“I am so happy you saved my dad’s life.” 

An eight year old child wrote those words in a heartfelt letter to her father’s physician, Dr. Gary Gecelter, chairman of the Department of Surgery at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center.

The story begins back in 2025, when little Becky Satin’s father, Richard, found himself unable to eat and rapidly losing weight. “She’s very observant,” said Richard. “She knew I was sick, and she was frightened. I was only eating Jell-O and pudding and had lost 75 pounds. I couldn’t figure out why I could not eat.”

In early 2026, Richard connected with Dr. Gecelter and his surgical team at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center. Dr. Gecelter quickly determined that Richard had a complex problem that resulted in a bowel blockage.  

“Richard had been seen by numerous doctors who could not figure out why he was struggling to eat and had lost so much weight,” said Dr. Gecelter. “I consulted Dr. William Klein, his internist, who first noticed the issue. After we repeated his testing at St. Francis Hospital, we confirmed Richard’s diagnosis and promptly operated.”

Within days of his complex minimally invasive surgery, Richard says that he was able to eat regular meals again. During the Satins’ first family dinner after the procedure, Becky held her father’s hand the entire time.  

“It was wonderful to see his rapid return to health following the procedure,” said Dr. Gecelter. 

“To be so well again, I am tremendously grateful to Dr. Gecelter and the St. Francis team! Becky is so happy,” the proud father exclaimed. 

Becky and her father recently met with Dr. Gecelter to express their gratitude for his lifesaving care in person.  They brought with them a short letter Becky had written.

Dear Dr. Gecelter, 

I’m so happy you saved my dad’s life. I don’t know what I’d do without my dad. Thank you so much. I’m so excited to do so many fun things with him again. You changed my life because I thought he was sick and would not live. We tried to do everything but he would not get better, so you finally fixed him. I want to tell everyone how amazing a doctor you are!  Thank you so much again.

Warm Wishes, 

Becky Satin

The St. Francis Hospital Gastrointestinal Surgery program is consistently ranked as one of the Best Hospital specialties in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more about patient care, please visit https://www.catholichealthli.org/digestive-health-gastroenterology