Testimonials
Thank you for introducing me to oncology massage. I started out with many misconceptions and they have been cleared away. So now I have a lot of room for new information! I'm grateful that there were some people in the class who could share their stories with all of us. It made quite an impact on me.
— Marcie Cohen, Vermont
I wanted to say thank you again for everything this weekend! It was an amazing experience! I don't often get a chance to connect with other massage therapists...it was wonderful! Also, thank you for breaking your own rule during Saturday's sharing session. I have received so much support, understanding, and ideas from everyone...it has really started me thinking!! It has also helped me to understand what a special place I am in...no matter where it leads!!!
— Megan McKenna, Virginia
I have felt so much more centered and present since the class...more joyful in my sessions in general. I feel...renewed. And I needed that. I am grateful to have the experience. And I've used what I learned on two cancer survivors this week with good results.
— Kat Nuckols, Virginia
This work is different for me because it is more holistic, You need to understand the disease, the treatments, medication, side effects, and the client to deliver an effective treatment.
Also, it forced me to get in touch with some deep-seated fears and to move past them. I shared with a couple of my co-workers on Tues. Both are living with cancer. I am doing a seated massage today for one. The seated massage intake form will come in handy. The other co-worker works with the Cancer Consortium ( a coalition that deals with providing services for cancer patients in the DC area). She wants to connect me with some community groups.
Also, my fellow students were the most fascinating of any classmates since I left massage school. I really appreciated their input and experience, especially those who are living with Cancer. They really touched my heart and made the work even more significant.
— Edwina Davis, Washington, DC
I have also had a profound experience during the class which has continued. My "hope" on Friday was that the work continues to deepen and make accessible that deep reservoir that has been activated since my first cancer client, my Mother. And, of course, that is happening. It was amazing to be in a room with like minds and hearts. I was both moved deeply and affirmed. Usually my practice is quite solitary.
One of the most significant is the change in language about the definition of massage as systematic touch—this has created a very large opening for me which does not yet have words. I felt that more of me was available to my clients on Wednesday morning, at Mercy Hospital and in the variety of other parts of my life.
So, I believe that I am still connected with the work and all of you, which has a loveliness and tenderness about it and runs deeper that words can convey.
— Sue Tesar, Maine
I've been practicing our client-centered communication and just laugh at how ineffective my old "Is this pressure ok?" style seems! After I got home from the class I had a new client with a rare disease (Castleman's) that forms benign tumors throughout the body. I felt so at ease working with him, whereas just the word "tumor" would have caused hesitation and a pulling back just a week ago.
— Ilyse Streim, Boulder, CO
I'd like to briefly share with you how you influenced a "practice" massage I gave the other day. My receiver began to cry within the first 15 minutes of the massage, lifting her head out of the face cradle and relaying that there was so much tenderness and compassion in my touch and that she wasn't used to that. This happened because you gave permission to let go of an agenda, to be present with love.
— Andrea McCollough, Corvallis, OR
I love this work. I just do. This work with oncology has taught me so much about listening and holding space, about what it means to reserve judgment and what it means to be fully present, not just in the room during a session but holding that same sacred place of grace in my daily life, even and especially in moments of imperfection. I am constantly in awe of the connections between the body and the human spirit. I find the same grace in walking into my office to do this work that I find walking into Quaker meeting or into the synagogue to chant prayers in Hebrew or taking in liturgical music and ritual resonance of call and response or watching my children sleep. It moves me deeply to be witness to the active journey of individuals in coming to terms with the disease, with the treatment, with the movements of living again and again.
— Beth Terhune, Westborough, Massachusetts
This has been a strange week for me, filled with emotion. I returned to work on Monday to sit behind a desk, something I have been uncomfortable with for so long. It couldn’t be further from the week I spent with you all at OHSU. The quote you sent resonates loudly for me. “Our simple caring for each other sustains us and enables us to better survive”. I so enjoyed caring for patients and family again. I’m sure this type of work heals me in some way. And the sense of community and caring amongst our group was powerful. It was so supportive and safe, something I want to experience again in my working life. I think this was very much led by you, Eileen, Annette and Geri. Your relationship was respectful and caring and fun! You were great role models. I felt very much at home whilst I was there and considering I was so far away from home, had never worked in an American hospital before and massage isn’t my fulltime profession that is down to all of you. I couldn’t agree more that we are rarely the same after a week at OHSU. I know I’m changed. I had come into 2012 knowing that this year I had big changes to make. What a way to kick it off, with a week at OHSU. I miss you all and I hope your days following our week have been good.
— Annette, Kilkenny, Ireland
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