Former Stroger Patients Celebrate Surviving Cancer
CHICAGO (CBS) - Cancer patients who went to Stroger Hospital for treatment came back Sunday, this time as survivors.
The National Cancer Survivor's Day event was held in the cafeteria and included musical performances, speeches and even a runway show featuring cancer survivors.
Cherie Davis came because she says many people look down on Stroger, where she was admitted for a month in 2009 while fighting leukemia and pneumonia.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Nancy Harty Reports
Podcast
She says was impressed by her team of doctors and their positive spirit.
Chief of Hematology Dr. Rose Catchatorian says it's gratifying to see their patients surviving.
She says this is the fourth year of the event, which is put on - not by the hospital administration - but its doctors and staff.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle - who lost her own mother to breast cancer 30 years ago - was there and touted the county's role in the treatment of thousands of cancer patients.
She says an estimated 55 percent of people who come to Cook County hospitals and 80 percent who visit the ER and clinics don't have health insurance.
