Highland Park therapist honored for work with cancer patients

Karline Peal, of Highland Park, finds her job to be a fulfilling exercise in supporting people who need help during a tough time.

Her work at Lake Forest Hospital led the American Cancer Society to select her as one of 15 people nationally to receive the 2009 Lane Adams Quality of Life Award.

The award is annually presented to doctors, nurses, social workers and other individuals who work toward saving the lives of cancer patients and increasing their quality of life.

"A lot of times you're so inundated with the medical aspect that you don't get the human aspect of the treatment," said Peal, an administrative director for radiation oncology at Lake Forest Hospital.

Peal, 33, will not be able to make the trip to Atlanta where the awards will be presented May 8 because she is just two weeks away from the due date of her baby.

In addition to taking care of patients' medical needs, Peal helps run programs set up for patients by the American Cancer Society.

Among those programs is Daffodil Days, an event geared toward spreading hope and optimism to cancer patients.

"The daffodil is a sign of hope," Peal said. "It's every year in March, and we literally pass out hundreds of daffodils to cancer patients."

She said daffodils are sold to raise enough money so the flowers can be distributed free of charge to the cancer patients.

People tell Peal her job must be depressing, but she enjoys the positive reactions she gets from patients during these programs.

"I don't know about you, but I just want to make people smile," she said.

Peal connects with cancer patients on a personal level. She lost her mother to cancer, so she knows what it is like to go through that struggle.

"They don't know who to turn to. I want to be there to bridge that gap," Peal said.