Five-time Cancer Survivor Says 'Remain Positive'

Five different forms of cancer over four decades haven't gotten 75-year-old Edith Saurer down.

For New Lenox's Edith Saurer, a 75-year-old survivor of five different forms of cancer, the words "give up" never entered her mind. Having twice endured the symptoms of skin cancer—the first time when she was in her late 30s and again in 2007, cancerous polyps in her esophagus and colon in 1984, and breast cancer in 2001 or 2002, she has a message for those diagnosed with cancer: "Never give up." Standing about 5-foot tall, the woman with a thick Austrian accent, is a dynamo when it comes to withstanding the punches that life throws. Growing up during the 1950s in the Soviet-occupied portion of Austria during the Cold War, Saurer said she learned how to cope with adversity. "There was never enough food." Alone and at the age of 16, Saurer …

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L-W Women Team Up to Support Breast Cancer Research

Team Tiaras and Ta Tas will host a fundraiser at Charleyhorse Restaurtant this weekend to prepare for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk.

Three weeks from now, the women of Team Tiaras and Ta Tas will be reflecting on their impressive 60-mile, three-day walk to raise funds for breast cancer research through the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Co-captains Heather Hummel of Coal City and Christine Olson of New Lenox organized their team in November 2010 and kicked off its official training in January of this year, covering hundreds of practice miles since then. The eight team members come from Frankfort, Mokena, New Lenox, Plainfield and Coal City, and they've relied on the Komen Foundation training calendar to give them a unified schedule because they rarely are able to train at the same time. However, they're hoping they'll be able to stay together as a a team during August's …

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PatchCast: A Daily Video Report

Daily PatchCast: iPads, Con Man and Breast Cancer Walk

A daily video recap of the Southland's top stories

Longtime Andrew Coach Fondly Recalls 1992 State Championship Team Can iPads Save the Village Money Over Printed Paper? Family Walks to 'Save the Boobies' Police: Restaurant Delivery Man Cons Olympia Fields Woman Out of Hundreds of Dollars

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Locals Walk and Ride to End Breast Cancer

There's still time to donate to four local women who are raising funds for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer June 4-5.

It could be your mother, or your sister. It might be your daughter or your cousin. Breast cancer does not discriminate when it attacks women and sometimes men. That's why four local women have decided to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Karen Boseo, her sister Kathy McCollum, and their friends Kathy Walsh and Kazia Skorek will walk 39.3 miles in Chicago on June 4-5.  “Our mom had breast cancer,” Boseo said, after rattling off a long list of friends who have had it. To help raise funds for their walk, they joined at least 40 other people Sunday on a benefit bike ride. Departing Fritz’s Saloon in Manhattan, the group rode the Wauponsee Glacial Trail. About 7 miles later, they arrived in a small town, Symerton, which is half …

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Y-Me? Why Not. Cancer Survivor Kay Witkowski on What Motivates Her

President of the local chapter of the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization shares her story in a brief Q&A with Patch.

Kay Witkowski, president of the local chapter of the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization, is also a breast cancer patient. A resident of Frankfort, she and her husband own the Witkowski Dental Office at 19665 S. LaGrange Road in Mokena. Patch decided to catch up with Kay following last week's Y-Me fund-raiser at the newly opened 3rd Dimension Fitness in Mokena, and we asked her a few questions about her work to assist women with breast cancer and to raise breast cancer awareness. Q. How and when did you first become involved with Y-Me? A.  I had lost two sisters and my mother to breast cancer and heard about the inaugural Y-ME walk downtown 20 years ago. I registered for it and was amazed at the support network and the sense of unity …

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The Long Walk for Awareness

A Mother's Day marathon. Supporters in the fight against breast cancer started early yesterday morning, in what turned out to be a day of festivities and awareness.

Shortly after my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, she stood along the edge of our back porch and combed her hair in the afternoon sun. Reddish-brown strands from a woman who'd married, taught most of her life and raised two boys, now in their 20s, fell into her hands. “I loved my hair,” said my mother Eileen Klinkert. “It was one of the things I really loved about myself.” It was a sacrifice she had to make, however, so she let each strand go. Eventually, her thick head of hair disappeared completely from chemotherapy, drugs used to reduce her cancer so she could have her breast removed then treated with radiation. “As time went on,” she said, “I'd look up into the trees [in our backyard], and I could see my hair mixed into…

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Walking the Pink Ribbon Highway

The cure for breast cancer may not be around the corner, but for many on the South Side, it's still worth walking for.

Thousands of people traded their worries and fears earlier today for a pair of soft sneakers and pink-ribbon T-shirts. On a brisk morning, they walked three miles through Beverly and Morgan Park to support a cure for breast cancer. “This is a community coming together to work on breast cancer and the research,” said Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to CBS Radio, “and every year it has grown, to now they have…12,000 to 14,000 people participating.” Organizers hoped to raise $500,000 during the walk, which started at 8 a.m. All proceeds will go toward the Evergreen Park-based Comprehensive Breast Health Center at Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers , headed by Dr. Olga Ivanov, Breast Surgeon and Medical Director. The Southside …

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Tearoom Event Lets Women Share Their Stories About Breast Cancer

Tea for You and Y-ME brings new CEO for Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization and other survivors to the Pickwick Society Tearoom on Saturday.

The British are known for their belief that most ails and sorrows can be remedied by a good cup of tea. When one considers the warmth of the brew, company of good friends and simply taking a moment away from our hectic lives, you can easily see how this belief came to be. Unfortunately, as good as a cup of tea can be, there is no magic brew that can cure breast cancer. On Saturday at Pickwick Society Tearoom, however, all of tea’s benefits--as well as the lively company--will set a tone of joy, hope and healing as Kay Witkowski, advocate and cancer survivor, presents Tea for You and Y-ME, an event involving Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization where more than 50 women will share their survival stories with others. Witkowski, a lively …

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Andrew Defeats Lincoln-Way North in Volley for the Cure Event

The fight against breast cancer was celebrated by those on hand to watch two girls volleyball conference rivals do battle.

A showdown of the girls volleyball leaders in the Southwest Suburban Red was held Thursday night in Tinley Park. But an even more significant battle was on the minds of all those on hand. "Volley for the Cure," an event that honors and benefits the fight against breast cancer, took center stage at Andrew High School as the Thunderbolts hosted the Lincoln-Way North Phoenix. "I know October is Breast Cancer Awareness. It's a nationwide thing, and I'm glad our community can contribute," Andrew coach Courtney Stoub said. T-shirts, raffle tickets and concessions were sold, and all the proceeds from the evening were donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure. "We were glad to be a part of such a worthy cause," Lincoln-Way North coach …

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