Topic: Illinois ladies facing bc

Aug 21, 2020 11:46AM ChiSandy wrote:

I would suggest the oncoplastic surgeons in the NorthShore system, particularly David Winchester, Katharine Yao and Kate Kopkash of Evanston Hospital.

Aug 22, 2020 03:21AM bootsie7 wrote:

Hi All,

I read often but do not post much. I feel al the concern, support, info from the posts. Close each time I am on here hoping this disease

can one day have an end and at least for now everyone can have good positive results!

I am looking for a new oncologist in Will or Cook County. I would be so grateful for any suggestions both Oncology and Integrative Oncology.

Thank you,

Bootsie7

Aug 22, 2020 06:35PM ChiSandy wrote:

Bootsie, the only onc I know near Will County is surgical oncologist Barbara Krueger at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn (my friend in Minooka had DCIS and a bilateral mastectomy--but no need for a medical onc as surgery, done by Dr. Krueger, was her only treatment). My med-onc, Teresa Law, is up at NorthShore Evanston Hospital, as is her colleague Douglas Merkel (who sees several BCO sisters). If you can go to the west suburbs (Maywood), Kathy Albain--who helped pioneer the use of OncotypeDX, and was a resident at UIC along with my husband Bob--is at Loyola; she is consistently listed among Chicago Magazine's "Top Doctors." At Rush, so is Melody Cobleigh.

Aug 23, 2020 03:41AM IllinoisLady wrote:

Goodness has to come from the heart, that's one thing I know for sure. I also know for sure that not everything that comes from my heart is goodness, and that's something I'm working on. Goodness has to be pure in intention, and I know that my good acts aren't always intended solely for the good of the recipients. I'm working on that, too. When I truly do good, there's a very good chance that no one ever will notice it, and I'll never be recognized as someone who has done something good. When I can live with that and be at peace with it, I know that I'll have reached a very high level of living. -tom walsh

Aug 23, 2020 03:18PM bootsie7 wrote:

Hi Sandy and Keywestfan,

Dr. Krueger was my surgeon for my Mastectomy at Christ Hospital. I would certainly recommend her!

My Med-Onc left practice so I am searching for new one. Not so easy.

I am by Silver Cross Hospital and Presence Saint Joseph.

I will research these recommendations. I may have to travel a bit farther.

Thanking you both so very much for your kind reply,

Bootsie7

Aug 24, 2020 02:19AM IllinoisLady wrote:

Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen, we offer with our attention an opportunity for wholeness. Our listening creates sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. That which has been denied, unloved, devalued by themselves and others. That which is hidden,,,
In this culture the soul and the heart too often go homeless.
Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone. Eventually you may be able to hear, in everyone and beyond everyone, the unseen singing softly to itself and to you. -RachelNaomi Remen

Aug 24, 2020 02:47PM - edited Aug 24, 2020 03:10PM by ChiSandy

Thanks, Bootsie. The violence that truly bothers me is young people shooting at each other, with innocent victims caught in the crossfire. As to the looting, it's not just the injustice and frustration that causes rage to boil over, but the opportunists and outsiders (who are not sympathizers but just the opposite--those looking to foment unrest for its own sake and even more sinister motives, which I will not specifically address in this forum, as that'd be against BCO rules).

My eye surgery was to implant radiation seeds to (hopefully) kill a melanoma. Ironically, the vision in that eye was perfect, and the tumor was discovered by accident: in early July, I went to a retinologist (a close family friend) to rule out a detached retina as the cause of a sudden large floater in my other eye. Because the pandemic had closed my regular ophthalmologist's office (and most eye doctors' offices) I was unable to timely get my annual dilated eye exam in April--then, by the time elective procedures were allowed again, he'd retired. I was overdue for the exam, so I let the retinologist dilate both eyes, and he discovered the tumor. He sent me to the top ocular oncologist in Chicago at UIC, who did imaging and confirmed it was a melanoma. Internal radiation (brachytherapy) is the treatment of choice: external radiation, even proton therapy, has too many side effects; and surgery to remove the tumor can, ironically, cause it to spread faster. In years past, the eye had to be removed--but brachytherapy has identical recurrence risk and overall survival. As of July, CT scans and bloodwork did not show any spread.

Aug 26, 2020 02:39AM IllinoisLady wrote:

When I found I no longer had the stamina to work long hours clearing the fallen limbs in the woods around my house, I began to bring a lawn chair and a thermos with me. I still work in the woods, but stop frequently to sit and have a cup of tea. I've identified birds I didn't know lived here and evidence that a bobcat shares the property. Since I've slowed down some, I see things I never saw before and find that quiet solitude is not lonely but nurturing, allowing my heart to open to the signs and lessons of nature that surround me.

Sallirae Henderson

Aug 29, 2020 02:37AM - edited Aug 29, 2020 02:37AM by IllinoisLady

In this world, the optimists have it, not because they are always right, but because they are positive. Even when they are wrong they are positive, and that is the way of achievement, correction, improvement, and success. Educated, eye-open optimism pays. -David Landes

Aug 31, 2020 02:23AM IllinoisLady wrote:

Whatever noble aims we may have, paths we may be on, or necessary efforts we may make, our only real freedom is to awaken now, this very instant, to the mystery and miracle of being, to the spacious awareness that we are. It is only this immediate awakening to the deepest levels of ourselves, to the conscious source that connects us all, that will enable us to experience and manifest real harmony, intelligence, kindness, love, and compassion in our lives and bring about the transformation in the world that we all wish for. -Dennis Lewis

Sep 2, 2020 02:18AM IllinoisLady wrote:

Life is not a competition with others. In its truest sense it is rivalry with ourselves. We should each day seek to break the record of our yesterday. We should seek each day to live stronger, better, truer lives; each day to master some weakness of yesterday; each day to repair past follies; each day to surpass ourselves. This is, simply, progress. -C. Smith Sumner

Sep 4, 2020 02:36AM IllinoisLady wrote:

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. -Leo Buscaglia

Sep 6, 2020 02:25AM IllinoisLady wrote:

A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.

unattributed

Sep 8, 2020 02:30AM IllinoisLady wrote:

True success is bringing joy to yourself and to others.
Success is measured in lives bettered, not in money or power.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Sep 10, 2020 02:05AM IllinoisLady wrote:

Only when life is difficult, are we challenged to become our greatest selves.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie