When Nicole Hudson walked through the doors of SSM Health St. Clare Hospital – Fenton in the early hours of September 5, she was scared, exhausted, and in pain. After a recent gastric bypass revision, complications had left her unable to walk and battling a severe infection. “I don’t know if I was close to death from the infection, but it sure felt like it,” Hudson said. “I’ve had 18 surgeries in my life, and no pain ever compared to this.”
Her journey to SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton began after multiple hospitals turned her away. “I was told the bariatric team at another facility didn’t want to ‘clean up another doctor’s mess.’ That was devastating,” she said.
But then came hope: SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton agreed to take her case. “They transported me two hours by ambulance to a place I had never heard of. I was beyond scared at this point.” Hudson lives in Centralia, Missouri.
From the moment she arrived, Hudson says she felt the difference. “I was tended to immediately! Each staff member listened to me. I was finally heard,” she said. Over the next eight days, Hudson experienced what she calls the best care of her life.
“It was as if God created these people just for me. Every single need was tended to. Never waited more than three minutes for someone to answer my call light.”
Hudson speaks passionately about the teamwork she witnessed: “The camaraderie between all the healthcare providers was incredible. The doctors—Dr. Leslie Wilson, Dr. Aaron Bornstein, and Dr. Francisco Pherez—spoke to the nurses with respect, and the nurses valued the doctors. There were never negative remarks, only praise. In all my years of healthcare needs, that has never happened.”
Pain management was a priority, and empathy was constant. “They didn’t just show up for work—they showed up as advocates for me, for my care, my physical and mental needs,” Hudson said. She even formed lasting friendships with her caregivers.
“[Nurse] Dora Howard and Dr. Leslie Wilson – I consider them true friends. Dora came by to check on me even when she wasn’t assigned to my care. And Dr. Wilson wants to go to lunch with me when I come back for a follow-up.”
Hudson’s gratitude runs deep. In her six-page handwritten note to SSM Health St. Clare Hospital’s president, Kyle Grate, she said: “I’m so incredibly blessed to have been a patient in your facility. You saw me at my worst, but I saw you at your BEST.”
Her story is a testament to the compassion and excellence that define SSM Health St. Clare Hospital – Fenton. Hudson ends her letter by saying, “Never stop being you—you do make a difference in this world.”
