Massage brings relief to young cancer patient - WBIR.com

[massage]

Madeline Keeney is a patient at East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

(KNOXVILLE) At East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, they’re using massage as a means of bringing comfort to young patients. For one young girl, it’s especially appreciated.

At the hospital, 12-year-old Madeline Keeney is simply known as "Gigi."

“They've been giving me a lot of chemo. The first month is what kills it, the rest is to make sure it doesn't come back and it gets easier as you go on,” Madeline said.

She's battling leukemia and admits that at first she was a little scared.

“I kept thinking needles, needles, needles,” she said.

Massage offers a great alternative sometimes.

“It helps because what it does is if you are feeling icky or there's a place where it hurts, massaging it actually makes it feel better.”

Madeline Keeney gets massage therapy at East Tennessee Children's Hospital.


Teresa Combs has spent a year at Children's Hospital. She’s helped 500 patients not only relax but also avoid heavy pain medication.

“Hopefully, with each child, it's a difference. Whether it's less pain, a distraction from it. Just something as a combination with the medication that they're having to take. Everything with feeling better doesn't have to be with medication.

Teresa uses essential oils, which can make a difference as well.

“There are some days where I feel nauseous and sick to my stomach. The peppermint helps with that,” Madeline said. “Lavender helps with headaches And there are other scents like teas, lemons, tangerines.”

Mom Prescilla Keeney said as a parent it's just important to ensure that a child has everything possible to make her better.

"You don't always think of it as a healing part of the process, but when the massage was done and she was relaxed and there was less pain and she didn't need as much pain medicine, I was like there's something with this," Keeney said.

The relief for Madeline is obvious.

"It makes you feel gooood," she said.

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