Patient Success Stories

Ingalls employee receives excellent cancer care

Ingalls employee Mary Perkins of Country Club Hills knows all too well the devastation that cancer causes.

Within the space of just a few years, Perkins lost her father, sister and two brothers to cancer. And she remembers the feeling of helplessness as she watched her loved ones eventually lose their battle with the disease. So when Perkins herself was diagnosed with colon cancer following a colonoscopy, she knew what she was up against.

To her relief, it was caught early and had not spread beyond the colon. Surgery was the only treatment needed. She said, "In the beginning, I went through a period of 'what's the use.' I stopped doing some of the things I really loved, like singing, walking and running."

But, a positive person by nature, Perkins quickly regained her step — especially when she became eligible to participate in a colon cancer research study at Ingalls. "I felt good knowing that I would be doing something more proactive," she explains.

The monoclonal antibody study, recommended by Mark Kozloff, M.D., hematologist/oncologist at Ingalls and head of the hospital's cancer clinical trials committee, would test the effectiveness of certain targeted drugs in eliminating the reoccurrence of colon cancer.

For five months beginning last June, Perkins received I.V. chemotherapy treatments once a month at Ingalls. To her delight, she experienced none of the common side effects of chemotherapy like nausea, hair loss and fatigue. And now, a year later, Perkins is cancer-free, and optimistic about the future.

"Throughout my experience, everyone at Ingalls made me feel good, and they never let me leave without a hug."

For more information on Ingalls Cancer Care, call 800-221-2199.

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