MY INTERVIEW WITH DR. SCOTT KOLBABA (1 OF 4)
Dr. Scott Kolbaba
It was a pleasure interviewing Dr. Scott Kolbaba, an internist in private practice in Wheaton, Illinois, and the author of Physicians’ Untold Stories: Miraculous experiences doctors are hesitant to share with their patients, or ANYONE!
Scott’s book feature stories from 27 physicians about their personal encounters with near death experiences, inspired visions, dreams, unexplained miraculous healings, and more. Tying all these stories together is a sense of wonder and awe, and a deep faith in the divine intelligence that governs all of creation.
As Scott told me in an email:
The doctors who provided stories for my book had some miraculous experiences illustrating that we are all connected in strange and wonderful ways, that love is one of the most if not the most powerful force in the universe, that there is a higher power that loves us and participates in our lives more than we realize, that loved ones who have passed on before can still participate in our lives, and that miracles happen around us all the time and that we should actually expect them!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading these stories. I’ve read many stories of miraculous healings, synchronicities, and unexplained phenomena, but I never get tired of coming across stories like these that are authentic, heartfelt, poignant and well presented.
Following our four-part video interview is the audio-only portion of the interview if you’d like to just listen to it.
And following that is a wonderful story from the book, presented in its entirety!
MY INTERVIEW WITH DR. SCOTT KOLBABA (2 OF 4)
MY INTERVIEW WITH DR. SCOTT KOLBABA (3 OF 4)
MY INTERVIEW WITH DR. SCOTT KOLBABA (4 OF 4)
MY INTERVIEW WITH DR. SCOTT KOLBABA (AUDIO ONLY)
A SERIES OF MIRACLES
by John P. Mendenhall, MD
It was the lowest point in my life. I sat at my desk contemplating the problems I was facing, when my nurse and receptionist came into my office beaming. “Look what someone left on your reception table,” my nurse said. What she laid on my desk took my breath away. It was a large gold-leaf frame, and inside was my family tree, also in gold leaf. Each of my ancestors had a glass birthstone. The tree depicted an extensive group of relatives going back to many great-greats. I was at the base of the tree, as if each of my ancestors depended upon me. How could I give up and let them all down? I thought.
I was touched beyond words. I could feel a tear well up in my eye, as I turned to my nurse and receptionist to ask if they had seen the stranger who had anonymously brought the package to my office. Both thought they saw Dave Adams’s car drive out of my parking lot that morning. I had served on some church committees with Dave, but we were not close friends. How he knew I was at a crossroads in my life, I will never know, but his gift of unselfish love made me realize I could overcome any obstacle, and it turned my life around. I rarely saw Dave again as our lives went separate ways until…well, I’m getting ahead of myself.
As an orthopedic surgeon, I maintained a busy operating schedule, but this particular week was over the top. I happened to be on call much of that week and was looking forward to having the weekend off. In fact, I had been up most of the night in the operating room and was finishing morning rounds on Saturday. It was a great feeling when I called my partner and signed out. I turned off my pager, changed my coat, and headed out of the hospital.
As I passed the doctor’s lounge, I thought about getting a soda before I left, but I was distracted and forgot. As I drove away, I decided to stop at a gas station on the way home for a drink. It was about halfway home, just off the expressway. But again, as I was getting ready to pull off, I became preoccupied with whether I had ordered an appropriate medication for one of the patients I had seen on rounds, and I missed the exit. Fortunately the next ramp was to my home. I could wait until I got to my own refrigerator, which was well stocked with cold pop. I would then change into some casual clothes and take a well-deserved nap. As I worked out the plan in my mind, I went right by the exit!
I must be really tired, I thought. I had never done this before. I would have to turn around to get back home. Then I remembered that just off the next exit was another community hospital. I was on staff but almost never operated there because they always seemed to be out of the orthopedic equipment I needed. But they had a great doctors’ lounge, and I could make a quick pass for a soda and then go home to bed.
This time, I didn’t miss the exit. I was happy to see the tan building just a few blocks away. The doctors’ entrance and parking lot were in the back, but, for some reason, I parked on the other side and went in through the front door. I don’t remember ever doing that before.
As I entered the lobby and walked down the hallway I heard a desperate plea. “Doc Mendenhall, Doc Mendenhall!” It was the voice of Kathy Staton, the daughter of Dave Adams, who had changed my life with his expression of love and kindness so many years before.
“Doc,” she said, still catching her breath from the sprint to my side. “My daughter Judy just had a terrible fall from a zip line, and she broke the forearm bones in both arms. It’s terrible. Her arms are all deformed, and she plays the piano and wants to become a concert pianist! They think she may never be able to play at that level again. My father always told me you were the best orthopedic surgeon around, so I knew you would be the only one who could fix her. I’m so thankful you came.”
I was totally exhausted, but how could I refuse to do the surgery? The real problem, however, was the hospital. They were almost always out of the right drills, plates, and screws I needed for a sophisticated surgery like this would be. I was trying to decide how to tell Kathy when one of the surgical nurses came down the hall after seeing her injured daughter in the ER. I think she must have read my mind.
“Doc,” she said. “I have great news. You know how you always tell us that we don’t have the right equipment for your cases? Well, the operating committee decided to encourage more orthopedic surgery by ordering a large set of the finest orthopedic plates, screws, and drill bits. They arrived this morning, and I just picked them up from our surgical supplier. It’s everything that you will need.”
And it was. Now I knew without a doubt that someone behind the scenes was directing traffic, and all I could do was to hold on for the ride.
I went to the ER with Kathy and examined Judy. She was right. The radius and ulna in both forearms were fractured in multiple places. Her once beautiful arms and hands were twisted and functionless. This would be a major surgery, and I told Kathy it would normally take at least four hours.
I knew the anesthesiologist, Howard Roberts, who was on call for the hospital that day. He came to the ER to see what he was facing, since he didn’t want to spend his entire Saturday in surgery. After we scrubbed and entered the operating suite, Howard marked the time on his chart and reminded me that I promised him I could do it in four hours. I nodded.
As he was putting Judy into a deeper sleep, I was able to start on her right arm. I have never had surgery proceed so quickly. Her separated bones almost fell into place. The new orthopedic kit had the state-of-the-art plates and screws that I loved to use. Within forty-five minutes, I had finished her right arm and was starting on the left. That arm went as miraculously as the right. I was done within forty-five minutes again and informed Howard that he could wake Judy up. He nearly fell off his stool. He looked at the clock: 12:35 p.m. He subtracted the start time and recorded a total surgical time of ninety-two minutes. He had never seen anything like this before, and neither had I. When I went out to speak with the family, they were waiting for me at the door. It was great to see my old friend Dave Adams, Kathy’s father, who smiled when he saw me.
“I knew you would finish quickly,” Kathy said calmly, “and I already know the result.” And she was right. Postoperative X-rays revealed that Judy’s bones were positioned perfectly.
Her statement capped the most unusual day of my life. It was a day filled with a series of miracles, starting with something that prevented me from getting a drink in my own doctors’ lounge and from taking the exits to the gas station or to my home. Then Kathy Staton locating the person she wanted to operate on her daughter just because I chose an entrance I had never used before. Then performing a complex surgery in record time using instruments that were delivered just hours before I needed them. Finally Kathy’s entire family standing at the doorway to the surgical waiting room because they knew that I would finish hours before I predicted.
And what about Judy, you ask. Did she ever play the piano again?
Judy made an uneventful recovery from her surgery, but she required extensive physical therapy. Part of the therapy involved making a beautiful quilt for my family. But the real reward for me was receiving the following invitation in the mail nearly two years later:
You are cordially invited to the opening performance of Judith Staton in concert.
She played like an angel!
About John P. Mendenhall, MD
Dr. Mendenhall is now retired after a successful forty-year practice of general orthopedic surgery. He graduated from the University of Utah Medical School and practiced in Ogden, Utah.
When I asked him how he became interested in orthopedics, he told me that when he was looking at different surgical specialties, he spent a day with a local orthopedic surgeon. “The morning started out with surgery, using my hands with the type of carpentry tools I love. Then in the afternoon, there were no cases, so we went fishing. I knew then that this was the specialty for me!”
In retirement, he continues to work with carpentry tools and has a business that intentionally loses money. “I just like to help people,” he told me. He gets regular calls from neighbors and friends who need his carpentry skills for a leaky roof, a flooded basement, a new shower, and other repairs that the family cannot afford. He sometimes even gets paid.
He continues to be physically active at the age of seventy-seven and annually runs a marathon, except for one year when he hiked and canoed around the Arctic Circle.
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Tags: divine intervention, miracles, miraculous healings, near-death experiences
Triumph of the Spirit 
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