She's here! Post-Mastectomy Fitter, Benita Santillanes

Benita Santillanes, CFm is now working in our Lincoln Park office, providing a full range of post-mastectomy prostheses, forms and garments.
Insurance and Medicare often cover these services.
Call Benita at 773-472-3663 to schedule your appointment or for more information. You can view Benita's brochure by clicking the file name below.

http://www.scheckandsiress.com/Newsroom/downloads/241-0.pdf

High Schooler is a Soccer Star in Her Prosthesis

Gena Keszai is getting a lot of attention lately. Her high school's JV soccer team, the Marian Knights, is playing a 10-1-2 season. Gena, a freshman, is doing it with one prosthetic leg. Full of talent and inspiration, Gena's is a story you should know. Read the full story by ESPN and WNDU 16 here:
http://rise.espn.go.com/girls-soccer/articles/2010/10/00-Gena-Keszei.aspx

Scheck & Siress Serves Haiti

S&S practitioners, John Angelico CP and Michael Oros CPO, traveled to Haiti in August to provide prosthetic and orthotic care to victims of the recent earthquake tragedy there. Other volunteers were Heather Bava, Daniela Duran, Heidi Behnke from Weiss Hospital, Dawn Hudson and Julie Lanphere from RIC. The trip was organized by Range of Motion Project. To learn more about ROMP, visit: www.rompglobal.net.

Melissa Stockwell Wins Paratriathlon Worlds in Budapest

She did it again! Scheck and Siress' very own Melissa Stockwell travelled to Budapest to compete in the 2010 Paratriathlon World Championships and wonher division. Keep up the good work Melissa!

http://budapest.triathlon.org/en/athlete_info/age_group/results_-_ag_sprint/

Today's Daily Herald features the US Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, made up of amputees and players without use of their legs. Chicago's Scheck & Siress Orthotics and Prosthetics has a special interest in a Gold a gold medal for this US Paralympic hockey team.

Burt Constable writes, "The U.S. Squad will get a boost from th addition of some new sleds, specially made by Scheck & Siress, a Chicago orthotics and prosthetics firm with centers in Bannockburn, Naperville, Oakbrook Terrace, Schaumburg and throughout the suburbs.

" 'We made three custom buckets for people missing both legs above the knee,' says David Rotter, 41, chief clinican and lab manager at Scheck & Siress' laboratory at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The firm also made sturdy, custom veneer shells with t USA logo for all 15 sleds.

" 'They worked great and will hopefully give the guys a competitive edge to beat Canada,' Rotter says.

"Taking molds of the player's bodies, Scheck & Siress spent six days to make the three sleds, and donated much of that labor and design work, Rotter says. Each sled weighs less than a 16-pound bowling ball."

Read the whole story at http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=361090

Expressing Thanks For Our Great Patients

We have a new series of posters that we are excited to share in this space. Soon, the ones you see here--as well as a few others--will be making their debuts in our offices in Chicago and throughout the region.

Each poster spotlights a remarkable patient with two photographs and a brief description that tells some of the basic elements of their story. And each one ends with words that emphasize these are ordinary people doing some extraordinary things, "with a little help from Scheck & Siress."

Now, that's no false modesty on our part. Certainly, we take pride in being caring, competent professionals. We have a storied 55-year history which, at its center, consists of helping improve the lives of thousands of individuals and, by association, their families.

But we couldn't do it without our patients, whose amazing fortitude and indefatigable spirit we are privileged to witness. On a daily basis, they humble and inspire us as they look adversity in the eye and keep moving forward.

And they even go out of their way to thank us, as you can see from a sampling of Scheck & Siress patient testimonials.

So as we approach Thanksgiving, we want to express how thankful we are for the wonderful patients who entrust us with such an important role in their lives.

From everyone in the Scheck & Siress family, here's to a Happy--and Healthy--Thanksgiving!

"New Technology" Seminar a Big Success

Three weeks ago, we provided a preview of "New Technology For Active Amputees," a free seminar at our Hickory Hills location.

As we hoped, there was a strong, enthusiastic turnout of more than 40 guests and nobody left disappointed.

Both Dr. Michael Pinzur, a renowned orthopedic surgeon at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, and Melissa Stockwell received heartfelt ovations for their presentations.


Stockwell's inspiring talk was "Road to the Paralympic Games.” It culminated with her being the flag bearer during the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremonies. In addition to being a patient, Stockwell has been a resident with Scheck & Siress.

A U.S. Army veteran, Stockwell was the country's first female amputee from the Iraq War.

Over the 4-plus hours, which concluded with a boxed lunch provided by Scheck & Siress, more than a dozen company staff members as well as exhibitors turned out for the event. In the accompanying photos, you can see some Cindy Hausner with Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (top photo) and Emily Horn (below) with Ossur, a manufacturer of prosthetic components.

The purpose of the seminar was to provide resources, support and education to amputees who are or would like to be active in sports and exercise. Attendees said they enjoyed meeting other amputees and gained inspiration and resources to become as active as they once were.

Based on the day's all-around success, stay tuned for similar programming that we will be holding in the future. To offer topic suggestions for future seminars, contact Emily Frederick, marketing director, at 773-606-9356.