CLEVELAND, Ohio — “When you're going through something, it's not just physical pain, it's emotional pain, and she helps with that, just rubbing out the tension you feel in your joint or the tension you feel in your head, she just massages it out and you're like calm again, and that's what you need,” Skye Lowe of Cleveland said.
A massage has become a vital part of medical treatment for Skye Lowe.at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.
- Mandy Nartolovich was hired as the hospital's first full-time massage therapist for pediatric cancer and blood disorder patients
- She says the 20-minute massage session makes a huge difference in the patient's overall hospital experience, as it helps with anxiety and depression
- Parents and caregivers of patients are also offered the opportunity for massage therapy at UH
Lowe has Osteosarcoma, the most common type of bone cancer in children and teens. She was diagnosed in May of 2019, 2 months after her 21st birthday and is being treated at Rainbow's Angie Fowler Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Institute.
She says although she wouldn’t consider the countless trips she’s taken to the hospital over the past 7 months exciting, her massage therapist Mandy gives her something to look forward to.
“When I see her face it's like I don't have to worry about getting poked today, getting labs drawn, hearing any bad news, or any news that we have to change this or do this differently. She's just there to say, hey, how you doing today? You want to talk? You want me to make you feel better? Rub your foot? Rub your leg? and what's going on? And that's what I personally love,” Lowe said.
“I was working on a friend of mine who had stage four breast cancer and she kept saying you need to incorporate this in your pediatrics, so I took the certification for pediatrics and it's just my passion,” Mandy Bartolovich said.
Mandy Bartolovich worked in the pediatric emergency room for 18 years and has been a licensed massage therapist for 21 years. It was just last year that she decided to combine the two. She now works as the hospital’s first full-time massage therapist for pediatric cancer and blood disorder patients. She says the 20-minute massage session makes a huge difference in the patient's overall hospital experience.
“They’re used to being poked and prodded, this is a one thing that they can say no to and it gives them a sense of control,” said Bartolovich. “It’s just seeing the end results. seeing the kids. anxiety is gone, or depression is gone, being able to work on a child's feet into reflexology. I show them trigger points for nausea, vomiting, headaches, anxiety, those are probably my top ones that I use, those anxiety points and they use them.”
“I’ve had multiple surgeries so far with my leg. I have a prosthetic inside of my leg, and she's just wonderful, to help me massage the joints and get my feeling back in my foot,” said Lowe.
Skye says Mandy not only uses her hands to make her feel better, she happens to be a good listener.
“She’s also really good to talk to when I'm going through something,” Lowe said.
And this all serves as additional emotional and physical support for her while she’s battling the disease.
“I’ve had days where I'm like, oh, I can't do it. I have days where I'm like, I'm a fighter, so even though I'm not done yet, having the mindset that it can’t beat me helps a lot, and having positive attitude and having positive people like Mandy and having her program here it really, really helps.” Lowe said.
