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Seeing my father struggle with weight has been a part of my life from my very first memory. Every day, I could see the difficulty he had moving and breathing. The shame and guilt that he had from eating just like a “normal person” because of his size were evident everywhere we went. I saw it even when I was a small child – people would stare at him all the time because of his size.

When Elizabeth McKenzie arrived as a patient at the Comprehensive Care Center, she says she could “wiggle one foot, wiggle one hand, and flap my lips.”

When plastic surgeon Dr. John Baeke first saw 7-year old Marsahn Elijah Emerson in the Lompoc Valley Medical Center Emergency Department last December, the little boy’s head was a mass of bloody lacerations and punctures.

Dick Newcomb and his younger brother Glen were always close as siblings, even with four years separating them.

Lompoc resident Naomi Hopkins has been a patient of Dr. Rod Huss’ for a year, and last October, he delivered her daughter, Phoenix Skye White.

Lompoc resident Pamela Martin hasn’t had the best of luck with her bones. But lucky for her, she found orthopedic surgeon David Cortese, MD.

For the Gonzalez family, the arrival this week of newborn Paul Augustine Gonzalez is lucky #13. Maria and Jose Gonzalez welcomed tiny Paul at 8:33 pm on Tuesday in LVMC’s Labor, Delivery, Recovery, and Postpartum department, with assistance from OBGYN Dr. Rod Huss.

Sitting in the Comprehensive Care Center’s activities room, Odessa Gilmore can usually be found with a smile on her face.

In the halls of the Comprehensive Care Center, applause and cheers started breaking out as Sheila Holley cruised by with her walker. “Sheila! Look at you!” came the calls and recognition.

Mary Fahning is no stranger to broken bones and keeping an active lifestyle. A year ago, the Lompoc resident broke her foot and hiked 150 miles with the injury until she could get to a doctor.

At the age of 76, Beverly Dean had a clean driving record, without even a fender-bender. But when she was on vacation out-of-state, a rain-slicked road ended her exemplary history.

After a disabling stroke, an independent Shirley Holston found herself needing an assisted living environment.  After a few locations, she has now settled into the Comprehensive Care Center where one of the residential cats, Mirage, has adopted her and visits regularly.

Larissa Ybarra’s first experience with childbirth didn’t go exactly as expected. Her little baby boy was due Sept. 10, 2017 and she planned for him to be born in Santa Barbara. But little Lucca had other plans. He arrived Aug. 4 and came in with an exuberant entrance.

Ruth Kline Kane’s new year almost ended as soon as it began. The childcare coordinator for the Lompoc Family YMCA was not feeling well at work early in January and passed out in a restroom.

Jonah Gustilo was just determined to make an early arrival into the world. The second son of Amber and Ben Gustilo was initially due on Dec. 10, and his parents planned for him to be delivered via a scheduled C-Section at Cottage Hospital on Dec. 4. “He decided he didn’t want to wait,” his mother said.