Elmhurst cancer survivor turns to Wellness House

Peggy Luckey was never one to sit still. The Elmhurst resident raised two beautiful daughters while navigating her way through a 20-year career in commercial real estate. The one event that caused her pause – that, in fact, brought the life she'd known to a screeching halt – was her diagnosis, in March 2009, of colon cancer. All of a sudden, Peggy Luckey's health was not cooperating with her game plan; in fact, it was calling all the shots.

Her surgery the next week, along with her subsequent chemotherapy treatments, left her weakened and reliant on family, friends, and visiting nurses to handle what had always seemed to be the most mundane of everyday activities. She was attached to an ilesotomy bag, she couldn't manage on her own to take herself to the medical appointments that seemed to crop up by the day, and she had to be wrapped in cling wrap to take a shower. Her family took on the daunting charge of maintaining her physical needs, day in and day out.

“I had a great support system,” she said. “I had 75- and 76-year-old parents that were taking care of me. Plus my husband, plus my friends.”

Her family even updated her blog when she was incapable of doing so herself, so that everyone who was worried could follow her progress.

More sadness came that spring when family friends, the parents of a former babysitting charge of Peggy's, lost their son to cancer. The young man had been in medical school, working towards an oncology specialty, when he succumbed.

The young man's parents reached out to Peggy and her family. They were well aware of the emotionally draining effects a battle with cancer inflicted upon all who were caught in its wake, patient and caregivers alike. They recommended that Peggy's family take her to Wellness House, the cancer support center that had helped them with their own son's disease.

Wellness House would prove to be a powerful tonic for Peggy and her family – once she resigned herself to go that is.

“My mom and my sister dragged me there,” she said. “I couldn't walk on my own. I had to take a wheelchair for ten yards, from the handicapped parking spot to just inside the front door, and then walk into the meeting room.”

Peggy continued, “Physically, I didn't have a lot of strength, I had issues sitting up … and here's this group of women, from the “Women Connected from the Start” group … most every single one of them had breast cancer. And I was thinking, you know, there's no one like me, no one there had colon cancer like me … so I just had a really bad attitude. But as it turns out, that group of women – we have our own Facebook page, we are deep, true-blue friends, we traveled together this summer – there's about seven or eight of us, from that particular group, we've all become really good friends, and we look out for each other … some are still facing some things … and it's a really good thing we have each other.”

Peggy's road to a cure was far from over, but she'd found a group who understood what she was going through in a way that her family never could. “Wellness House,” she said, “was my shoulder to cry on, they were the people who understood. They're the ones who you can say the stuff to that you can't say to your family.”

In November of 2009, Peggy was told that her cancer was inoperable. And so she began an unceasing drive to find a surgeon who would give her a chance. Enter, once more, Dr. Miller, for whom Peggy had used to babysit, and who had referred her to Wellness House earlier in the year. Dr. Miller got Peggy in to see a liver surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NY, the surgeon who would eventually operate on her “inoperable” disease.

“As far as my family and friends are concerned,” Peggy says, “I'm a walking miracle - I'm alive, and because I had a very short expiration date on my head, I've surpassed that.”

Peggy started a new job at Jones Lang LaSalle in November of 2010. As for the friends she'd made at Wellness House, she says, “For me, once I connected with those women there, that's the offshoot of it, that we're friends for life now.”

For those affected by cancer, transitioning from active treatment to post-treatment can be daunting and often confusing. In an effort to guide cancer patients about the importance of becoming a self-advocate and gain knowledge about cancer and its treatments, the cancer support center Wellness House, 131 N. County Line Road in Hinsdale, is presenting a free program, "Navigating Survivorship: Becoming Your Own Advocate."

This presentation, conducted by clinical nurse specialist Karen Kinahan, MS, RN, APN, from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University's STAR (Survivors Taking Action and Responsibility) Program, is slated for Thursday, Feb. 3 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The program's presenter, Karen Kinahan, works closely with cancer survivors on late effects and survivorship issues at the Lurie Cancer Center and Children's Memorial Hospital, focusing on their unique medical and psychological needs. “Our objective is to teach cancer patients about the importance of becoming their own advocates and taking charge of their quality of life following treatment,” explains Karen. “This presentation is designed to help survivors navigate the challenges they face as they make the transition from active treatment to post-treatment care.”