I have been fortunate enough to have a many strong, inspiring and compassionate women in my life. Sadly, on March 8th one of those women passed away. Just one month and one day after bringing my twins into this world my Doctor and Friend, Dr. Shannon Moorehead quietly left this world. The void that her death has brought is immeasurable. She meant so many things to so many people, to me, she meant the world.
I hadn’t planned on writing a blog post about Dr. Moorehead, but when I decided to start a blog, I knew one of my first posts had to be in her honor. I apologize in advance for the length of this post, there is just no simple or fast way to sum up my relationship with Shannon. Over the last month and a half I have poured over many words and stories shared by Shannon’s friends, family, co-workers and patients. Reading these stories of Shannon has become a great comfort. It’s a great reminder that she was so important to so many people. I hope that my memories of Shannon will provide similar comfort for others that are grieving.
Shannon’s departure was far too soon. She was only 39 years old and had so much life still to live. But, to understand my relationship with Dr. Moorehead we will have to start from the beginning...
I first began seeing Dr. Moorehead the summer before my 21st birthday when I knew my body wasn’t functioning correctly and it would be best to have things checked out. I went over a list of a hundred doctors covered by my insurance plan. Dr. Shannon Moorehead stood out for some reason. Her name sounded kind and she was from the midwest, I liked that. Also, I noticed that she was quite young and hadn’t been practicing for very long. That was important to me, even at that time I knew I wanted to find a doctor that could treat me through my childbearing years. I was so nervous at my first appointment, but she put me at ease immediately. She was so knowledgeable, confident and humble that I knew I had made the right choice. After talking for a few minutes she said that she suspected I had PCOS and would need further testing to be sure. PCOS can be a nasty thing, and it varies from woman to woman. Luckily, my case was pretty mild, but we knew it could still jeopardize my fertility in the future. Days after my first appointment I got a call from Dr. Moorehead. She gave me all of my test results and she had a plan of action ready to go. I didn’t know her very well, but trusted her opinion and went along with her suggestions.
PCOS can cause infertility in a lot of women. But, from the very beginning Dr. Moorehead assured me that when the time was right, I would get pregnant and I wouldn’t need her help or any medical intervention to make it happen. Turns out, she was right. Fast forward 2 years and I was pregnant with our first baby. We were so excited and Dr. Moorehead was excited for us. It had been a long 2 years of trying. But there were concerns. At the time of conception I was at my highest weight ever. I was also insulin resistant and borderline diabetic. These are all very scary things, but especially so when you are trying to grow a new life. Dr. Moorehead was always very proactive with my care and the care of our growing boy. During my pregnancy with Furio, Dr. Moorehead was also pregnant with her 3rd son, Jacob. It was an exciting time for both of us and I’m lucky we got to share that. As my due date grew near Dr. Moorehead strongly recommended a scheduled c-section for Furio’s delivery. I was skeptical and was set on a natural childbirth. She explained that due to my circumstances that might not be a possibility. I trusted her judgment and Furio was born via scheduled c-section on August 18th, 2009. The operation went very smoothly and she explained everything to me as we went along. She even held my hand and told me all about redecorating her son’s room to a Star Wars theme while the Anesthesiologist gave me my spinal just before surgery. During surgery she talked about how excited she was that she would be the one on the operating table in just 6 weeks and 1 day to welcome Jacob into the world.
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| Dr. Moorehead and Furio - 8/21/2009
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I continued to see Dr. Moorehead regularly over the next few years, often with different concerns. One appointment all we discussed was getting ready for baby #2. The next appointment we discussed my weight and how it was imperative to get it under control prior to getting pregnant again. You see, my weight has been a struggle my entire life. In all the years I had been seeing Dr. Moorehead she never once made me feel badly about it. She was always very gentle and non judgemental. She would offer tips and suggest programs, but year after year my weight kept climbing. In 2010 I decided to pursue weight loss surgery, a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy to be specific. I knew that to get insurance approval, I would need Dr. Moorehead’s help. Since the time I began seeing her, not only was she my OB/GYN, but she was also my Primary Care Physician. I wrote her a detailed letter explaining the surgery I wanted and how I felt it would benefit my life. Within days of mailing the letter to her office I got a phone call from her. Unfortunately, I missed her call, but I’ll never forget the voicemail she left me. She literally squealed with delight that I wanted a VSG. She had a personal friend and colleague that had recently undergone a VSG and had fantastic results. She was very excited to help me get my approval and get on the road to a healthier life. She put in a lot of time to write a wonderful letter of recommendation for me. Thanks to that letter, my surgery was approved and scheduled very quickly.
I saw Dr. Moorehead for the first time since my weight loss surgery just 5 months after my VSG. I was down 80lbs and recently found out I was pregnant again. We were elated, but once again concerned. This time the circumstances were much different. My weight was in a healthier range and I didn’t have the diabetic concerns that I did last time. But I was freshly out of weight loss surgery and that’s not the best environment for a pregnancy to thrive. Prior to my first prenatal visit we bumped into Dr. Moorehead and her boys at Toys R Us one Saturday. She hugged me and assured me that everything would be ok and that these babies were meant to be and were right on time. She was right, week after week she would give me an ultrasound and there was not one, but two healthy babies. They were growing, thriving and looked perfect.
During my pregnancy with the twins I heard so much about Dr. Moorehead’s sister Heather. She had twins a few years prior, one boy and one girl. You could tell they truly had a special bond by the way that Dr. Moorehead would talk about Heather and her babies. Dr. Moorehead also mentioned to me (on a few occasions) that she had to honor of giving Heather a mid pregnancy ultrasound that revealed she was having a boy and a girl. I knew that moment was so special and meant so much to both Dr. Moorehead and to Heather. I loved to hear her talk about her family, they all meant so much to her.
Once again Dr. Moorehead worked her magic and on February 7th, 2012 Roxanne and Rocco were born by scheduled c-section. Once again the surgery went perfect and we were blessed with 2 more healthy babies.
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| Dr. Moorehead with Roxy and Rocco - 2/8/2012 |
Sadly, one month later our Doctor and Patient relationship would come to an end. I’ll never forget my very last visit with her. It was my 2 week postpartum check up. Unfortunately, it was one of those days that the office was very busy and she didn’t have much extra time to chat. But we discussed my weight goals, what it was like to have a little lady in the house and how many bows and headbands I had already made for Roxy.
I’ll never forget the day I got that horrible phone call. I was one week away from my 6 week check up. When I saw her name come up on my phone I figured it was just another appointment confirmation call. The voice on the other end confirmed my appointment for the following week then said we had to reschedule because Dr. Moorehead had died suddenly the week before. I was in shock, and still am. These are the types of phone calls that are so hard to receive. I’m sure they were even harder for her staff to make. I’ll always be grateful that I learned of her untimely death just in time to attend her services. Being there was incredibly difficult, but I knew I would regret not going. The service was a beautiful celebration of her life and the number of people in attendance was a true testimony to how many lives she had touched.
Shannon will always be remembered for her warmth, her compassion, her knowledge, her charm, her humble nature and her impeccable bedside manor. She will also be remembered for her lightheartedness, her iridescent clogs that she wore often, and her ability to be real with her patients. She was silly, fun, caring and a little bit dorky. But these were all the things I loved about her. When times were good, she would celebrate with you and when times were bad, she would cry with you.
Shannon wasn’t just a Doctor and a friend, she was also a Daughter, a Sister and more importantly a Mom. She took her role as a Mother very seriously and I think it was her favorite time of day, when she just got to be “Mommy”. She talked about her boys Josh, Ethan and Jacob often. She enjoyed watching the boys at football practice in the evening, volunteering in their classrooms at school and singing “You are my sunshine” to them. I know these things because she told me about them and you could see the love in her eyes every time she had the opportunity to tell me a funny story about one of her boys.
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Shannon with 4 of her favorite guys. Her Father Lowell and boys Josh, Ethan and Jacob.
A big thank you to Shannon's Mom, Sandy for letting me borrow this beautiful picture.
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Shannon always told great stories, even when they were about her doing things she wasn’t so proud of. At one visit while discussing our weight loss attempts she told me how she had inhaled an entire package of white chocolate covered oreos for dinner the night before. We had a good laugh about it and I have since heeded her advice and steered clear of those white chocolate covered oreos. According to her, they were very dangerous to have around. But, that was Shannon. She was never afraid to show that she was a real person too, just like the rest of us. That was all part of her charm and what made her so special and it’s also why so many people felt such a deep connection with her. I’m so lucky to have been one of those people.
I will miss having Dr. Moorehead as my doctor. But even more, I will miss having Shannon as my friend. I’ll miss all our little chats about silly things that really don’t matter, but they mattered to us. I’ll miss getting potty training tips from her, having girl talk with her and sharing our common struggles in life. I’ll never forget one of my prenatal visits this past November. I had just had some hot pink tinsel strands threaded in my hair. The second she walked into the room that’s all she could talk about. We talked a little about the twins, but they were looking good and growing well, so we had time to discuss girly things like glittery tinsel. She loved how fun it looked and we both agreed that we need a little a fun in our lives. At my next visit the following week there was Dr. Moorehead with a few gold strands of tinsel in her hair. It’s a silly memory of her, but I’ll think of her everytime I get tinsel in my hair and I’ll remember that we all do need a little fun in our lives.
I’ll never forget how when the twins were born she’d pop by my hospital room from time to time just to hang out. Technically, she was there to check out her handy work and make sure that things were healing well and looked good. Once business was taken care of though she would grab a baby and get comfy. It didn’t matter if there were others in the room or not, she would jump right into the conversation while smiling and making faces at the babies. The day we were discharged she dropped in a few times. The last time she stopped by, she brought us a bag full of samples and goodies from the nursery just to make sure we were covered for the first few days at home.
I will think of Shannon and her boys daily and be forever grateful to her for helping bring my 3 little angels into this world. She was and always will be one of the most classy, compassionate and intelligent women that I ever had the privilege of knowing. I hope you have found some peace Shannon.
Because we knew you, we have all been changed for good.
