People often speak of the things that cancer takes away. Janice Little, Yolanda Johnson and Kendall Perry are living proof of what it can provide.
The three were attending a showcase at Wellness House’s location in University of Illinois at Chicago’s Mile Square Health Center when they discovered Janice had been friends with Yolanda’s sister, who died from Covid while being treated for multiple myeloma.
“After that day, we became instant family,” Janice said. She, Yolanda and Yolanda’s fiance, Kendall, bonded not only over their shared experience battling cancer, but of their shared love of Lucille.
Kendall attends Wellness House programs in support of Yolana, but he also benefits from the support and knowledge provided by Wellness House.
“It applies to me, too,” he said of the nutrition information and relaxation techniques he’s learned at Wellness House. “I tell everyone, take a beat and breathe.”
Kendall said he also enjoys having a new friend in Janice, and he’s seen a big change in Yolanda since finding Janice and Wellness House. Yolanda is more open, he said, and more willing to express her needs and feelings.
Diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, Yolanda will mark two years in remission this November. She, Janice and Kendall regularly attend Wellness House’s tai chi, yoga, art, nutrition and meditation classes together, sometimes visiting twice a day.
Like Lucille, Janice has multiple myeloma. She’s been free of medications for 15 months now and feeling good, thanks in no small part to Wellness House and the new friendships she found there.
“We’re actively surviving,” Janice said. And they’re doing it together.
–Janice Little, Yolanda Johnson, Kendall Perry
