Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/149404
Pediatric oncology massage is still something new in the vocabulary of massage and bodywork. Over the past decade, it has evolved into a recognized, if not widely available, therapy for children with cancer, and its efficacy for reducing pain, anxiety, and depression is supported by research. As the need for it is recognized, research supporting it continues T to grow, and opportunities expand for training and working in this specialized—and special—work. To anyone who has not experienced cancer firsthand or through the illness of a family member, it is difficult to fathom how severely life with cancer can displace normal, healthy life. Childhood cancer might be the most disruptive and stressful kind of all, since it is not only a daunting experience for the patient, but also for every member of the patient's family who must witness the pain and share the constant anxiety of not knowing the answer to the child's question, "Will I get better?" Cancers of the blood cells (leukemias), brain, and central nervous system account for more than half of childhood cancer diagnoses, according to the National Cancer Institute.1 These cancers require some of the most invasive and painful diagnostic tests and treatments, such as spinal taps, bone-marrow biopsies, brain-tumor surgeries, and bone-marrow transplants, typically followed by radiation and/or chemotherapy. One of the toughest challenges for any cancer patient, adult or child, is managing the side effects of chemotherapy. These may include chronic chills, depression, diarrhea, dry mouth, extreme nausea, fatigue, hair loss, lack of appetite, pain, and more. It's difficult to imagine a child having to cope with all of this, but it is a reality for thousands of children in the United States today. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), nearly 11,600 American children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013; more than 1,300 will die from cancer this year.2 Cancer cure rates vary greatly according to the cancer diagnosis, and, although childhood cancer survival rates are 20 percent higher than they were in the 1970s, the ACS says about 20 percent of children with cancer still die from the disease. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children younger than 15 (accidental death is number one).3 If there is any good news about pediatric cancer, it is that it represents less than 1 percent of all diagnosed cancers in the United States.4 What Massage Therapists Can Do Neither bodywork nor massage therapy will change these statistics, but the relief and comfort that pediatric oncology massage provides is of enormous benefit to the children and families who comprise these statistics. "Our children love their massages," says Beecher Grogan, director of Lucy's Love Bus, a charitable trust based 35 miles north of Boston that underwrites the cost of massage therapy and other holistic therapies for children with cancer. "It offers them a wonderful and necessary break from their pain, anxiety, and suffering. Massage helps children connect with their own bodies in a way that nothing else can." www.abmp.com. See what benefits await you. 73