Cancer centers offer 'integrative' options

Cancer patients often undergo treatments with harsh drugs and radiation that make them feel rotten, but now they can supplement that care in ways that feed their spirits.

After years of teaching mainly yoga classes through a program that it and many other hospitals nationwide call "integrative medicine," St. Luke’s Health System began expanding its offerings at all five of its St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute locations.

Elsewhere in the Treasure Valley, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center also offers complementary services. At both hospitals, the offerings are backed up by medical evidence showing they work, hospital officials said.

"Our integrative care program offers patients and caregivers numerous programs for healing body, mind and spirit, said Cheryl Nelson, licensed clinical social worker and integrative care program coordinator for Saint Al’s Cancer Care Center.

Patients at Saint Al’s can pick yoga, massage, exercise, nutrition or other courses. Saint Al’s offers an art class that is "not about being an artist, or learning how to be one."

Instead, it’s about picking up art materials and using them. "It can help people process their feelings, intense emotions ... sadness, fear, anger." Patients can call Nelson directly at 367-3150 to enroll in the free courses.

St. Luke’s MSTI facilities offer similar services, including massage; aromatherapy, which is especially good for skin rashes caused by radiation; gentle exercise classes; and even a chance to belt out songs with fellow patients and staff. Services vary by site. Some are ongoing, and others are off and on, depending on the month.

"We have probably 300 or so patients involved with our program," said Carolyn Beaver, integrative medicine coordinator for MSTI. Those numbers are small. The MSTI centers together treat up to 3,500 patients. But the ones who use the services are passionate about the advantages.

"I really think this program is fantastic," said Linda Judge, 63, of Meridian, who is finished with nearly all of her breast-cancer treatment at MSTI but wants to continue exercise classes. "A lot of it is that feeling ... that I need to be an active participant in my own health and my own healing, and these programs give you that opportunity," she said.

Yoga classes were especially useful for Judge when she felt anxious, as she did when she first was diagnosed, before surgeries and at other times during her treatment.

Qigong, which focuses on movement, breathing and meditation, was helpful for many of the same reasons. Journaling classes using art materials fed her creative spirit, which was easy to lose sight of.

Idaho Health first spoke to Judge in August 2007, when her treatment was starting. After chemotherapy, two surgeries and radiation, no signs of cancer turned up during tests on her body tissues.

In May, she was on a victory trip with her husband, following the highway along the Pacific Ocean in Oregon and California.

Chris Butler / Idaho Statesman

Carolyn Beaver uses a rolled piece of carpet to help her yoga students better understand their breathing during a class held this summer at the Saint Luke's Meridian Medical Center. The class is made up of current and former cancer patients.

Chris Butler / Idaho Statesman

Maxine Buscher works through a yoga exercise at St Luke's Meridian Medical Center. Yoga is just one of the services now offered at Valley hospitals to complement traditional cancer treatments.

St. Luke’s MSTI

Cancer patients can take free yoga or other group activities. Services differ at each MSTI location, in Boise, Fruitland, Meridian, Nampa and Twin Falls. To learn more, call 706-5410 or 706-5281. Services include:

Massage: One-on-one therapy, such as massage, costs $30 for an hour and $17 for a half hour.

Aromatherapy: Learn to use plant-based oils for physical and emotional health.

Expressive arts: Join a group or schedule a private session for art, music or writing.

Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center

Massage: Interns roam several days a week, working on sore shoulders and necks. Longer, one-on-one massages are available at a reduced rate through the hospital’s family center.

Healing arts: Join an art class where the emphasis is on the process, not the finished product.

Nutrition: Learn how to eat to stay healthy during treatment. Call 367-3131.

Sources: St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center’s Cancer Care Center.

Definitions

Patients get complementary medicine served along with their conventional treatment.

They get alternative medicine in place of conventional medicine.

Patients who get integrative medicine should know that it combines conventional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine. Hospitals try to use only treatments that are "evidence-based," which means they are backed up with some good research showing they are safe and effective.

Evidence-based medicine: The popular concept has six steps:

1. Researchers decide what information they need to determine if a therapy works.
2. They put it in the form of a question that a research study can answer
3. They search published literature to find evidence.
4. They decide which studies are valid and fit patients' circumstances.
5. They try out their findings on patients.
6. They see how patients do.

Qigong. Qigong (pronounced "chee-gung) is translated from the Chinese to mean "energy cultivation" or "working with the life energy." Qigong is an ancient Chinese system of postures, exercises, breathing techniques and meditations. Some MSTI patients can take Qigong classes, depending on month and location.