Student Initiates Oncology Partnership

Lindsay Waxler, at AAAOM-SO Chapter School, Tai Sophia, Initiates Oncology Partnership with Cancer Center - Patients receive acupuncture for body, mind and spirit.
By Jim Pastore, jimpastore@gmail.com

In early 2008, Lindsay Waxler, at that time a second year acupuncture student at the Tai Sophia Institute, an AAAOM-SO Chapter school in Maryland, had a vision for using acupuncture, yoga, and a healing environment to help people who are recovering from cancer. “I saw this as an opportunity for people to be tended and loved as they learned to live well while recovering,” says Ms. Waxler, now a third year clinical student at Tai Sophia.

Ms. Waxler’s vision became a reality last fall in a one-year oncology partnership that provided acupuncture and yoga free of charge for 17 people living with cancer who were residents of Howard County, Maryland, and surrounding areas. The partnership brought together the Tai Sophia Institute with the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center at Howard County General Hospital, a member of the Johns Hopkins Medical system.

The acupuncture treatments and yoga instruction took place at the Tai Sophia Institute campus. The three acupuncturists who delivered the treatments are members of the Tai Sophia faculty– Craig Kerr LAc, Kaiya Larson LAc, and Michael Phillips LAc. An oncology nurse from the hospital who is also a certified yoga instructor conducted the yoga classes. A dozen students participated in the acupuncture treatments as observers; one goal of the partnership was to expand student experience with cancer patients.

Putting Acupuncture and Yoga in the Hands of Cancer Patients
Nearly all of the patients who received acupuncture and attended yoga were referred by the Claudia Mayer Center. The Center assists cancer patients, their families, and caregivers with a range of support services and connects them to essential community, state, and national resources. Funding for the program came from the Kicks Against Breast Cancer (KICKS),a non-profit soccer organization that promotes women's health and provides resources to patients undergoing treatment.

“I was very grateful to the administrations of Howard County General Hospital, the Claudia Mayer Center, and Tai Sophia for their support and their enormous effort in making this a reality,” said Ms. Waxler. The oncology partnership became her community service project—a required part of the curriculum for all acupuncture students at Tai Sophia.

Barbara Ellrich, chief executive officer of the Tai Sophia graduate school, said, “Lindsay’s vision and hard work in creating this partnership was remarkable,” and at the same time “typifies the commitment to service at the core of Tai Sophia and its mission.”

Mary Catherine Cochran, the director of the Claudia Mayer Center said, “The Center has always been a big believer in acupuncture and movement classes for cancer patients. Indeed, we’ve been providing these resources to patients for five years. The partnership with Tai Sophia was another way to put these resources into the hands of cancer patients,” while raising the visibility of acupuncture in the community.

Addressing Body, Mind and Spirit
The acupuncture treatments were uniquely designed for each individual patient; they were not standardized. “We treated on the levels of body, mind and spirit,” said Ms. Larson, one of the acupuncture practitioners for the oncology project at Tai Sophia.

“With people’s bodies feeling the effects of radiation and chemotherapy, we were glad to help them feel physically better and reduce the side effects of their cancer treatments.” Ms Larson added that studies have found that people being treated with chemotherapy benefitted from receiving acupuncture. “And maybe just as important, or more so, is addressing the person’s spirit, which we are able to do as acupuncturists,” she said.

“There’s often a level of fear and alarm at what’s happening with the body during cancer treatment. It was important to reassure these people and provide space for them to talk about what’s going on. They expressed feelings of fear and exhaustion. They wondered: Will I survive? We were able to console them, comfort their spirits, so they can feel better and fuller.”

Students played a key role on each patient’s “treatment team,” often recommending treatments, said Ms. Larson. Patients regularly commented on the “healing presence” they experienced with student participants.

Survey: 50% Decrease in Symptoms by 6th Treatment
Surveying the effects of the treatments was an important part of the program. A pilot study found that “all 17 cancer patients reported a remarkable improvement in their symptoms by the sixth acupuncture treatment.”

Each patient was asked to track two symptoms over the course of the acupuncture treatments by filling in a questionnaire after each treatment. Patients looked to acupuncture to assist them with symptoms such as hip pain, abdominal pain, insomnia, neck and back pain, shoulder pain, depression, and nausea.

In addition, the questionnaire asked respondents to report on their overall wellbeing. The survey rated symptoms and wellness on a scale of 0 to 6, with 0 being “the best it can be” and 6 being “bothers me greatly.”

Preliminary analysis by Tai Sophia acupuncture student Jennifer L. Yocum, MA,shows “a remarkable decrease in how much the symptoms were bothering patients by the end of the 6th treatment. On average, patients experienced a 50 % decrease compared to the first visit, on all measures.” The report goes on to note that “these are encouraging findings, as they suggest that acupuncture is able to show significant benefits.”

Cancer as Wake-up Call
Ms Larson said it was a “very moving experience” to work with so many people with cancer at one time.

She said all of the patients came to view their cancer as a “wake up call” about imbalance at some level in their lives. Some had been unable to ask for help and learned to do so. Some were able to work through their anger. Some had been living lifestyles in which they worked 12-hour days without enjoying life. They had stopped appreciating life, food, work, and their children. This changed.

“Our roles included helping them see it,” she said, “learn whatever lesson was there, and regain balance.”

Greater Familiarity with Yoga
Most patients in the program initially signed up for yoga without acupuncture. “More people are familiar with yoga,” says Ms. Larson, a Tai Sophia faculty member who treated patients. “So they first came for yoga. Then, when one of the patients started telling the others in the program that the acupuncture treatments were wonderful, the other people rushed to receive acupuncture.”

This kind of tie-in might be useful to consider for others constructing integrative programs, said Ms. Larson.

Students Raising Funds to Continue Acupuncture for Cancer Patients
Ms. Waxler now is working with other acupuncture students and faculty at Tai Sophia to raise additional funds in order to continue providing acupuncture for cancer patients.

Support is coming from another third year student at Tai Sophia, Trish Twiford, who is organizing Bita’s Run for Wellness, a 5K race to be held October 3rd in nearby Olney, Maryland.

Named for Ms. Twiford’s mother, Bita Twiford, who died from cancer, Bita’s Run this year seeks to raise $12,000 to benefit the continuation of acupuncture treatments for cancer patients at Tai Sophia.