A complementary path to healing- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
A complementary path to healing- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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April 21, 2000
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In This Issue:
A complementary path to healing
Running for a Difference
Sugarbaker named Surgery Executive Vice Chair
Pike Notes
Retiring with a smile
Clerical Support Week
Meet Yvonne Allen
Obituary: Arthur Mu-En Lee
Town Meeting
Sister Bernadette is now in her second remission of cancer. A Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care patient, she received a bone marrow transplant from her brother in April 1998, and spent the next several months undergoing chemotherapy and other treatment at BWH. It wasn’t until August 1999 that she was well enough to go home to the Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare in Jamaica Plain, where she has lived and worked for the majority of the past 40 years. As the year progressed, her strength and stamina grew, and she was soon able to play the organ for services and work on the computer designing prayer remembrance cards. But she was still in pain, so much so that she sometimes got only two or three hours of sleep each night. “Pain is a common and sometimes long-term side effect of cancer therapy,” says Nathaniel Katz, MD, Pain Management. “Sister Bernadette also has fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder, that has compounded her pain, especially in her legs where she has had nerve damage.” Together, they found that Vioxx relieved her pain and allowed her to sleep through the night. It also caused her kidney function to decline. “During this time, I was going to a massage therapist. Those treatments helped but didn’t last very long, so my message therapist suggested I try acupuncture,” says Sister Bernadette. “When I got sick from the vioxx, I asked my oncologist, Dr. Sandy Dabora, and Dr. Katz if I could try it.” They sent her to Jerry Kantor, MMHS, BWH’s only staff acupuncturist, who has been providing therapy for BWH patients for the past two years. As part of the Pain Management Clinic, Kantor sees many patients for pain associated with cancer treatment. Patients also seek his care for a variety of musculoskeletal pain, for relief of nausea, and for anxiety problems. In terms of pain relief, “Acupuncture’s effects resemble somewhat the action of pharmaceuticals, but without the side effects,” says Kantor, who was recently appointed to the faculty of Harvard Medical School. “So, for example, one particularly important acupuncture point located between the thumb and forefinger acts like aspirin; it reduces pain, fever, and inflammation. For patients like Sister Bernadette who cannot take the medication they need to control pain, acupuncture complements conventional medicine particularly well. Together they lead to positive clinical outcomes.” Says Sister Bernadette, “I wanted to try acupuncture, but I was a little skeptical it would help. Jerry treated me for the first time, and that night I slept better. With every treatment—I’ve had seven treatments all together—the effects last longer and longer. When I hit my head hard and was really in bad shape, Jerry treated me and the pain was gone the next day. The pain in my legs is much better, and I can walk almost normally for the first time since my cancer. “There are three Sisters who take turns preparing and playing the organ music for each week’s services. This week is Holy Week, and it is my turn. I’ve been practicing for an hour and a half every day. The Sisters are getting older—at 59, I’m the third youngest—so I work on the computer to bring the music down into a range that suits us and simplify the accompaniments to make it easier to learn all the music. I’ve needed my sleep to do this, and I’ve gotten it.” For information on the Poor Clare Nuns, visit their web site www.stanthony shrine.org /PoorClares . For more information on acupuncture at BWH, call the Pain Management center at ext 6707.