In 2015 after an endoscopic examination of my wife (who previously had gone to St. Luke's, Milwaukee, for 6-7 annual endoscopic exams of 2 benign cysts on her pancreas), Dr. Hernandez counseled us by saying the cycsts were O.K. but there wa a "small complication." He said the endoscope had punctured her esophagus (in 2-3 places), then assured us by saying he had "patched" them. Minutes later, as we drove home, my wife realized something was terribly wrong. We returned to Aurora, where the call went out for a thoracic surgeon. Meanwhile, my wife was placed in an ambulance, which I followed to St. Luke's. At 2 a.m. a surgeon awakened me with alarm in his voice, saying my wife had holes in her esophagus and needed to go into surgery immediately. The 4-hour surgery proved only partially successful since her vagus nerve was severed. To his credit, Dr. Hernandez came by her hospital recovery room 2 times, admitting "operator's error." Together with our daughter (an M.D.) my wife and I decided not to litigate a claim. Still, my wife's death in 2020 weighs more heavily with each passing year. read more