Dr. Katherine A Vankessel, MD

I was given a referral by the doctor to have a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. I called the Breast Clinic before leaving Overlake to schedule this and was given the next available appointment over a month away! This is disappointing and stressful to wait for so long to get information about whether I have breast cancer or nothing to worry about.

Not explain another options, benefits and risks.

Dr. Van Kessel was very professional and also interested in my health. Having been a patient with her for 15 years, It Is very Important to me that she knows my health history without having to look at my chart. She takes her time and is efficient.

Doctor is always in hurry.

My doctor just did the ultrasound and then she left. I was hoping she will come back and will ask my all questions from her but then only nurse came and I asked her my concerns.

Dr. VanKessel always listens and has a very no non-sense approach, which I love. She is kind, but also clear in what she is saying.

Dr VanKessel was very personable, reassuring and communicative throughout my entire visit. I felt well cared for. I left the visit feeling less worried, thanks to her style of communication. She is a very experienced gynecologist, and I am so thankful she is still at the practice after all of the changes their medical group went through. Please support her well, so she can continue to be sustained - and remain my doctor for years to come! Thank you!

If I could give her negative stars, I would. She was my OBGYN during my first pregnancy and around my 23rd week I started having some weird symptoms like leaking and later on bleeding. Given I had no prior experience, I of course, couldn't figure out why it was happening and freaked out. I went to see Dr. Vankessel right away. Without any tests, he said it was just that my plasenta was low and I had to just rest. So I did. But the symptoms did not stop and just like any worried mother-to-be, I started searching my symptoms on Google trying to make sense of everything and figure out if there was something else. I called Dr. Vankessel again and she said I just needed to follow her instructions and rest. Two weeks passed by without any improvements in my condition and I made another appointment with her because I was getting really scared. This time, I brought my husband with me thinking maybe I wasn't explaining my condition well. At the time, my English wasn't great and my husband… worked at Microsoft and spoke English very fluently. During our visit, Dr. Vankessel stood by the door holding the doorknob most of the time, told my husband she told me to rest and that's the only thing that needs to be done. We trusted her and on our way back home, my husband told me we should just follow her instructions because this is our first experience and the Dr should know what's the best for us. In a couple of days, I had these weird recurring gas pain and got admitted to the ER. It turned out I had a bladder infection for at least a couple of weeks and because it didn't get treated in a timely fashion the situation got worse and triggered contractions. They gave me antibiotics and said it might be late but the medication should help. They said it's odd that you saw your Dr but she didn't figure this out. Well, she did not test me. Now I know UTI is very common during pregnancy and that's something OBGYNs check when you have leaking. The doctor in the ER said I should call my OBGYN right away as she may want to check on other things. So, I called Dr. Vankessel the following morning and she said "well, you have your medication and there is nothing else to do. Just rest". In a couple of days, my water broke and I got admitted to the ER one more time. They initially told us that it was too early to give birth, my child would a very low chance of survival and they'd do whatever they could to delay it. I was given medication to delay the delivery of the baby and some steroids to help his lungs. Fast forward, nothing worked and I gave birth in 24 hours after being admitted to the hospital. At the time I was 28 weeks pregnant. My son stayed at Overlake's ICU for 2 months before he was allowed to come home with us. I can't describe you the amount of pain a mom would have when she leaves the baby at the hospital after the delivery. You know the happy story is that the mom and the baby get discharged together and go home to enjoy the first days together. Well, I was lost and did not know what to do. I was in the US for less than a year and didn't know many people. I was lost. On the second day, the nurse called me and said my son would appreciate me being there with him. That's when I learned we could visit him whenever we wanted. I was 25 at the time and again did not know much about babies not to mention premies. After that day, I stayed with my son almost the whole time he was there. I was sleep deprived, exhausted from all the decisions I had to make without proper healthcare knowledge. "CNA you sign here so we can administer this new drug so your son can produce enough blood? Otherwide he may die" " Can you here so we can give him 1 GR of caffeine everyday so he wouldn't forget breathing during his sleep?" and many others like this can't tell you how many times, I thought about committing suicide during that time. Once I found myself trying to jump from the parking garage but changed my mind because there was nobody to take care of my son of I dies. Seeing the person you love the most in an incubator because you trusted a doctor and did not look for another one when you knew for sure something was wrong. The guilt of that one huge wrong decision. I went to another doctor, someone who would have tested me for a bladder infection and could have prescribed me antibiotics earlier. It was the worst time of my life. Overlake children's ICU did an amazing job and I'm so thankful that my son is alive now. He recently celebrated his 17th birthday but it was a rocky road for us. Why? Because a doctor treated me like I am a dumb and didn't know anything because I had an accent. At the time, I had 2 college degrees and spoke 3 languages. I wonder if she would have treated a white American woman the same way. When my son was around 7, he had many issues at school caused by attention deficit. As you may know, attention deficit is very common in premies because their brains don't develop like full term babies. I was really sad and thought someone like Dr. Vankessel should not be allowed to practice and cause any other woman to go through what I did. The lawyer told me the process could wear my son and make him sad because there would be testings and questionings. So I let it go. If you are an immigrant woman, a minority or don't look rich, I'd highly recommend that you find a doctor that would listen to you. How do I know this? Because I found another doctor at Swedish when I was pregnant the second time. Of course, with the travma I have been through due to my first pregnancy experience, I was very high maintenance and probably asked too many questions. You know after seeing your child in an incubator for two months not knowing whether he would survive, you freak out a lot and that leave scars on you. My new doctor never seemed uninterested. Always answered my questions patiently. And yes, I'm crying while writing th

Dr Van Kankessel has been so amazing throughout my pregnancy. She is so relatable and down to earth. I am not a fan of going to the doctor so having to go so often throughout pregnancy had me a little nervous. She has made the experience so amazing. Hope I have her for all my future children as well!

I was a loyal patient to overlake obgyn and Dr. Vankessel did my last 3 c-sections. It's very frustrating how I was treated. She did not check up on me after my 4th c section in the hospital. A co- worker was sent each time in her place. Moments after she pulled my baby from me in surgery she commented on how that was quick weight loss, while I was still on the operating table. At my postpartum visit instead of checking if I had postpartum depression she commented on how I was heavy, then gave me paperwork to a weight loss program when I left. I went home and cried the rest of the day. Really wish I wouldn't have been a loyal returning patient. Oh and basically every visit my whole last pregnancy I was asked by Dr. Otto, her partner, or her if I want my tubes tied even though I repeatedly told them no. I also had to wait 30-45 minutes each scheduled appointment with my 1 year old. Not worth the almost hour drive from my house to Bellevue.