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Patient Advocacy Training & Health Services
 
 

Testimonies

We are very proud to share these quotes and endorsements from both medical staff, we have worked with, and patient/families, that we have served. Click on the person's name to read their detailed endorsement.

Medical Staff Endorsements

  1. R. Morton Bolman III- M.D., Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Chief, Division of Cardiac Surgery, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
  2. Sofia Marina Ormaza - R.N., M.S.N., University of MN Hospital, Minneapolis, MN. now residing in Huntsville, AR

Endorsements from Patient & Their Families

  1. Debra Brady - wife of heart/lung and then kidney transplant patient, Univ. of MN, Minneapolis, MN, now living in Ghent, NY
  2. Sam & Mary Lou Ognibene - reside in Rochester, NY. Sam has now been cancer free for 23 years.
  3. Christine Newman - wife of Brain and Stroke Patient, Boston Medical Center, residing in West Bridgewater, MA

Medical Staff Endorsements

  1. R. Morton Bolman III wrote the following: "I have known Chris for over 15 years. I had the opportunity to perform a heart and lung transplant on her husband, John. He endured a long and difficult recovery, requiring many surgeries and months in the hospital. During that illness, Chris proved to be a wonderful advocate for the care of her husband. She interacted with the professional staff in a highly constructive and collaborative way. This is the spirit that she brings to PATHS. She has much to teach others and will be extremely effective. In this era of patient-centered care, families need to know how to advocate for their loved ones. No one is more experienced or dedicated than Chris Lang."
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  2. Sofia Marina Ormaza wrote the following: "I have written multiple recommendations in my professional history; it is a distinct honor to lend my advocacy for her efforts in creating P.A.T.H.S – Patient Advocacy Training and Health Services. I was a Senior Research Nurse Clinician for the Cardiovascular Department at the University of Minnesota. As a result of my close work with patients and families in the Heart/Lung Transplant Program, I was able to relate to Chris during the years that her husband John (now deceased) was waiting for new organs. He was eventually transplanted after several years of wait. These years of relationship gave me a unique opportunity to observe Chris under the most stressful times that a person has to endure. It is a time when a couple is forced to confront their mortality and their zest for life. At the same time the healthy partner has to take over the role of the sick partner and carries over all activities of normal living for both of them. They don’t know if the new day will come with newer health complications, or with the opportunity to have a “gift of life”.

    "Chris always impressed me for her deep commitment to a collection of values towards patient’s rights. She showed courage and strength that is often not seen in people during these extreme circumstances. She was always at her husband’s side, advocating his rights and his desire to succeed in receiving a Heart/Lung Transplant. This happened at a time when Heart/Lung was considered an experimental procedure. Her advocacy included dealing with the many members of the health team, as well as social workers, dietitians, administrators and insurance company representatives. It happened while in a new environment and community, because Minnesota was not their home. Chris became the advocate not only of her husband but of the other group of patients waiting to have a Heart/Lung Transplant. Their new home in Minnesota became the place where all congregated to find companionship and support for each other. She is caring, independent, assertive, creative person who will undoubtedly be an excellent advocate in a field that is so much needed in this new era of health reform."
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Endorsements from Patient & Their Families

  1. Debra Brady wrote the following: "Six patients and their families were on the new frontier of heart/lung transplantation, when I met Chris Lang in 1986, at a brand new program at the University of Minnesota. We had moved cross country to get on this waiting list, away from our homes and extended families but we had each other. We established the first support group for heart/lung patients. Chris became a valuable source of information and enthusiasm. She helped patients and their families find services. Chris got all of us involved with a state-wide Organ Donation Awareness campaign. She was particularly adamant about 'being your own advocate'. I was very shy; this was a very big step for me. After his H/L transplant, he went into a coma and his kidneys failed. She gave me the encouragement to speak up for my husband, when he could not. She helped me with insurance issues, coordinating all the transplant and kidney doctors, and helped with care for my 3 small children. This was more than one person could handle alone. Chris was there for me. She gave me a shoulder to lean on, took some of the load off, even while she was dealing with her own husband's illness. She came to my side again, in 1995. While still grieving for her husband, John's death, she was there for me and my family when my husband, Tom, died 3 months later in September. Chris's dedication to helping others is a never ending story. So many families with all different kinds of health care issues will benefit from PATHS."
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  2. Sam & Mary Lou Ognibene wrote the following: "I met Chris Furneaux Lang in August of 1986 when my husband Sam was undergoing a Bone Marrow Transplant for a Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at The University of Minnesota Hospital. Chris and I were living at Potter House, a temporary home for families of transplant patients. I vividly remember the night I arrived at Potter House, frightened, anxious and exhausted after getting Sam settled in his room at the hospital. We had left Rochester, New York earlier that morning, saying goodbye to our three young children and our parents. It was a heart-wrenching experience. We were going with hope in our hearts that the transplant would be successful, and that Sam would come home free of his cancer. When I walked in, Chris immediately introduced herself and set out to guide me through the rituals of settling in…where was my room, where were the linens, where do I do laundry? I can tell you that I slept that night knowing that I had a person who was going to be there for me. I was right! Chris was a steady friend and source of help throughout Sam’s treatment which lasted sixty-four days. Even after Sam and I left Minneapolis, we were overnight guests in the Furneaux home when we returned for multiple follow ups through the years."

    "At the same time, I watched as Chris advocated for her husband John. John’s case was very complex, and since the program was fairly new, there were many uncharted waters to navigate, even a whole new team of doctors and protocol right in the middle of his treatment. Chris never lost her focus or her determination. When you think about the emotional turmoil that Chris was experiencing, it would have been easy for her fall apart. That never happened! I know that John’s life was extended not only by the care of his doctors, but by the vigilant oversight of Chris’ advocacy. She is a dynamo… knowledgeable, energetic, committed, caring, and sincere." "PATHS will be a beacon of hope, and offer some peace of mind to those who need it at a most difficult time in their lives. It is the culmination of the many ways and years Chris has helped people navigate a health care system that has become more complex, and more difficult to access."
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  3. Christine Newman wrote the following: “I have known Chris Lang for more than 20 years. I saw first hand her dedications to John and her work as a medical advocate. Little did I know that I would need to tap into her skills. In 2001, my husband, Don, suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in his brain complicated by a stroke and paralysis on his left side. Chris’s vast personal experience in acute hospitalizations was a treasure for us. She came to the hospital to advise and support me. She offered encouragement on Don’s progress but also on mine, the caregiver. She let me know that I was not alone and her assistance truly made a difference. Today, 8 years later, you would never know that he had this medical history and he has no residual defects except his compromised vision. He truly is a miracle man.
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