Cancer survivors’ tiles inspire table for hospital

A special table has become part of the waiting area of the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Cancer Center. This cancer survivor tile table was the brainchild of Relay For Life captain Sally Henning of Curves for a Cure in Lake Zurich, and Kelly Reutenauer, captain of Memories and Futures relay team, and her daughter Kelsey, who coordinated the survivor portion of the 2011 Relay For Life in Lake Zurich/Wauconda/Island Lake.

“We wanted to do something special for the cancer survivors that could be shared with the community,” Reutenauer said. “So the night of our Relay, each survivor was given the chance to create a 4-inch by 4-inch tile that could represent anything they wanted it to.”

After the Relay, Tom Reutenauer, Kelly’s husband and a carpenter, graciously volunteered to build a table using the tiles as a table top to represent each survivor’s message. Tom Reutenauer recognized the significance and took a lot of time and effort creating the design of the table that he then built by hand. Home Depot in Crystal Lake generously donated all of tiles and gave a 50-percent discount on the wood Reutenauer used. Fox River Glass in Crystal Lake also gave a charitable discount on the table’s glass top.

Henning contacted Kathy Hendrix, oncology nurse navigator at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, about displaying the survivor tile table. “We decided to place it in the waiting area of our Cancer Center so that patients could really enjoy it and be inspired each time they come in for treatment,” said Kathy Hendrix. “It is an honor that they choose our hospital to display their work of art.”

“This table is special and means a lot to all of our survivors,” said Kelly Reutenauer. “We hope that everyone will take a minute to stop by and appreciate its meaning.”

For more about Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, visit www.advocatehealth.com/gshp.