CLEVELAND — Nineteen-year-old Sarah Grisdale loves her puppy, her family, and sports. But last fall, her life changed in an instant.
“I was diagnosed October 18 with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with stage 2B,” said Grisdale.
She is being treated at University Hospital’s Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.
Grisdale is one of the children at the hospital who receives a massage to relieve pain, stress and anxiety.
Mandy Bartolovich is a pediatric hematology oncology massage therapist at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.
“She’s great, I love her,” said Grisdale.
“It’s nice to get that smile when you walk into the room because you know you’re going to make them feel better,” said Bartolovich.
Bartolovich took part in a new study just published by University Hospitals in the journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer.
“We did a large study on this,” said Dr. David Miller, Medical Director, Pediatric Integrative Medicine, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital.
The study lasted more than two years and looked at pain, anxiety and stress before and after treatment.
“We saw clinically significant changes of two points or more in their pain-reported scales in pain, anxiety and stress, which is comparable to that you can achieve by medication,” said Miller.
Miller said it’s one of the largest investigations of the effectiveness of massage therapy within pediatric hematology and oncology.
“One of the things that keeps us from healing is our own stress responses, and so part of the administration of fully effective care, that full person care, is to break out of the stress cycle so that you can let your immune system work as it needs to work,” said Miller.
The massage therapy is also used for patients with Sickle Cell Anemia.
For Bartolovich, it is a labor of love.
“I’m very blessed, I have an amazing job,” said Bartolovich.
She combined her love for children with her passion for massage therapy. She even shaved her head in support of her patients to benefit charity.
For Grisdale, spending time with Bartolovich is just what the doctor ordered.
“I do get pretty bad anxiety, so it definitely helps calm down, and I know how my treatment is going to go. It’s just a very relaxing time,” said Grisdale.
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