I had the good fortune to have Ruth Mulligan provide me with infusion center foot massage during my recent chemo sessions at St. Joseph Hospital of Orange for base-of-tongue cancer. I didn’t know what to expect, but after the first session, I definitely wanted to make it part of every chemo day routine. I asked the nurse for atavan as a way to deal with anxiety, and that helped in its own way, but pharmaceutical products tend to take you away from yourself.
Ruth’s massage technique had a way of opening secret little doors of peace and strength inside me and I would later call upon my memory of the experience when I was strapped to the radiation table. A mask over my head was bolted to the table to keep my head immobile, which is a weird, claustrophobic experience.
Thinking back on the effects of the foot massages helped me center myself in a good place for the radiation sessions. I highly recommend oncology massage to others going through the challenging process of battling cancer.