Bedside Stories
By Bedside Stories
Narrator Corey Schubert has dedicated his career to storytelling. He’s a public relations senior specialist for Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country.
Bedside StoriesAug 17, 2021
Episode 17: Weird Science
Forty-three-year-old Nicole DiCamillo of Arizona has stage 4 cancer – and she feels absolutely the best and happiest she’s been in years. If that sounds odd and unexpected, we’re just getting started in this episode on the strange, fascinating world of radiation treatment and nuclear medicine.
Episode 16: Robot Cookies
When Janice Cmeyla sought help for difficulty breathing, she had no idea that would involve a “three-armed surgeon” – or that major breakthroughs in new technology would save her months of treatment and recovery.
Episode 15: Let Them Know
A hospice music therapist and a 37-year-old Phoenix woman with terminal cancer spent four months creating deeply personal music, as a legacy for the patient to leave her family. One of the powerful songs features her heartbeat as a rhythmic part of the track.
Episode 14: Her Greatest Strength
Deanna Spizzirri’s diagnosis with one of the most severe cases of Tourette’s syndrome didn’t stop her from becoming an elementary school teacher, and helping other patients learn to manage their tics and enjoy life. She shares her highs and lows with us, and we speak to a Banner doctor who has Tourette’s and treats patients with the disorder.
Episode 13: The Flashlight Option
Patient Kim Alten’s annual mammogram led to an option to have genetic testing for cancer, which can help determine whether someone – and their family – has a higher risk of developing certain cancers, and passing some genetic disorders to their children. We spoke with Kim and our experts to learn more.
(Episode was recorded in February 2020.)
Episode 12: The Speed Bump
Thirteen-year-old Ben Zaccardi took a ride around the block on his dirt bike that ended with him hurling into a cinder block wall, demolishing his body. But his story has a happy ending, as thousands of people have cheered on the upbeat boy through every milestone of his unexpected recovery.
Episode 11: Universal Ouch
For 15 years, physician assistant Tara Burns has been quietly helping to change lives for hundreds of people in undeveloped areas around the world. She recently returned from her 30th humanitarian mission, offering free surgical care to families in need. We asked her to share some of her most memorable moments.
NOTE: Tara attended PA school; narration mentions her having attended medical school, where physicians and surgeons are trained.
Bonus Episode: Hope on the Frontlines
An interview with nurse Kaitlin Nicholas about her ongoing experience treating potential coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients at Banner Casa Grande Medical Center. She may be “beat up from the feet up” tired, but she and her dedicated colleagues remain fueled by positive energy and a passion for saving lives.
Episode 10: Living Backwards
Ten-year-old Peyton Gonzalez is like any other kid her age, but she’s also literally one in a million -- a survivor of an extremely rare cancer that required a 10-hour surgery that was spellbinding in complexity and drama. The experience made Peyton wise beyond her years. (Happy birthday to her, by the way!)
Episode 9: One Good Deed
As we wrap up our first season of inspiring and dramatic stories, we’re checking in on many of the memorable patients, medical staff and volunteers who shared their memorable experiences throughout the past year. Quite a bit has happened since we met them!
Episode 8: Moving the Curtain
Hospital chaplains Timothy and Stephanie Burdick visit some of Banner Health’s most critical patients every Sunday. Sometimes, those patients don’t realize they’ve just held hands with two people who’ve learned to embrace life through a hardship of their own: Both Timothy and Stephanie have been blind since they were infants.
Episode 7: Changing the Timeline
Bernice Campbell has seen many family members impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, so now this 57-year-old grandmother is doing her part to help researchers and medical experts before we lose thousands more people in another generation. But some ethnic cultures remain skeptical about taking part in research, which presents a real issue in finding a cure.
Episode 6: The Right One
Patient Anita Allen had no idea how much of her life was about to change when a nice fellow named Sam appeared in the doorway of her treatment room. That set in motion another major moment intertwining the lives of the two widowers with the hospital in ways neither could have expected.