For me,
it’s Stony Brook Medicine.

Real Stories from Long Islanders

I grew up on Long Island on a horse farm. When I originally hurt my back, it hurt so much getting up into the saddle, and I couldn't ride. I don't love injecting steroids into my body, and I was looking for a doctor that would help me come up with a different way to handle that. I'm very grateful to Stony Brook Medicine. Finally being able to find a doctor that's willing to let me participate in how I want to help my body was life-changing. I have no more pain anymore. It gave me my job back. It gave me my happy place back.

Emma
Cutchogue

Real Stories from Long Islanders

I worked as a nurse up and down the Eastern Seaboard for 49 years. When I retired, the next month my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and then a year later I had breast cancer. At Stony Brook Medicine the teamwork between the different doctors and the nurse practitioners... they're amazing. That's something I hadn't seen in a lot of places. You're just a person. You are not a statistic or a case number, and you're so respected. We were thinking about moving back to Florida and I said, 'There's no way I'm leaving Stony Brook Medicine. Ever.'

Barbara
East Patchogue

Real Stories from Long Islanders

One day my partner Bill, when he was talking to me, noticed a glare in my eyes and the fact that I wasn't moving my lips. Who would have thought I was having a stroke? He did, and he had them take me to Stony Brook Medicine. It was really important for me to get to a place like this, because there was no circulation in my brain. I firmly believe, in all my years as a nurse, that time is brain. And I would have lost a lot. I may never have been able to speak again. It's because I went to Stony Brook Medicine that I am here today.

Jeanne
Port Jefferson

Real Stories from Long Islanders

Living with scoliosis can be difficult because there's a mental health component. People could not like the way that their body looks. The team at Stony Brook Medicine would always keep me in a good mood, and they were so caring and helpful, especially when I was younger and getting a cast. They would always make sure that it would be OK. What I'm most proud of is getting out of the cast, the brace, and recovering from the surgery really well. For those who have scoliosis, I just want them to know: it gets better.

Alice
Blue Point

Real Stories from Long Islanders

I had a very normal life and caught the flu, and everything kind of changed from there. My husband heard a thud and came in to find me on the floor. I was in heart failure, which led to my kidneys shutting down, and that led to five heart surgeries and dialysis and learning to walk again. With the support of the PT at Stony Brook Medicine, and the nurses — they were fantastic — I learned to walk again. And then two months later I was pregnant with my daughter. Everything was within a month of being at the hospital, and then I was out and healed.

Kristin
Setauket

Real Stories from Long Islanders

I have two daughters; one's 13 and the other one is 17. It's very important for me to be around for them. I was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia, and the first thing we told them is, 'Look, my daughter's getting Bat Mitzvah'd in two months. I need to be there, so you need to do whatever you have to do to get me there.' And they did it. It was a really long, hard journey, and I just thank Stony Brook Medicine and the doctors that helped me through it. It's really awesome to have that kind of support, especially going through the toughest thing of your life.

Oren
East Setauket