Hospitals open Wellness Room to help patients cope with the emotional side of cancer

Hospitals open "Wellness Room" to help patients cope with the emotional side of cancer

March 14, 2005

Generous gifts from Lori and Bruce Ovitz equip room for make-up lessons, patient massage

Who

Make-up artist Lori Ovitz, author of Facing the Mirror with Cancer, a guide to using make-up to look your best even during cancer therapy; Chanda Mehta, social worker in the Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology; and several recent cancer patients--some in need of make-up.

What

Grand opening of the Wellness Room, a comforting private space where cancer patients can relax and get advice about how to look and feel better despite their disease and therapy.

When

9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 16, 2005.

Where

Room 1315, Suite 1D, the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, 5758 South Maryland Avenue, the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Why

Lori Ovitz, the author of Facing the Mirror with Cancer, and her husband Bruce Ovitz, a 35-year cancer survivor, have committed to donate 50 percent of their personal profits from the book directly to cancer research and the care of cancer patients. The Wellness Room and the services it provides are supported by these donations.

Since 1999, Ovitz has worked with cancer patients at the University of Chicago and at Northwestern University--adults, teens and children--providing complimentary "makeovers," supplying free make-up kits, free copies of her book, and giving extra personalized tips on how to make the most of what's available.