Medical staff at Joliet hospital to fundraise for Morris resident

MORRIS – When Rick Bernickus of Morris participated in a bowling fundraising event for a colleague of his wife Marcy, he never dreamed that same event would one day help his son.

“It’s a bit surreal,” Rick said.

Ryan Bernickus, 22, of Morris, is this year’s recipient of proceeds from the third annual Bowling with the Doctor event, amended to also read, “Rollin’ 4 Ryan: Sports Extravaganza.”

“It’s a night where we all come together outside of our professional relationships and become a support for one of our own,” co-organizer Joanne Oddo said.

Oddo created this event to replace the “Doctors vs. Nurses” event that benefited Leeza’s Care Connection at Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center, which closed in 2014.

At that fundraiser – and at the bowling one, too – the doctors, physicians and nurse practitioners on the 7 West floor at Presence Saint Joseph compete against the orthopedic physical and occupational therapists on the same floor.

When the “Doctors vs. Nurses” fundraiser went away, Oddo realized she missed the camaraderie among her co-workers, as well as a chance to carry their healing mission beyond the hospital walls and into a fun arena.

“For us, it’s all about patient care,” Oddo said. “But it just doesn’t stay on the floor. It goes out into the community.”

Just $30 gets people two to three games of bowling with shoes, as well as a food buffet.
Don't like bowling? Come out anyway, Oddo said, and make a donation; buy a raffle ticket, T-shirt or cookbook with recipes from the staff and doctors of 7 West; or eat some food. The buffet-only option is $20.

If you change your mind and a lane opens up, Oddo will place you on a team.

“We won’t turn anyone away,” Oddo said.

The first event raised $12,000, Oddo said, which went to a co-worker whose husband had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease – a progressive neurodegenerative disease that eventually leads to death.

The following year, the same man was in hospice, so the 7 West team donated the $5,000 in proceeds to Joliet Area Community Hospice, Oddo said.

This year’s beneficiary, Ryan Bernickus, is the son of Marcy Bernickus, assistant patient care manager of 7 West at Presence Saint Joseph. Last spring, while Ryan was at the University of Iowa, he began having back pain and weakness in one leg, Marcy said.

When Ryan came home, subsequent tests showed the cause – osteosarcoma, a cancer that begins in the bones, usually the arms and legs, according to www.mayoclinic.com.

Ryan had surgery in July to remove a portion of the tumor, which was pressing on some nerves. In September, instead of attending the Rockford campus of the University of Chicago as a pharmacy student, Ryan began a round of about 11 weeks of chemotherapy, along with five weeks of radiation treatments.

If all goes well, Rick said, Ryan will complete his last weeks of chemotherapy – about 22 total – in early March. During chemotherapy, Ryan is hospitalized for five days of treatment and returns home for the following week, before he begins the pattern again.

Ryan’s inner strength during the entire experience amazes Marcy.

“With everything he has to go through,” Marcy said, “he has the most positive attitude.”

For his part, Ryan is simply riding out this life detour. The days of extreme fatigue and nausea appear to have passed (“I think my body is adjusting,” Ryan said), but he doesn’t naively believe they are gone.

Rather, Ryan – whose twin siblings Matt and Kellen are away at college – chooses to appreciate the good days while realizing he might face another struggle or two.

“I’ve had a lot of support,” Ryan said, “so I lean on my parents, family and friends.”

His fellowship was deferred to fall 2015, when Ryan plans to be in school and working toward his degree. After that, Ryan believes his career options, whether he chooses a hospital setting or retail, are wide open.

“I’ve always loved the sciences in general,” Ryan said, “so I continued to take the courses that excited me.”

––––––
IF YOU GO
WHAT: "3rd Annual Bowling with the Doctor: Rollin' 4 Ryan: Sports Extravaganza"
WHEN: 4 p.m. Feb. 8
WHERE: Crest Hill Lanes, 905 Theodore St., Crest Hill
ETC: Dress as favorite sports team. Ticket price includes two to three games of bowling with shoes and buffet. Additional features are cash bar, basket raffles and 50/50 raffles, as well as T-shirts and cookbooks for sale.
TICKETS: $30 or $20 for buffet-only option. RSVP by Feb. 1
CONTACT: Joanne Oddo at 815-212-9970 or orthorn9@yahoo.com, or Ginny Cappellini at 815-467-5435 or gincap55@gmail.com.