A growth mindset
Massage therapy, yoga and acupuncture programs Saint Jude Are growing.
Thirty Saint Jude healthcare providers have already received training in pediatric massage. The directory Saint Jude The Pediatric Palliative Oncology Symposium in September will also feature an interdisciplinary workshop on this topic for physicians, nurses and other health care providers.
In a current Saint Jude In this study, nurses massage the hands and feet of leukemia patients for brief intervals to see if the intervention provides significant symptom relief.
Saint Jude The investigators are also conducting a systematic review of yoga in pediatric oncology to see if a popular program adopted by many public schools benefits children with life-threatening illnesses.
Acupuncture, a technique sometimes used to relieve pain and nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy, will soon be available for Saint Jude the patients. Acupressure, in which therapists use thumbs or fingers to achieve a therapeutic effect, is already used in Saint Jude for young children.
Mission possible
“I think we’re at the cusp of what integrative oncology will be,” Spraker-Perlman says.
Not long ago she launched Saint Jude Integrative Medicine Working Group: doctors, nurses, child life specialists and other health care providers who meet monthly to discuss how to create a world-class program.
Most recently, Spraker-Perlman led the application of a Pediatric Integrative Oncology Special Interest Group through the American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.
“Our goal is to meet families where they are,” she says, “to let them know they can talk to us about anything, to put them on the path to safe and helpful therapies.”
For Mae, massage therapy is both.
“Mae is the happiest person,” Carlson says. “She loves playing princess and wearing her princess costume.
“She had some complications during the transplant, but we had fabulous doctors, who took great care of her, and now she is doing wonderful.”
From PromiseSummer 2019
