From Taylorville to Springfield, Patient Finds Seamless Care Close to Home

Lori Wemple, 52, of Taylorville, hadn’t been to see a doctor since 2019. But when troubling abdominal pain grew worse, her family didn’t take no for an answer. Especially her nephew, Nicholas Lavin, a surgery RN at Taylorville Memorial Hospital (TMH).

As Lori’s pain grew more intense, her husband Matt called Nick over to the house. Nick took one look at her and strongly recommended she see a physician. Before the day was over, Lori would receive care at two Memorial Health hospitals, have surgery to remove her appendix and return home feeling much better.

At TMH, Lori described pain running from beneath her rib cage down her abdomen. The care team recommended a CT scan and took her to the Emergency Department for further evaluation.

For someone who had never been in an Emergency Department or had a CT scan, there were plenty of new experiences that day. What Lori remembers most were the people who cared for her.

“Everything was excellent,” she said. “Everyone was very professional, very friendly. You felt like you were actually cared about. They had a sense of humor, which I like. Those are my type of people.”

The CT scan showed Lori’s appendix was in an unusual location, positioned over her spine. As she began to develop a fever, the TMH team started antibiotics and prepared to transfer her to Springfield Memorial Hospital (SMH) for surgery.

Lori traveled by ambulance (another first!) to SMH, where the surgical team was ready. She went straight to surgery for an appendectomy and was home by 8:30 that evening.

From the ED care she received close to home in Taylorville to the surgery she needed in Springfield, Lori remembers the experience as one connected journey.

“Very seamless. It all came together,” she said.

After surgery, Lori’s severe pain disappeared along with her appendix. The post-surgery discomfort didn’t approach the pain she had felt before surgery. She felt so much better she turned down pain medication afterward.

That transition from care in her own community to additional services in nearby Springfield involved seamless care, a strength of Memorial Health.

Lori was just grateful that at each step – once she finally went in – there was a team ready to care for her.