Alison Bowen

Alison Bowen is a former reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

Liz Coffey holds an Australian walking stick during a visit to the Insect Asylum in the Avondale neighborhood as she scouts locations for her self-care business on Sep. 12, 2024. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Reframing self-care: New Chicago business looks beyond scented candles and massages to help clients find joy

September 27, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Chicago-based On Leave Experiences pairs clients with excursions intended to help them broaden their horizons by wandering, creating and learning.

Eddie Wisniewski in his room at Bella Terra Rehabilitation Center in La Grange on April 18, 2024. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)

Hospital chaplains finding ways to help the ‘nones’ — patients who identify as religiously unaffiliated

May 13, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Nearly 3 in 10 Americans do not identify with a religion. Hospital chaplains sometimes have to check their beliefs at the door when trying to serve and comfort those folks.

King Street in historic downtown Charleston features shops and restaurants. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Getty)

Your friends aren’t wrong: For girls trips, Charleston is now a mainstay

April 24, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

The South Carolina port city has Instagram-worthy streets, dining destinations, beaches, tours and a sense of camaraderie.

Field Museum dinosaur curator Jingmai O'Connor, left, gives Josh Burton a close look at the skull of the Tyrannosaurus rex Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago on Sept. 20, 2023. Burton has had two double lung transplants. He is a big fan of the museum and of dinosaurs so he was granted special access, including seeing Sue outside its protective case.

After a rare double lung retransplant, teen gets a special visit with Sue the T. rex

September 26, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

The many months Josh Burton was in the hospital, dinosaurs kept him company. They were there when his lungs failed, comforting him while he awaited the miracle of new lungs,...

Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital chaplain Catherine Lindsay participates in a chapel ceremony called Ritual for Loss of the Limb, Feb. 15, 2023, in Wheaton.

At Marianjoy rehab center, a loss-of-limb ritual helps bring a different type of healing

July 2, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

David Gaydos thought he had already learned a lot about loss. The retired Naperville Central High School teacher had been through much grief: the loss of his parents, multiple miscarriages...

What We Get Wrong About Respiratory Issues

July 2, 2026 at 12:32 p.m.

Top Chicago area specialists in allergies, lung disease, and other respiratory issues weigh in on what people don't realize about ...

Liver transplant recipient Dan Droszcz, left, and donor Chris Staehlin at lunch on Feb. 11, 2023, in Orland Park. Staehlin donated 60% of his liver to Droszcz in August.

Frankfort man saw a Facebook post about a stranger needing a liver. He donated 60% of his.

February 18, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

When Chris Staehlin and his wife asked mutual friends about a stranger who lived a few miles away, the same words kept coming back: Good father. Good husband. Would do...

Zach Jenkins, a la izquierda, y Eric McElroy son sobrevivientes de cáncer que se conocieron en Northwestern Medicine en Chicago, donde caminaron juntos por los pasillos. Aunque sus días de caminar por los pasillos terminaron, los amigos continúan reuniéndose para hablar sobre su cuidado y actualizarse mutuamente sobre sus vidas.

Caminar juntos ayudó a dos pacientes con cáncer a sanar: ‘Crees estar solo, pero no es así’

September 16, 2022 at 11:54 a.m.

La primera vez que Eric McElroy llamó a la puerta de Zach Jenkins, este no estaba de humor para charlar. A sus 25 años, le habían diagnosticado recientemente una leucemia....

Erin Martin and her husband, Jonathan, stand with their children outside their Chicago home on Sept. 1, 2022. Jonathan is an infectious disease doctor at Cook County Health and Erin is a physician assistant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Couples who worked in hospitals during pandemic saw their marriages change

September 14, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Donning protective gear. Juggling child care. Giving each other space during the exhaustion of treating patients with a lethal virus. These were some of the challenges faced by married couples...

Dr. Yasmin Abaza examines Zach Jenkins at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Aug. 26, 2022.

How walking together helped 2 cancer patients heal: ‘You think you’re alone, and you’re just not’

September 6, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

The first time Eric McElroy knocked on Zach Jenkins' door, Jenkins was not in the mood to chat. At age 25, he had recently been diagnosed with leukemia. While he...

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