{"id":3610,"date":"2018-08-01T08:35:41","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T13:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2022-04-22T09:04:21","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T14:04:21","slug":"cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Cousins act as health advocates for one another"},"content":{"rendered":"

You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.<\/p>\n

Elaine Immke, 58, and Henry Immke, 77, grew up on each of their family\u2019s corn and soybean farms near Pontiac. They are second cousins with their grandfathers being brothers.<\/p>\n

But with a 20-year age gap, the two cousins didn\u2019t become close until their passions for antiques and wood-working collided.<\/p>\n

For the love of antiques<\/h2>\n

In 1988, while still maintaining their full-time jobs, Henry and Elaine opened a craft store in the old Pontiac City Hall named Country at Heart, selling a variety of wood art and antiques.<\/p>\n

\u201cHenry cut the wood, I carved it and he would put it all together,\u201d Elaine said.<\/p>\n

Four years after opening Country at Heart, they moved their shop to a different location in Pontiac, renaming it Hollyhocks and Rusty Buckets.<\/p>\n

In 2006, the cousins decided to close their store and simply rent spaces at local craft stores to sell their goods. That decision would be for the best as the two would both battle health problems soon after, which ultimately brought them closer than ever before.<\/p>\n

Difficult health journeys<\/h2>\n

\"\"In 2009, Elaine developed breast cancer<\/a>, which has since metastasized.<\/p>\n

\u201cHenry has been there for me every step of the way,\u201d Elaine said. \u201cHe and I have lost both our parents, so we basically lean on each other for support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five years later, Henry realized he had a health condition he was unaware of until one Sunday morning in 2014.<\/p>\n

The two were in the barn on Henry\u2019s family farm cutting wood when Henry suddenly started complaining of chest pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like someone was kneeling on my chest,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was excruciating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elaine called 9-1-1 immediately.<\/p>\n

Henry was rushed to OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center<\/a> in Bloomington where he had three stents put in his partially blocked arteries. Henry\u2019s cardiologist at OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute<\/a> diagnosed him with heart failure<\/a>. Ten days later, he required six more stents.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Henry underwent pacemaker surgery<\/a> to help with the rate in which blood was being pumped from the heart.<\/p>\n

The Immkes say Dr. John M. Rinker<\/a>, Henry\u2019s primary care provider, has been a positive influence on Henry\u2019s heart recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Rinker took time to explain what heart failure was to both Henry and I, so we could understand what to do to prevent any future heart episodes together,\u201d Elaine said. \u201cHenry is doing well, and we\u2019ve been able to control it.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unbreakable bond<\/h2>\n

With heart failure patients, it\u2019s not uncommon for them to be in and out of the hospital frequently. For Henry, he hasn\u2019t been admitted to the hospital once for heart-related issues since being diagnosed with heart failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Elaine has been one of the sole factors keeping Henry out of the hospital,\u201d Dr. Rinker said. \u201cShe works closely with me to keep his heart failure controlled. Everyone benefits from a health care advocate like Elaine. In outpatient medicine, a patient\u2019s care depends on the things they do at home and sometimes that\u2019s hard to do alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elaine said it was never a question of if she would or wouldn\u2019t help Henry stay healthy with his heart failure diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been kind of a caregiver,\u201d Elaine said. \u201cI have a feeling the good Lord put me here for a reason, and I think it\u2019s to be here to care for people. I need Henry for my health issues and he needs me with his. We keep each other in check.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s always there when I need her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac. Elaine Immke, 58, and Henry Immke, 77, grew up on each of their family\u2019s corn and soybean farms near Pontiac. They are second cousins with their grandfathers being brothers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[105,223],"tags":[819,655],"coauthors":[690],"class_list":["post-3610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiovascular","category-patient-story","tag-heart-failure","tag-osf-cardiovascular-institute"],"yoast_head":"\nCousins act as health advocates for one another<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cousins act as health advocates for one another\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-01T13:35:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-22T14:04:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Hoefert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Cousins act as health advocates for one another\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren Hoefert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/\",\"name\":\"Cousins act as health advocates for one another\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-01T13:35:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-22T14:04:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aa0cbd58cf035ab3a16503d24ca4c251\"},\"description\":\"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cousins act as health advocates for one another\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"OSF HealthCare Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aa0cbd58cf035ab3a16503d24ca4c251\",\"name\":\"Lauren Hoefert\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lhoefert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cousins act as health advocates for one another","description":"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cousins act as health advocates for one another","og_description":"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.","og_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/","og_site_name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare","article_published_time":"2018-08-01T13:35:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-22T14:04:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren Hoefert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Cousins act as health advocates for one another","twitter_description":"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg","twitter_creator":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_site":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren Hoefert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/","name":"Cousins act as health advocates for one another","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg","datePublished":"2018-08-01T13:35:41+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-22T14:04:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aa0cbd58cf035ab3a16503d24ca4c251"},"description":"You often hear the phrases, \u201cFamily is everything,\u201d or \u201cThat\u2019s what family is for.\u201d No two statements could resonate more for the Immke family of Pontiac.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/cousins-act-as-health-advocates-for-one-another\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cousins act as health advocates for one another"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/","name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aa0cbd58cf035ab3a16503d24ca4c251","name":"Lauren Hoefert","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lhoefert\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Maisey Link","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CV_E_Rgn_Henry_Elaine_Immke_20180524_0288_FB.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3610"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4007,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610\/revisions\/4007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3610"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}