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Five days after arriving at the hospital, on April 18, Larry had open heart surgery, a double bypass and a valve replacement. The nurses and hospital staff were very informative and gave great updates to the family on the day of surgery since they were not able to be present for Larry. Two days before he was discharged on April 25, the family was finally able to physically visit with him in the hospital as he recovered. Proudly, Larry stated, “Brooke saved my life, the doctor just did the surgery.” On the day he was discharged, hospital staff discussed what to expect and how to help Larry at home with medications, nutrition, bathing and his restrictions. Becky felt overwhelmed and worried about managing his blood pressure, blood sugar, temperature, exercise milestones and monitoring how he should or should not feel each day.

“We were well-trained, they were very open and patient with our questions,” Becky remembered. “They covered everything from front to back.” She felt lucky to have the foundation of her whole family and medical staff, but the additional support they received from Network Health eased her mind even more.

Once they were home, their Network Health Case Manager called, summarized who she was and what she was available for, gave her contact information and offered the family several options of services they may want to take advantage of, including topics for Becky. Rehab was one of the services Larry enjoyed most. “We are all affected, I’m not the only patient. She [Becky] needed the rehab mentally as much as I needed it physically,” Larry said.

The case manager continued to check in with the family to see how they were doing. “She was worried about all of us too, not just Larry as the patient. They made it very accessible for all of us to mentally get through this. We had all these different pieces of the pie and they helped to put it all together for us. If she couldn’t answer the question, she had the contacts to find the answers for us,” Becky beamed.

Brooke shared that her mom never once worried about paperwork, claims or how they were going to pay for it all. She said her parents have always raved about their insurance and that through this process, they felt taken care of, so much so that they only had Larry’s well-being and healing to focus on. Once Becky felt settled at home, she logged into the Network Health portal to look at their claims. She marveled that they were already showing up and processing. She thought “this is fast.” Every couple of days she would look again, and they would be paid. Their previous experiences with insurance involved a multitude of mailed paperwork. Becky lit up as she described their Network Health experience, "We got one paper to verify the incident. Everything else was easy-peasy. I knew we would owe something but there were no surprises. I would go every couple of days to check and I would see ‘you owe zero, you owe zero.’ The claims have been flawless, no questions, no extra paperwork.”

Becky, Brooke, Luke and Andrew were free to focus on time with Larry, his health journey and the upcoming wedding. They were not bogged down with extra worries.

“The best day of my second life was Brooke’s wedding,” Larry explained. He had to get a new suit and take breaks occasionally, but he was determined. With tears, he proudly walked his daughter down the aisle on May 21, and when they reached Andrew, he put Brooke’s hand on his chest, his heart. “He was remarkable,” Becky smiled, "And if she hadn’t been here, randomly from Texas, in the house, with me, this wouldn’t be happening.”

At the reception, Larry delivered a speech to the room full of their loved ones, all of whom knew their family’s journey. Emotionally, he said, “You know you find the love of your life, then you bring kids into the world… and then my daughter, on April 13th, my daughter brought me back into the world.”

Becky and Larry enjoying Brooke and Andrew's wedding day

Mary is another member who loves Network Health. Enjoy her story on our blog, networkhealth.com/mary