Archive for December 2013

Cancer fraud: 5 signs you're being scammed

Here’s a prediction that you can take to the bank. Once you’re diagnosed with cancer, you join a sales demographic that makes you visible to vultures and to companies that want to sell you snake oil. When you’re afraid and overwhelmed, you’re an easier target. When for the first time you’ve seen yourself in a... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 30, 2013 at 5:41 pm • 

"It's a Wonderful Life," but only if you accept your life story

"It's a Wonderful Life," but only if you accept your life story
My earliest memory of loving a movie is sitting on my mom’s bed with my brother watching “Lassie Come Home.” Both of us were sobbing. I think I was 7 years old, and I had just learned the pleasure of sentimentality. I loved drinking in and savoring the melodrama of a story that ended well,... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 21, 2013 at 1:15 pm • 

Living life in reverse

Living life in reverse
Today I got to know a woman who I’ve never met before, and who I never will meet. Anne Stockdell-Giesler died Sunday, Dec. 15, six years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She leaves three daughters, a husband and a host of friends and family who loved her fiercely. Like me, Stockdell-Giesler had a Ph.D.... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 18, 2013 at 9:59 pm • 
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A teacher's suicide in Homewood-Flossmoor

A teacher's suicide in Homewood-Flossmoor
On Tuesday night, a teacher’s suicide in Homewood-Flossmoor confronted us with harsh reality. The ground our children stand on is hard as iron and winds moan outside our small suburban high school. We all look for answers in these situations to questions that run the gamut from gruesome to metaphysical. How did he do it?... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 14, 2013 at 10:55 pm • 

Living with cancer: why I make bread

Living with cancer: why I make bread
In the months following my diagnosis of bladder cancer, my world felt out of control. At least out of my control. Living with cancer sometimes means feeling powerless, in the sights of a rapid-fire automatic weapon, becoming the bug on the windshield of an accelerating race car. Whatever metaphor suits you, this feeling of vulnerability... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 11, 2013 at 1:18 pm • 

Four ways having cancer and being pregnant mirror each other

Four ways having cancer and being pregnant mirror each other
When I was going through treatment for cancer I had some disconcerting moments when I flashed back to being pregnant. Despite the profound differences between them, the two experiences will probably always be linked in my mind, but not my heart. My treatments came in the form of BCG infusions, which is inactivated bovine tuberculosis... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 9, 2013 at 9:34 am • 
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Bank America robbery locks down schools in Homewood and Flossmoor: technology is the story

Bank America robbery locks down schools in Homewood and Flossmoor: technology is the story
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, texting, and online news sources have not only transformed how we hear and know about breaking news, they also shape the events themselves. My daughter and I, and many others in the Homewood Flossmoor community, learned firsthand about how this works yesterday when our local Bank America was robbed, causing school districts... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
December 5, 2013 at 8:51 am •