Advocate Breast Cancer Survivor Unfurls 'Bear Down' Flag at Bears Game
Advocate Health breast cancer patient, Kelly Rusk, was recognized as the Chicago Bears' special guest during the "Bear Down" flag ceremony this afternoon before the Bears took on the Las Vegas Raiders at Soldier Field.
The Bears invited Rush, 45, of Libertyville, to help unfurl the flag and participate in pregame activities at Soldier Field. She was joined on the field by her husband, Ryan, and by her kids in the stands for the game.
Rusk is the kind of person who does everything to a T, including her yearly mammograms. And last April, she scheduled her annual mammogram exactly a year from her previous one. But the result from this one was different: this time around she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Rusk didn't have any lumps or symptoms, and as we celebrate the breast cancer awareness and encourage early mammogram screenings this October, she serves as the perfect example of why regular screenings are so critical. Had she waited, her situation may have been much different. After a lumpectomy and radiation, she's now at a good place monitoring her situation with mammograms and MRIs every six months.
"I felt like I was on a rollercoaster every day," Rusk said. "Some days I felt really great and really positive and some days it felt like it was the worst thing that could ever happen.
"I didn't have any symptoms, so without my regular mammogram screening they would have never found my cancer."
She credits her care team at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and her family for helping her through it. She and her family members are huge Bears fans, from her father to her husband and everyone in between, which made Sunday all the more enjoyable.
"After an emotionally and physically, difficult time with my breast cancer diagnosis, surgery and treatment, it was an honor to be able to represent Advocate on the field during Breast Cancer Awareness month," Rusk said. "This was an experience I'll never forget, shared with my family and made even better with the Bears winning!"