Katie Widmar vividly remembers what it was like to feel bone-chilling cold every day due to the chemotherapy she was undergoing during her battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She was only 18 years-old when she was informed that she had cancer. It was a scary and difficult diagnosis to endure, followed by trying treatments and side effects from the therapy. During that time, Katie had a fleece blanket that she traveled with to give her comfort and keep her warm.
This fall, Katie celebrated her fifth anniversary of being cancer-free. At the young age of just 23, she has been through more than most young women her age. She is thankful for her health and recognizes that the experience, no matter how difficult it was, changed her life in positive ways too, by making her appreciate every day and want to give back to others. Each December, around the anniversary of her diagnosis, Katie returns to Northwestern Memorial’s Prentice Women’s Hospital and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, to spend time with cancer patients. During her annual visit, she shares the warmth of blankets that she and others have created through Covers of Comfort, a non-profit organization that Katie and her mom Cindy started after she successfully battled cancer. While a blanket may seem like a simple gesture, she remembers how her own fleece blanket brought her comfort and warmth during treatment.
Dick Frazier joined Katie and Cindy to help deliver blankets today for the second year. Frazier experienced the happiness and warmth a blanket could bring firsthand when his wife Marcia was being treated for cancer at Prentice. He now volunteers for Covers of Comfort in her memory.
Katie’s visits are emotional, filled with gratitude, and most importantly...spread the message of hope.
From "Northwestern Memorial News Blog"
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