We all know massage offers great benefits to clients, everything from physical to emotional wellbeing, but I was as surprised as the doctor, when a massage turned out to be a lifesaver. While giving my athletic firefighter husband a relaxing massage, I found a melanoma on the bottom arch of his right foot, the last place you would expect to find it. I began my career in massage therapy 15 years ago after many years working as a para-medical professional in mainstream and complementary medicine. As an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for 19 years, I have performed CPR and other lifesaving maneuvers in my volunteer career. Imagine my surprise when my husband’s dermatologist told him that I saved his life when I spotted something strange on his foot. The site was actually a four year-old fire ant bite that had healed, but changed suddenly. The discovery led to several surgeries and precautionary procedures to ensure that the 1mm thick melanoma has not spread to the lymphatic system. I, as many massage therapists and practitioners, take Continuing Education classes to keep licensure current, but the amount of education I have received while accompanying my husband, in just one visit to UW Hospital in Seattle was as “priceless” as the Master Card commercial.
“Swelling of the supra clavicular lymph nodes are often the first sign of a problem within the lymph system of the body,” according to Sydney R. Lillard, MD the surgeon working with my husband, at UW Hospital in Seattle, WA. She said, “Massage Therapists spend a lot of time working in that general area with the neck and shoulders. An interesting physiology of the body is that the right node drains only the upper right side of the lymph, while the left supra clavicular node drains the rest of the entire body. Swelling or nodules in lymph nodes warrants a physical examination and medical workup by a physician,” “Just because you have sun burned your ears, let’s say, doesn’t mean that’s where a melanoma may develop. Melanoma is more likely to develop if you have had one or more bad sunburns in your lifetime may and develop anywhere on the body. Areas of the skin that may have been injured are also potential melanoma sites.” My husband, fair-haired avid outdoorsmen, always wears SPF 50, so this was news to us.
What Is Melanoma? Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. However, if it is recognized and treated early, it is nearly 100 percent curable. But if it is not, the cancer can advance and spread to other parts of the body, where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal. While it is not the most common of the skin cancers, it causes the most deaths. Continue reading ‘Massage Therapist Saves a Life!’ »