Conversations with Kathy's House
Gerry Steele is a Kathy’s House ally and healthcare communication professional. For more than a decade, she's had the privilege to share the experiences of individuals going through life-changing medical journeys and learn from their courage and wisdom.
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Welcome to Conversations with Kathy’s House where we’ll explore how to support families who are experiencing personal illness or the serious illness of a loved one - one of life’s most stressful situations. Learn more at kathys-house.org.
Available episodes
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Oldest first
Jun 20, 2023
Episode 11: Marilyn Thiet, Past President and Emeritus Board, Kathy's House
Our 2023 Founders Award Winner and Past Board President Marilyn Thiet, explains how her initial involvement with Kathy's House evolved as she stewarded the organization through its most notable transformation. Marilyn led the board through the process of evaluating, envisioning, and enacting the plan for a new Kathy's House, which opened in 2021. Hear advice from this beacon of servant leadership about how and why to get involved wherever you feel passionate.
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May 3, 2023
Episode 10: Hollie Mealy, Founder and CEO of The Right Relief
Hollie Mealy started The Right Relief, a nonprofit organization that brings relief to caregivers in the form of home-cooked meals and other doses of support. In only a few short years, she's delivered about 1,000 "belly hugs" to Kathy's House guests!
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Apr 23, 2023
Episode 9: Guest Tammy Olson: Kathy's House First "Outpatient" Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient
Receiving a life saving bone marrow transplant usually means having to be hospitalized for months. For a few fortunate enough to live within 30 minutes of a major cancer center, bone marrow transplants can sometimes be performed on an outpatient basis, meaning a person can go home each night to their own bed, their family, their pets, their favorite cozy chair, in their own backyard.
Because of Kathy's House, this option is now within reach for many more people who don't live close to their cancer care. Tammy, along with her husband Al, share their experience as guests at Kathy's House while she received an "outpatient" bone marrow transplant at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center.
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Mar 8, 2023
Episode 8: Dr. Nirav Shah, Blood Cancer Oncologist with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network
Dr. Nirav Shah is an oncologist with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network. He specializes in treating individuals with blood cancers who often require complex long-term hospitalization. It's not uncommon for his patients to be treated and carefully monitored in the hospital for weeks or months. Nearly half of the patients who receive blood and bone marrow transplants treated at the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network travel hours from home to get care. For some of those individuals, Kathy's House makes it possible to receive treatment as an outpatient.
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Feb 2, 2023
Episode 7: A Caregiver's Support Group for Bone Marrow Transplant Patients
Natalie McAndrew, RN, and Ellie Englebrecht join us to talk about the bone marrow transplant caregiver’s support group they’re offering at Kathy’s House. When the doses of chemotherapy or radiation needed to cure a cancer are so high that a person's bone marrow stem cells will be permanently damaged or destroyed by the treatment, a bone marrow transplant may be needed. The journey is long and unique for these individuals and their loved ones. Last year, at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network in Milwaukee alone, more than 300 people received bone marrow transplants – and many were guests at Kathy’s House.
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Jan 15, 2023
Episode 6: Denis and Cathy VandenHeuvel, from De Pere, Wisconsin, and recent guests of Kathy’s House
Denis and Cathy VandenHeuvel, from De Pere, Wisconsin, and recent guests of Kathy’s House, sat down to share their thoughts about their time there. They spend 6 weeks at Kathy’s House in 2022 while Denis underwent treatment for a rare cancer. Cathy, who has a podcast of her own, The Caregiver Cup, talks about how Kathy’s House supports caregivers in so many special ways.
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Dec 2, 2022
Episode 5: Kim Maclin, RN, Director of Lab & Infusion Services with the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network
Before Kim Maclin, RN, became the Director of Lab & Infusion Services with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network, she was a nurse caring for cancer patients at Froedtert Hospital. One of the many individuals she cared for was Kathy Vogel Kuettner
It was in Kathy's honor that her family founded Kathy's House. Kim shares her recollections of her time with Kathy, along with observations about how cancer impacts individuals with cancer - and their families - physically, emotionally and financially.
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Nov 6, 2022
Episode 4: Dr. Malika Siker, Kathy's House Board Member, Radiation Oncologist, and Associate Professor
Dr. Malika Siker, is a radiation oncologist with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Network, associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and serves on the board at Kathy's House. Dr. Siker explains that cancer doesn't discriminate and talks about how Kathy's House bridges health care inequities by making world-class specialized cancer care available to anyone in need.
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Oct 9, 2022
Episode 3: Volunteer Lorraine Kofler
Lorraine Kofler has been a volunteer at Kathy's House for more than a decade. She explains why her time with guests and their caregivers is both memorable and rewarding. Because many of our volunteers serve guests directly, they have a unique opportunity to connect. Often, a volunteer is the first voice guests hear on the phone and the first face greeting them at the door. Learn more about how to volunteer.
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Sep 7, 2022
Episode 2: Matt from Naples, Florida, found out he had leukemia while visiting Wisconsin
Matt traveled from Naples, Florida to Wisconsin in February, 2022, to visit family and friends, attend a funeral and play hockey with his buddies. What started out as a vacation turned into a diagnosis of leukemia, a six-week hospital stay, and a bone marrow transplant to save his life. Kathy's House became his home away from home where he found support, safety and comfort in between hospital stays and countless clinic appointments.
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Aug 21, 2022
Introducing Conversations with Kathy's House
Welcome listeners! Conversations with Kathy's House is all about the many facets of how we support a loved one (and ourselves) through a serious illness when care takes us far from home. Learn more at https://kathys-house.org/
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Aug 21, 2022
Episode 1: Patty Metropulos, President & CEO of Kathy's House
Patty Metropulos, President & CEO of Kathy's House, gives us a history lesson on how Kathy's House came to be 22 years ago and the why it's so important to individuals and their loved ones who travel miles and miles for the right healthcare. She also shares a mission moment - connecting us to the people who benefit from a hospital guest house.
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