Please note that we are seeing high patient volumes in the emergency department. Learn more >>.

Know before you go to the ER
Select the search type
  • Site
  • Web
Go

News Release Archive

Lung Patient Saves Friend's Life

  • February 1, 2008
  • Number of views: 3108
  • 0 Comments

Alexander Patterson 3Two years ago, Geoff and Kathy Potter of St. Charles, MO, were busy running an estate sale business and enjoying their family and three dogs. Geoff had developed a nagging cough. His physician said it was sinuses, then allergies, and finally asthma. But Geoff''s a strong person, and it didn''t slow him down.

But by late 2006, Geoff''s cough had grown so bad, he slept in an armchair. He felt like he was choking every time he ate or drank. “I know this man, and I knew something was terribly wrong,” Kathy says. In January 2007, after Kathy''s insistent urging, his physician ordered a bronchoscopy, and Geoff was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

However, pathology reports determined that he actually had a lung disease called histoplasmosis. The disease is transmitted through spores that you can breathe into your lungs when you work in or around soil that contains a fungus called histoplasma capsulatum. Farmers, landscapers, construction workers and people who have contact with bird or bat droppings are especially at risk.

Three years ago, the Potters were cleaning out a house from the 1840s to prepare for an estate sale. The basement was filled with pigeon droppings, and that is where they believe Geoff contracted histoplasmosis.

The disease had torn a hole (fistula) into his trachea and esophagus, so that when Geoff ate or drank, food and liquid leaked into his lungs. The Potters were referred to pulmonary services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a program that is ranked # 6 in the country by U.S.News & World Report. “I called my sister in Texas who is a director of nursing,” Kathy says. “She told us that Barnes-Jewish is where Geoff should be, that the doctors were tops.”

Geoff became a patient of Bryan Meyers, MD, Washington University chief of thoracic surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, whom Kathy calls “a gift from God.” Geoff endured two surgeries and three stents placed to try and repair the fistula. But the surgeries were unsuccessful. The Potters celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Kathy''s 60th birthday in the hospital.

Geoff''s last chance for survival was a thoracotomy to remove 80 percent of his damaged esophagus. He was critically ill. Geoff and Kathy planned his funeral. But this last surgery went well. “Dr. Meyers went to excruciating detail to save Geoff''s life,” Kathy says.

In June 2007, Geoff came home on a feeding tube. He had lost 45 pounds. “I called Geoff''s soulmate friend, Reg,” Kathy says. “They grew up in England, had served in the English army together, and both lived in Southern France, before coming to America. Reg now lives in California. I asked him to come help give Geoff the will to live.”

A day after Reg arrived, Kathy heard a crash, and found him crumpled on the kitchen floor. He was turning purple and Kathy could not find a pulse. Kathy called 911. Geoff tore out his feeding tube, and began performing CPR on Reg.

“It was like a bad novel,” Kathy says. “I was screaming into the phone that I had two men dying in my kitchen. Seventeen emergency vehicles arrived, because they thought it had been a double homicide. Neighbors began arriving. My twin sister, who has never driven to my house because she has night blindness, walked in the door. She had been at her home in Webster Groves, and had this feeling that something was terribly wrong at our house. She immediately drove over.”

Reg had suffered a heart attack. He was taken to Progress West Health Center, and then to Missouri Baptist Medical Center where he had quadruple bypass surgery. “If Reg had suffered a heart attack at home, he would have died, because he would have been alone,” Geoff says. “He was meant to be here.”

The Potter home became a recovery station for “two English patients,” as Kathy says. Reg fully recovered, and Geoff slowly got stronger. A life-long whistler, Geoff is whistling again. He is eating small portions of food frequently and getting his color back. He recently worked an estate sale. “Geoff is back in the process of living,” Kathy says.

In September, Geoff and Reg plan to spend three weeks in Southern France. The Potters sent a New Year''s letter, thanking the many people who helped them through the worst year of their lives. “A profoundly sad year has ended with more than I could have imagined – a husband who is getting stronger every day, and fantastic friends, family and clients,” Kathy says.

“I previously had this opinion that Barnes-Jewish Hospital was large and intimidating,” Kathy says. “But I saw a whole different side to Barnes-Jewish, a caring and compassionate one. You couldn''t find better doctors. We thank Dr. Meyers and Dr. Alexander Patterson (Washington University chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Barnes-Jewish), and Dr. Traves Crabtree (Washington University thoracic surgeon at Barnes-Jewish). We thank the nurses, who were wonderful, many exemplary. Everyone was wonderful, including the parking attendants whom I saw every day for five weeks. I can''t say enough good things about Barnes-Jewish.”

After a year of hell, Geoff and Kathy Potter are grateful for a new life thanks to friends, family and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

By Kelly Pahl, February 11, 2008, for BJC TODAY

Print
Tags:
Rate this article:
No rating
Find a doctor or make an appointment: 866.867.3627
General Information: 314.747.3000
One Barnes-Jewish Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63110
© Copyright 1997-2024, Barnes-Jewish Hospital. All Rights Reserved.