by Dave Wingen

My journey started on January 12, 2024, when I walked into the Primary Care Freeland clinic after feeling sick for days. As soon as the staff saw me, they knew something was seriously wrong and told me to head straight to the emergency room.

So, I got in my truck and drove the 19 miles to the hospital. The weird thing is, I don’t actually remember much of that drive. The first clear memory I have is standing at the hospital’s entrance, my truck parked outside, wondering how I even got there.

Thankfully, the staff at Freeland had called ahead, so the ER team was ready for me the second I walked through the door. Dr. Nicholas Perera took one look at me – my swollen neck, my struggle to breathe, my skin probably turning purple – and knew things were bad. He suspected a severe infection and jumped into action.

As luck would have it, Dr. Lance Keyes, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, happened to be at the hospital with another patient. Dr. Perera knew he could help, and he was absolutely right. Turns out, everything traced back to an abscessed wisdom tooth. That tiny problem had escalated into something life-threatening – Ludwig’s Angina, a rare but dangerous bacterial infection that swells the floor of the mouth and can cut off the airway.

Dr. Keyes wasted no time. He took me straight into surgery, opened my neck to drain the abscess, and relieved the swelling. That quick decision saved my life. Once I was stable, they loaded me onto a LifeFlight helicopter and flew me to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where I spent three months in the ICU and another two in a rehab facility in Everett.

The time between January and April is mostly a blank for me. My memory of those months is scattered, like pieces of a puzzle I can’t quite put together. But what I do know for sure is that without the quick thinking and expert care of the teams at Primary Care Freeland, WhidbeyHealth Medical Center, and Harborview, I wouldn’t be standing here today.

I’ll never be able to fully express how grateful I am to Dr. Perera, Dr. Keyes, Dr. Rosa Rangel, Michelle Aube, CRNA, and the incredible nurses who took care of me. They pulled me back when I was slipping away, and I owe them everything.