Arneson Wallace A Jr MD

If you ever have a vascular issue, such as severe and seemingly unsolvable blockage in your bile duct, this is your man to see at St Joseph Mercy.
It has been a giant roller coaster ride of false diagnosis, surgery and general head scatching with my mother. At one point we were told she was in liver failure only to be told oh she just needs an ERCP endoscopy (fail) after that ultrasounds and CT scans. Then she needed another ERCP which did not work either, then it was maybe that her gallbladder needed to come out (it did but bile duct was still blocked). Then they could not figure out what was causing it on a cholangiogram. All of it resulted in a team of docs utterly not knowing what is causing everything at all.
We have moved up the chain of doctors at SJM and at the top of the pile is this man, apparently the expert in such matters. He has a good bedside manner, an excellent skill in surgery and a drive to find out all the answers. We have come really far in treatment and my mother no longer resembles a Chiquita banana nor does she do a Exorcist worthy vomiting routine. Small victories but important ones.
He has stayed late and come in early to perform surgery and provide other care on my mother. He came himself to check on her during her stays in the hospital, even though his minions had it all covered. The minions and the nurses seem quite starstruck with him, it’s kind of interesting to watch.
Oddly he is not some stiff in a white coat. He really is informative and warm, reassuring my mother and even offering an arm to walk her out himself. He has even cracked a joke here or there which in my family is a must. He manages to keep us posted without instilling too much fear and helps us understand what is to come which helps a lot in managing fear which is important.
We don’t really know the outcome of all this yet, not by a longshot but I have faith in Dr Arneson that he is doing his absolute best and that he really cares about trying for the best possible outcome for my mother, no matter what that is. You cannot ask for anything more.