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Marilyn Kramer
Laughing, Smiling and Surviving After a life-changing diagnosis, Marilyn Kramer still manages to stay positive and face each day as it comes.
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very so often you meet a person who changes the way you think. Something about their story, perspective or personality challenges your previous views. It’s pretty rare and it takes a very special individual—someone like Network Health Medicare Advantage PPO member, Marilyn Kramer. Marilyn’s sweet disposition is apparent from the moment you meet her. A warm smile spreads across her kind face and it’s difficult to imagine all of the intense challenges she’s faced over the years. From struggling with lupus as a child, to her battle with breast and thyroid cancer, Marilyn doesn’t
allow her health conditions to get her down—or at least not for long. She makes it perfectly clear from the start. “How I deal with things may not be how someone else deals with things,” says Marilyn. She understands that her outlook is pretty unique and it may not be for everyone. But, she committed herself to laughing, smiling and staying positive even when facing life-threatening conditions. That’s quite the achievement considering most of us can’t even stay positive after getting a parking ticket or spilling coffee on ourselves. Two and a half years ago, Marilyn scheduled a mammogram
“I’ve been given access to the best health care the Fox River Valley has to offer, and I have met some of the most amazing people one could hope to meet.” H5215_MbrNewsv3 Accepted 110712
Marilyn with her health care team from Dr. Burkett’s office - Laura Baehnman, Shelly Dibelius, Jenny Jaehnke, Mary Ellen Buechel, Linda Borsecnik. after feeling that something just wasn’t right. Nearly all of the women in Marilyn’s family had been diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life, making Marilyn very attentive to any changes in her health. After feeling a dull pain in her breast a few nights in a row, she made sure to
call her doctor right away. While it was tough to learn she had breast cancer, she did feel fortunate that she caught it at an early stage. The way she saw it, at least she knew what she was up against. She considered her family history and told her surgeon she’d prefer a continued on page 2 »
Volume 1 | Number 3 | 2012
life, health & wellness