Stories from Grateful Families
Grateful Journeys
When you're grateful, we're grateful! We appreciate our patients and their families for sharing how Adventist Health White Memorial provided health, healing and hope.
Ruben Rosales
Defying a Lupus Death Sentence
Donors
In 1991, at 31 years old, Ruben Rosales received a life-altering lupus diagnosis. Doctors delivered a chilling prognosis: “You have 10 years to live.”
More Stories from Grateful Families
Ruben Rosales
Defying a Lupus Death Sentence
Donors
In 1991, at 31 years old, Ruben Rosales received a life-altering lupus diagnosis. Doctors delivered a chilling prognosis: “You have 10 years to live.”
Jessica Ancona
El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona's COVID-19 Struggle Fuels Passion for Healthcare Access
Newsletter Highlights
On Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Jessica Ancona was sworn in as El Monte’s mayor. But as she took her oath of office, the ceremony was tinged with bittersweet emotions: just two days earlier, Ancona tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, her swearing-in took place virtually as she lay in…
Patricia Razzano
The Gift of Movement
Patients
Patricia Razzano, 66, lives in Laguna Niguel in Orange County. She’s a successful resort and spa specialty sales representative. She’s a wife, a mother to three daughters and a grandmother of three. She’s fiercely independent, confident and doesn’t like to complain. To call her busy is an understatement. So, it…
Kathleen P.
Skilled emergency care key to accurate diagnosis
Patients
It was a Thursday afternoon when Kathleen P., a 47-year-old resident of Boyle Heights, suddenly felt confused and dizzy while she was driving. Next, her vision blurred. She pulled over and managed to get to her phone. Something was clearly wrong. Her vision was now completely impaired so she had…
Ruben Maciel
Child's diagnosis spurs service to Adventist Health White Memorial
Board
Ruben Maciel is President of The SL Group and new Adventist Health White Memorial Charitable Foundation (AHWMCF) Board of Directors Board Chair. Ruben joined the Board of Directors in 2016 and has served the East LA and Boyle Heights communities with tremendous passion, empathy and leadership. He believes that no…
Victor Prado
Grandfather builds healthy future by managing his diabetes
Newsletter Highlights
“I’m here because I feel good about myself and what this hospital has done for me. I have successfully done what the doctors have told me, and I got healthier.”
Maribel Preston
My story of hope
Care Team
“You have breast cancer,” they said. And suddenly, the world stood still. From that instant, my journey as a survivor began within the walls of the place I also work and call my second home, the Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center at Adventist Health White Memorial.
John Goettsch
The Two-Pound Rule: Replacing an Elbow and Accepting Limitations
Patients
For years, Jon Goettsch regularly joined his friends on the green, lifted weights and took walks on the beach. That all changed in 2018 as his right elbow, worn by rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, deteriorated, causing him excruciating pain.
Judge Maria Lucy Armendariz
From Foster Care to the Bench: Judge Maria Lucy Armendariz Dared to Defy the Odds
Newsletter Highlights
Lucy Armendariz was 8 years old when she entered foster care after her mother was sentenced to life in prison. Today, she is a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge – the hero, not a victim, of her own story.
Whitney Davis
A Fateful Fall: Whitney's Battle for Recovery and the Caregivers That Rose to Support Her
Newsletter Highlights
After Whitney Davis fell more than 10 feet from a stairwell, her arm was fractured, she was in excruciating pain and her spirit was nearly broken. But the compassionate care at Adventist Health White Memorial nurtured both back to health.
Yanira Hurtado
A Patient's Mission to Help
Impact Report
The air was tense in Dr. Faisal Khan’s office as Yanira and her husband awaited her biopsy results. Khan entered and pulled his stool close. He looked at Hurtado, shook his head, and said, “Yanira, it’s cancer.” The weight of his words matched the gravity in his eyes.
The Robert R. and Jaclyn Tilly Hill Family
BE A MISSION OWNER
Donors
On Sept. 26, 2024, the Adventist Health White Memorial community gathered to honor the Robert R. and Jaclyn Tilley Hill family for their generosity. During an intimate ceremony, two plaques titled “This Little Light of Mine” were unveiled in the hospital’s lobby and surgery waiting room. In August 2020, the…
A stroke stole parts of Rosa Mercado’s life. You helped her get them back.
Be Welcoming
Impact Report
In December 2021, Rosa Mercado suffered a stroke that paralyzed her right side. She could no longer do what she loved, like work, drive or dance cumbia. Isolated and depressed, she spent two years in physical therapy but remained weak, reliant on a walker and afraid to leave her home…
Adrian Found His Voice Because of You
Be Curious
Impact Report
When Adrian Preciado, 5, from Bell Gardens, California, visited the Rainbow Children’s Center in February 2024 for a speech and language evaluation, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Adrian was nonverbal. He understood the world around him but had no way to express himself. That changed when pediatric speech-language…
Grateful His Heart Keeps Beating Thanks to Life-Saving Care
Be Love
Impact Report
Kenneth Schwartz is deeply grateful for the vital care he received at Adventist Health White Memorial after undergoing the Watchman procedure in September 2024. The Watchman is an implantable device that protects people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) from life-threatening strokes by sealing off a part of the heart where dangerous…