Walt's Food Center cashier from Tinley takes a spill and finds the gift of life

A story submitted by the team at Palos Community Hospital

Noreen Peterson is not the type of person who lets much slow her down. Perhaps that's why she decided to venture down the stairs of her Tinley Park home at 3 a.m. on a dark December night in 2008 to get something to eat. Noreen, who just turned 70, has been an insulin-dependent type 1 diabetic since the age of 15, and if anything, being chronically ill has only fueled her spirit of determination.

Despite her age and history of bypass surgery at age 60, Noreen still cashiers three days a week at Walt's Food Center on Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park. She still drives her son, Neal, who struggles with hydrocephalus and has been legally blind for 10 years, to and from the Tinley train station so he can pursue his passion of playing percussion with the symphonies of Chicago.

She still dyes her hair red. And each year, she and her husband Bill produce and bottle their own wine. Well, except for last year.

Just 10 days before Christmas 2008, Noreen was awakened by what she quickly recognized as a reaction to low blood sugar. She was feeling cold and clammy, heart racing. She needed food. She got out of bed and headed for the stairs that would take her down to the kitchen, but you know what they say about that first step.

Noreen missed it. She fell the entire length of the split-level hardwood stair case. Noreen's husband came running when he heard the commotion, and he remembers her lying at the bottom of the stairs with her legs "twisted unnaturally." Noreen had a large gash in her head that required 13 stitches, along with a minor concussion. Her pelvis was broken in two places, and her right wrist was so severely crushed that today there's a pin and plate holding it together.

Noreen spent the next four months in either the hospital or a rehabilitation facility. With nursing care, she was able to return home in mid-April. That's when her condition took a turn for the worst.

While in rehab, Noreen had developed a diabetic ulcer on her foot. By the first of May, the infection was the size of a half-dollar. Her ankle had swollen to the size of her thigh, and the heat and redness were starting to travel up her leg. Her physician suspected that poor blood flow to her foot was preventing the ulcer from healing, and he suggested she see a specialist.

Noreen made an appointment with Dr. Sanjeev Pradhan, an Oak Lawn-based vascular surgeon, on Tuesday for the following Friday. But before she could keep that appointment, she was back in the hospital.

The infection was not only jeopardizing Noreen's leg but her life.

Noreen was diagnosed with peripheral artery disease (PAD), a form of cardiovascular disease that affects the limbs and a condition for which diabetics are at extremely high risk. Left untreated, Noreen probably would have lost her leg, at best. At worst, she could have suffered a debilitating or even fatal heart attack or stroke.

PAD affects between 8 and 12 million people in this country, and millions more may have the condition and not know it. That's a problem because people with clogged or weakened blood vessels have a six- to seven-times higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Even more unsettling: One third of those with vascular disease who have a heart attack or stroke die from it. Knowing what to look for before symptoms start can give both you and your physician a leg up on PAD.

"One of the main underlying causes of PAD is artherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries," explains Dr. Pradhan, who specializes in both invasive and non-invasive treatments for vascular disease. "The person who has vascular disease more than likely also has heart disease, and vice versa."

But because PAD often is mistaken for simple leg pain or arthritis that the patient and doctor both may associate with aging, it can be much more difficult to detect, according to the AHA.

Noreen finally had her appointment with Dr. Pradhan after she was admitted to Palos Community Hospital because the infection on her foot was rapidly moving north. If something weren't done immediately, the ulcer could have cost her the leg, if not her life.

For Noreen, considering the severity of her infection, the extent of her blockage and the risk of losing her leg, surgery was the only option. Dr. Pradhan performed bypass surgery on May 20, using a plastic tube because Noreen's veins were too small for the procedure. Within a week, she was moved to a rehab facility, and on July 3, Noreen was able to go home.

With another three months of wound care and physical therapy, Noreen's ulcer finally healed, and she was able to return to her job and her life. Nearly 10 months after the fall that started it all, Noreen went back to her cashier position at Walt's on Oct, 19, and this year, she and her husband, Bill, are already making plans to bottle another batch of Peterson wine.

They are both humbled by the experience and grateful.

"I missed Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, my husband's birthday, Easter and Mother's Day," she says. "This year, I'm going to celebrate every holiday there is to the hilt!"

For more information, visit Palos Community Hospital's web site.

No. 1 play, No. 1 fan

By Chuck Ingwersen
Southland Savvy

Plenty of national attention for the White Sox in the wake of their Opening Day victory. No surprise that Mark Buehrle's through-the-wickets scoop play nabbed No. 1 in SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day. But it also was nice to see Alex Rios's game-ending diving catch come in at No. 3. Keep flashing that kind of leather throughout the season, guys, and we might have something special.

Hail to the Chief Sox Fan
Also giving the Sox some love on a big stage was the man who threw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals' opener. Skinny guy ... used to live in Chicago ... works out of Washington, D.C., these days. He sported a Sox cap while doing the pregame honors, ignoring the fact that it clashed with the Nationals jacket he was wearing. Well, at least he didn't wear the mom jeans he paired up with his White Sox warmup jacket at least season's All-Star Game in St. Louis.

Buehrle leaves us in Opening Daze

By Chuck Ingwersen
Southland Savvy

Call it the best defensive play you've seen on Opening Day.

Call it the best defensive play you've ever seen made by a pitcher.

Call it the best defensive play you've ever seen, period.

Of course, you also can call it Mark Buehrle being Mark Buehrle.

Reaffirming his status as a Gold Gove winner and a master of the dramatic, the Sox ace wasted little time in presenting his latest magic moment. Already pitching a masterful game against Cleveland on Opening Day, Buehrle brought the packed house to its feet with his play in the fifth inning. Lou Marson's liner deflected off Buehrle's left shin and bounced across the first-base line into foul territory. Buehrle sprinted after it, and in one motion used his glove to scoop the ball between his legs and into the bare hand of first baseman Paul Konerko. Marson was out by half a step.

There were plenty of highlights in the Sox's 6-0 victory, including homers by Konerko and Alex Rios, two hits and brilliant baserunning by Gordon Beckham and a game-ending diving catch by Rios in center. But it was, of course, Buehrle who provided the biggest buzz.

The last Sox defensive play as exhilarating as Buehrle's came last season when Dewayne Wise's ninth-inning grab in center, which helped preserve a perfect game for … yep, Buehrle. Considering the stakes involved with that catch, coupled with Wise's bobbling of the ball as he tumbled to the ground, the Wise play will rank tops on many Sox fans' lists of defensive gems.

On Monday, Hawk Harrelson said he'd seen “none better” than Buehrle's play. Ozzie Guillen, showing uncommon restraint, said, “It could be one of the best I've ever seen.” On Comcast's postgame show, rookie studio analyst Frank Thomas said he's never seen a better play by a pitcher.

My reaction to Buehrle's play was a convulsive fit of laughter. I can't explain why. And the next three replays of it sent me into fits of laughter again. I suppose it was just the sheer joy of seeing something so incredible, coupled with the realization that baseball is back.

And Buehrle is back to being Buehrle.

Other Opening thoughts
Jake Peavy made it clear in spring training that Buehrle needed to be the Sox's Opening Day starter. Great teammate … and smart guy.

Sox fans are rightfully worried about Carlos Quentin's ability to stay healthy for the entire season, and Quentin immediately added to their concerns by getting plunked by Indians starter Jake Westbrook in the opener.

Buehrle's start was his team-record eighth on Opening Day. He had shared the record with Billy Pierce.