Apr. 20--Chicago first lady Maggie Daley stressed the importance of kindness and caring as she helped unveil a new cancer center named after her Monday.
Her brief remarks at the dedication ceremony for the new Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care at Northwestern Memorial's Prentice Women's Hospital came hours after her doctor confirmed she has a leg fracture, an anticipated side effect of her treatment for metastatic breast cancer.
"It has been said that too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around," Maggie Daley said in her speech. "When people walk into this center for women's cancer care, which now carries my name ... a fact that has honored me more than anyone will ever know .... I feel certain that they will receive the utmost care possible -- both medically and emotionally, in both big and small ways."
Maggie Daley spoke from behind a microphone set up to accommodate her sitting position in a wheelchair. She appeared healthy and in good spirits, smiling as her husband, Mayor Richard Daley, sat at her side.
The Maggie Daley Center is in the Robert Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is part of Prentice.
Maggie Daley, 66, has been battling breast cancer since 2002. In December, Mayor Daley announced that his wife would be using a wheelchair to get around as she was undergoing radiation treatment for a cancerous bone tumor in her leg.
The first lady felt pain in her right leg when she got up Monday morning, more than a month after she had a titanium rod placed in it just in case a fracture occurred, said Dr. Steven Rosen, director of the Lurie center.
"That's not to prevent the fracture," Rosen said, explaining that it's put there to maintain the bone's stability in the case of a fracture, which sometimes occurs under such conditions. The fracture does not indicate a worsening of her condition, Rosen said.
She had been getting around more recently with a walker or on crutches until Monday morning, but will be in the wheelchair and on pain medication until the pain subsides, Rosen said.
Patients at the two-floor Maggie Daley Center can stay in one of 11 private chemotherapy rooms, most with lake views. Patients also have the option of using a communal chemotherapy treatment space rooms, arranged much in the same manner as a hair salon.
The care center's "healing boutique" offers wig and prosthesis fittings, hats and makeup consultation, where patients can look at their options in front of a vanity mirror. Table massage, acupuncture and psychological therapy are also provided. These extra services are provided mostly by donation, said Dr. Julian Schink, associate director for clinical affairs.
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