Annual Pub 2022 - Flipbook - Page 17
The email, which Dr. Scheidler shared with colleagues, quickly drew a response from him:
Annalisa Gubler
Re: THANK YOU!
Annalisa,
It’s really nice to hear from you and I’m glad you are doing so well. I certainly remember you. Some patients like yourself leave a lasting impression and I give them little
nicknames. It’s my way of being invested and there has never been another twisted
sister. You know the world is a funny place. I trained at Arkansas Children’s Hospital
before coming to Las Vegas so I know where you live. Some of the docs probably still
remember me there although it’s been a long time. Please keep in touch. You are the
reason I do what I do.
Though Annalisa’s parents didn’t know
she had written Dr. Scheidler, they were
ecstatic to learn that she had. It just so
happened that the Gubler family would
be in Las Vegas in February for a cousin’s
wedding and arrangements were made
with Dr. Sheidler’s staff for Annalisa and
her parents to meet the surgeon at his Kirk
Kerkorian School of Medicine o昀케ce.
“I’m going to be really excited to see him,”
Annalisa said during a phone interview.
“It’s going to be really cool and a spiritual
experience…I can’t believe I’ll be meeting
a man who saves lives all the time, who
saved my life.”
When Rachel Gubler came on the phone, she said the upcoming meeting with the doctor was bringing back “all
sorts of memories…I remember how con昀椀dent and humble Dr. Scheidler was at the same time, how he put me at
ease. I remember how he said he needed to get Annalisa into surgery as soon as possible…my husband and I are
people of faith and we prayed over it, prayed for Dr. Scheidler. I felt at peace. He was an answer to a prayer. I really
trusted him. I knew God had sent him to us to make Annalisa live.”
In the days before he saw the Gubler family again in Las Vegas, Dr. Scheidler went over Annalisa’s chart from 14
years ago. “I met her in 2008 when she was 18 months old. She weighed in the 10th percentile for her age…unable
to keep any food down…A very serious sequel of malrotation is…the intestines can die…Annalisa was taken urgently to the operating room where a Ladd’s procedure was performed. During a Ladd’s procedure, the intestines are
昀椀xed in a way to decrease the chance of any
more twisting. We can’t put the intestines in a
completely normal position but we can make
it such that they won’t cause any troubles.
Annalisa did amazingly after surgery. She
quickly tolerated food and gained weight. I
saw her a few times after surgery and she
had changed so much. No longer was she a
fussy child throwing up. She was thriving.”
On February 19, 2022, the Gublers waited
for Dr. Scheidler at his o昀케ce. When he came
through the door, it wasn’t long before Annalisa’s parents were thanking him, as they
did 14 years earlier, for saving the life of their
daughter. Dr. Scheidler was thanking them for
coming to see him.
And Annalisa, the twisted sister, hugged Dr.
Scheidler – and then hugged him some more.
“Thank you,” she said.
DR. MICHAEL SCHEIDLER, ANNALISA GUBLER, DR. MICHAEL GUBLER,
AND RACHEL GUBLER | PHOTO: JENNY MANN
UNLV.EDU/MEDICINE
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