Advocate South Suburban patients honored at Wrigley Field

Orland Park's Renee Kontaris and Matteson's Rochelle Schwalbe joined more than two dozen breast cancer survivors and fighters from across Illinois to help #PinkOut Wrigley Field this Mother’s Day as part of Advocate Health Care and the Chicago Cubs’ efforts to raise awareness for a disease that one in eight women develop during their lifetime.

Kontaris , 46 years old, was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer just two years ago after her younger sister lost her life to breast cancer. She has gone through several chemotherapy treatments, surgery and radiation. She lives in Orland Park with her husband and with four small children. She and her family are avid Cubs fans.

Schwalbe, 59 years old, is a lifelong Cubs fan. She has been active with Advocate South Suburban Hospital's Breast Cancer Boot Camp and completed a 5 k with her husband and the group.

The honored guests, who were joined by their families, as well as breast health navigators and surgeons, spent an unforgettable day at the ballpark, taking part in once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, including holding a giant pink ribbon flag in the outfield, throwing a ceremonial first pitch, singing the national anthem, meeting Cubs players as they took the field at each position and leading the 7th inning stretch.

“Mother’s Day is the perfect day for all the breast cancer survivors and their moms to celebrate, and for everyone to talk about and be sure they know their family’s health and cancer history,” said Dr. Heidi Memmel. “The giant pink ribbon out on the field is a great reminder that you should talk to your mother, your grandmother, your sister about taking care of their health and being sure they get their annual screening mammogram.”

Before the game, Advocate hosted an event at The Park at Wrigley during which fans attending the game wrote messages on a pink “brick” wall to honor those in their life affected by breast cancer.

Check out our Facebook page or follow @AdvocateHealth on Instagram and Twitter for gameday photos.

About Advocate Health Care

Advocate Health Care is the largest health system in Illinois and one of the largest Accountable Care Organizations in the country. A national leader in population health management, Advocate operates nearly 400 sites of care and 12 hospitals, including three of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals, the state’s largest integrated children’s network, five Level I trauma centers (the state’s highest designation in trauma care), three Level II trauma centers, one of the area’s largest home health and hospice companies and one of the region’s largest medical groups. Advocate trains more primary care physicians and residents at its four teaching hospitals than any other health system in the state. As a not-for-profit, mission-based health system affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate contributed $692 million in charitable care and services to communities across Chicagoland and Central Illinois in 2016. Advocate is part of Advocate Aurora Health, the 10th largest not-for-profit, integrated health system in the United States. We help people live well.