A Personal Story of Commitment.
Angie Patrick
I am often asked the question, “What makes you so passionate about your job?”
It is no secret I love what I do. Anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy my position, and how devoted I am to massage. I should tell you, I am not a therapist, but I am the lucky recipient of the benefits of massage. I can tell you from first hand, personal experience the healing power touch can provide for those who have been given little hope of survival. It is with this knowledge I strive everyday to bring awareness to, and shed light upon the healing power of massage.
I was 38 years old, and 4 ½ months pregnant when I gave birth to Olivia Lior Wampler, March 30, 2004. She was the stronger of twins, and was the only survivor. She weighed a scant 1 lb 6 oz, and was just over 12 inches long. Small, underdeveloped, and weak, she drew one single breath upon her birth, and was then too weak to draw a second. But one breath was all it took for the brilliant medical team at Northside Hospital in Atlanta to begin to revive her and fight for her life.
Olivia faced many challenges, not the least being premature. She had two intraventricular brain hemorrhages, a perforated intestine, an unresolved Patent Ductous Arteriosis, chronic renal failure resulting in extreme jaundice and toxicity, intubations, inability to maintain body temperature, multiple blood transfusions, and illiostomy. All of which occurred in her first few weeks on this planet.
For months, we were unable to touch her. Her skin was so thin it would tear with the simplest of touches. We could only watch through the incubator lid, and pray for her to stay strong and to fight.
After what seemed like a lifetime, I was able to hold her for the first time on (of all days) Mothers Day. She was so fragile, and attached to so many machines it was terribly awkward to hold her. But it was not an opportunity I would let pass by. Any chance the medical teams offered to touch her was gratefully accepted. My husband and I slept by her incubator, holding her tiny hand when we were allowed.
Working for Massage Warehouse, I have the good fortune of calling many wonderful therapists friends. When Olivia’s skin strengthened, and we were allowed to touch her more, my friends rallied and began a regimen of touch and therapies for Olivia. Until that time, Olivia had made slow progress. She was getting stronger, but it was a slow process. Once she began to experience the loving touch of friends, family, and therapists, we began to see a turn in the tides.
As a non-therapist, I had no idea research even existed for the benefit of touch and massage for premature children. I had no idea real, quantitative research validated the things I was seeing first hand. Only after my own experience did I learn that many researchers had devoted much of their lives to document the growth and improvement I was seeing right before my eyes.
Olivia grew stronger, with improved blood oxygen levels, stronger renal performance, more consistent blood pressure, and gains in her body weight. She began to make improvements many were doubtful she would ever be able to make. She indeed was a fighter, and her strength and will to live gave her Father and I hope.
One thing became abundantly clear to me. No matter how small the client, the power of touch is healing. It nourishes and heals the body, and equally as important, it restores the soul. Olivia’s will to survive was strengthened and our daughter came home on September 17th, weighing 7 lbs, 2 oz. She was on oxygen, Phenobarbital, Prevacid, Glycolax, an apnea monitor, a blood oxygen monitor, RSV shots, and a whole host of family waiting to hold her. And on March 30, 2005, we celebrated her first birthday at home, all our friends and family in attendance. We had all been witness to a miracle, and we would all celebrate that milestone together.
Research gives medical validity to the things most therapists already know in their hearts. Simply put, touch heals. And with the continued research, the crusade to make massage therapy mainstream becomes an ever increasing reality.
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From Massage Today article
www.massagetoday.com/mpacms/mt/article.php?id=13636&no_paginate=true&no_b=true