because it works. It really works. And I've talked to other people too who have told me that, that they were really appreciative of the fact that there's such a cooperation among the health care systems here. And I think that again gives you confidence if you're going in for some kind of procedure that you're going to be taken care of by competent people.  
 
Would you recommend same-day surgery at Brookings Health System?

Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah, I tell that to everybody, yeah. And it's like if you're in the area here, it's...Sioux Falls is not that far away. We know that. It really isn't. But if you're going to have it in your own community, and I've watched the Brookings Health System, you know, grow and expand and improve year after year, and, you know, it's just so wonderful to have a good strong community health system that we have here. And you're in your own community. People can come see you. When I was in the hospital in Sioux Falls, I had friends from Brookings who would have loved to come down here, but it was a little inconvenient, and I understand that. But they would say, I wish we could get down there, but their work and schedule and kids and everything else. So, but if it's right in town, they can bee-bop in and out of here during their lunch hour or something and it works. It works, so.