Helping you stay heart-healthy…
Join us Jan. 20 to hear about weight-loss drugs
Dr. Disha Narang will be our featured speaker Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 6:30 p.m. She’ll give our chapter the latest information on weight-loss drugs and their use by heart patients.
Dr. Narang was named the 2024 Mended Hearts Midwest Heart Hero thanks to her ongoing involvement with our chapter.
She briefs us yearly on the latest weight-loss drug developments. So we’re sure she’ll be discussing the introduction of Wegovy in pill form and its impact on drug pricing, among other topics.
Our first meeting of 2026 will be on the third Tuesday of January rather than are usual second Tuesday. Subsequent meetings this year will return to second Tuesdays.
Join us at Evanston Hospital, we meet across from the Frank Auditorium, or Zoom in:
https://zoom.us/j/99887167977?pwd=dEJENmRFc2k5aHlvbjZlVnZiS0MrZz09
Holiday Heart-Healthy Recipes from Teresa Pagan
Nutritionist Teresa Pagan, at our recent December meeting, gave an information-packed presentation on preparing heart-healthy holiday recipes. Below are the recipes she discussed and gave out samples of at the meeting.
We’ll be posting a video of her presentation to our YouTube channel in a few weeks. In the meantime, cook away and enjoy.
Learn about amyloid heart issues Oct. 14
Amyloid disease of the heart is becoming a hot topic in cardiac health circles, with recent articles about it appearing in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune. We’ll give you all the latest at our Tuesday, Oct. 14 meeting with guest speaker Dr. Nitasha Sarswat, Endeavor’s expert on the subject.
We also expect a representative of one of the companies that makes drugs to treat certain types of this disease.
Cardiac amyloidosis is a heart condition caused by a buildup of abnormal proteins, called amyloid, in the heart muscle, leading to heart failure symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, and swelling, according to Google.
This should be a highly informative night. So join us at 6:30 p.m. — either at Evanston Hospital or via our Zoom link below.
We’re now meeting in a room at Evanston Hospital opposite the Frank (no relation) auditorium, Room 1711 on the 2nd floor.
The hospital uses a European numbering system and calls it the 1st floor but you need to take Elevator F up one floor to reach it or use the escalators in the main lobby.
If you can’t join us in person, use this link to join. Copy it and paste it into a browser, Mailchimp sometimes misdirects people:
https://zoom.us/j/99887167977?pwd=dEJENmRFc2k5aHlvbjZlVnZiS0MrZz09
Help us reach children who struggle with heart disease
Members of our chapter will be staffing a Mended Hearts table at a fall picnic sponsored by Lurie Children’s Hospital on Sunday, Sept. 14.
We’re looking for volunteers to help at the event, which goes from roughly 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. he picnic and barbecue will take place at Labagh Woods, Grove 4 (entry off of Foster and Cicero) in Chicago.
Volunteers at our able will be giving out Mended Hearts crayons and pictures to color as well as small containers of bubbles and treats. We’ll also ahve information for parents at the event about Mended Little Hearts, our division for parents of children born wtih heart issues. At present, there is no Mended Little Harts chapter in Illinois. We hope to encourage parents from Lurie to start a chapter there.
So come join us in spreading the message of the value of Mended Hearts as a patient-to-patient support group.
If you’d like to volunteer, email me at johnnfrank@gmail./com
Earlier this year (see photo below), we had a table at an Evanston health event. Both these projects are part of our efforts to be more proactive in talking to people about heart disease prevention and control. We’ve been applying for grants all year to fund taking part in more such events.
But we can’t do more without more volunteers as well, so please step up to join us in September. Thank you.
Join us in September to hear about depression & heart disease
Damita Cravens, a mental health therapist and life coach, will be speaking with our chapter Tuesday, Sept. 9, about how depression impacts heart patients and what they can do to cope with it.
Cravens is an outreach worker with the city of Evanston. She earned her Master’s of Science in Clinical Counseling from National Louis University in 2017. She received her LCPC (a license to assess, diagnose, and treat mental illnesses and other psychological issues, providing therapy and counseling services independently) in 2025.
“I have experience with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and belief systems. I have worked with adults who have severe and persistent mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major repressive disorder, Bipolar I, as well as co-occurring substance use disorders,” she says.
She is a board member of the Childrens Advocacy Center of North Cook, the Friends of Evanston Farmers Market and the Black Women of Evanston. among other positions.
She is also a proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and part of the Central Region Mental Health Panel.
The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m, Tuesday, Sept. 9 in Evanston Hospital, Room 1711 on the 2nd floor.
We also hope to present this year’s Mended Hearts award winners with their awards at the start of the meeting, so come to cheer them on.
The meeting is open to everyone, you do not need to be a chapter members to attend. There is no charge.
If you can’t attend in-person, you can Zoom the meeting at this link:
https://zoom.us/j/99887167977?pwd=dEJENmRFc2k5aHlvbjZlVnZiS0MrZz09
July treat: heart healthy eating with Chef Tom
Chef Tom at work
Join us Tuesday, July 8th, at the Three Crowns retirement community in Evanston where Chef Tom Winklebeck will be showing us how to eat heart-healthy this summer.
Chef Tom is himself a heart disease survivor who changed his life and his cooking style after his battle with heart issues.
He’s cooked for us before and everyone has loved the result, so you don’t want to miss this special event.
Tom will be making us Thai turkey lettuce wraps, a dish which shows how a few simple ingredient substitutions can make for healthier, but still tasty, eating for us all.
Three Crowns is at 2323 McDaniel Avenue in Northwest Evanston, a short drive west of Evanston Hospital. Tom demonstration will begin at 6:30 p.m.
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North Suburban Mended Hearts Chapter 424 
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