{"id":1357,"date":"2019-02-08T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T22:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/?p=1357"},"modified":"2019-02-07T16:22:29","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T05:22:29","slug":"more-than-a-client","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2019\/02\/08\/more-than-a-client\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than a Client"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Michelle McKerron<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Are you like me, having read how the research supports that massage is a great thing for cancer patients? I have been forwarding info sheets from AMT for years to my client base, knowing that cancer is rife in my community, hoping to help in some way. Perhaps you have had the opportunity to follow up in an effective way in your work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity has come knocking for me, but in a way I have had an absolute love\/hate response to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I did my training in the late 90s, I had a posse of people I practiced my early techniques on. I’d set up my rickety portable table in living rooms, get my towels and oil out of my backpack, and knead away like my life depended on it (I was 18\/19 at the time). I don’t know if it was my clients or me, but the treatments were rarely zen like moments of quiet reflection, instead chatty and comfortable, usually with a laugh or two at life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven \u2013 a barrister and father of two small boys \u2013 was among my massage guinea pigs. He was intelligent, and frightened the life out of me with the way he questioned my terminology and my techniques. Steven was the kind of person who forced me to question the things I did, but who also very much appreciated what I did for him. His style of \u2018being a client\u2019 improved me as a therapist and for that I am very grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look at Steven\u2019s chart now, meticulously kept over the last 20 plus years. There is a whiplash, a quad injury, a lot of relaxation massages, weight loss and gain, even a pre-event massage! I remember conversations we had about adipose tissue where we laughed and at the same time sombrely adjusted our views of what would become the norm for some. He responded well to remedial massage techniques and never gave up asking me why I was doing certain things, always keeping me on my toes, and always OK with the answers I gave. I reckon he had about 50 treatments over 20 years. He watched me grow as a therapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last 2 visits I had with my client have been drastically <\/em>different. It’s heavy-hearted and very, very light massage. In December 2018, Steven was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. The treatment needed to be aggressive to fight it \u2013 surgery and 80% of the tumour removed within a week of finding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I found myself at the hospital, doing my best to give my client (I am just going to say it, my friend) some relief through massage. Steven had no feeling on his left side, but was grateful that I picked up his arm and paid it careful attention. Sheer blissful release as I oh-so-lightly touched his neck. He had a newly acquired symptom of a lack of short term memory (or maybe it was just the honesty of a man very ill and in shock), which meant that I had never been so fervently complimented on my treatment. This at a time when I felt like I was doing less than I had ever done before in any session. What an absolute pleasure and privilege to be at his bedside offering caring touch to a man who, within a week of diagnosis, was being prodded and poked and rolled and toileted and washed in a manner totally outside of his control. And how invaluable to be a familiar face that he could trust in this daunting, miserable, uncharted situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he faced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n