Being diagnosed with cancer is like waking up and finding yourself on one of the scariest roller coasters you can imagine. From the minute the word is spoken, your entire world changes. You are shot out of the starting gate, barely strapped in, and this colossal hill looms in front of you. You are tossed about as you speed through twists and turns, and if you are lucky enough to have someone sitting next to you, you grab on tight.

 

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2021. The first few months were a blur of doctors’ appointments, difficult conversations, and sleepless nights. Trying to manage my life on top of cancer became extremely stressful, and to be honest, there were moments when I felt like the roller coaster was about to crash. Then a colleague texted my husband and told him about The Hand to Heart Project. This small gesture made a huge change in the trajectory of my cancer journey.

 

In the worst moments of cancer your body hurts, you feel sick, you feel alone, and you feel like you have lost a part of yourself. But then came Hand to Heart. It is amazing what an hour of massage will do to change your perspective. For me, the project came late in my chemo treatment. I was nearing the end, but that meant I was experiencing severe side effects. The very first time I had a massage my nausea vanished within the first ten minutes of being on the table. It was incredible, it simply stopped, and for the first time in months I felt my entire body relax. I was almost in tears when the hour was up, not because it hurt, but because I felt a bit like my old self again.

 

Since that first visit, Hand to Heart has been with me every step of my journey. It goes far beyond a simple massage. It is compassion and kindness at a time when I need it most. It is anticipating my need before I go into surgery, or when I find out that things didn’t go as planned. It is the understanding that I carry stress because I’m scared, and the empathy to talk me through it. It is the concern to meet me where I’m at, to ask questions, and to remember.

 

The hour I spend with the Hand to Heart therapist is one hour of my day when I can let go, when I can put myself literally in someone else’s hands. It is the hour when I feel like the roller coaster slows down and I can stop and examine my surroundings. It gives me a sense of peace during a time in my life when I struggle to find it anywhere else, and for that I am eternally grateful.
-Lanni A. Luce West

My name is Janette and I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2018. To say I was in shock is an understatement. I was healthy – I ate kale and drank lots of water. My journey began at Norris Cotton Cancer Center with a great team of doctors who were all on the same page to get me healthy again and beat this awful disease. As I was sitting in my oncologist’s office, I noticed a brochure for The Hand to Heart Project. It immediately grabbed my attention as I believe we need to treat the whole person during the cancer journey. I also have a friend who mentioned that I would benefit from this amazing program. I have since had many massages from Hand to Heart during different stages of my treatment, and feel it was one of the most beneficial ways to quiet my soul and forget about my fight even if for an hour. I believe in the power of touch and I always felt better after my massage. This is an amazing service to anyone with cancer. I am so grateful for this program!

I had the good fortune to be connected with The Hand to Heart Project immediately after my diagnosis of breast cancer. At the time I was 35, and though I had had many massages before, I was surprised by how big a difference it made in my process to have the support of trained massage therapists.

Of course, those are not the circumstances I wanted, but what a relief it was to be able to get massage work free of charge while I processed the diagnosis, healed from the surgery, and dealt with the beginning of long-term treatment. The organization is flexible and its staff are kind, willing to travel quite a long way to come to my home. Out of all the wonderful things I could say about Hand to Heart folks, one I want to be sure to mention is their balance of serious, heartfelt presence in the face of suffering with an ability to bring lightness and even occasionally humor to the difficult world of having cancer.

They’ve witnessed and helped lots of folks through treatment, and that’s evident–the practitioners show up in ways that meet me where I’m at, emotionally, physically, and socially. I hope that more and more people dealing with cancer, of all ages, can learn about Hand to Heart early in their process and benefit from this service.

“Suffering through a cancer that can’t be cured is devastating, but with the help of The Hand to Heart Project, it’s not so devastating. In fact, it’s the only service that allows me to feel that sense of help within me. I am touched in my soul as well as my outer body, and it’s in that inner soul I feel the healing touch at work – in my head and in my heart and soul. The compassionate, precise touch on my sick and weakened body, by a therapist who knows what his touch can accomplish, is just what’s needed. How I feel right after a session is too much for words. I am able to feel rejuvenated from head to toe, not to mention the good spiritual feeling I am left with. Thank God for Hand to Heart. They create a positive outlook for me when there sometimes seems none.” –Ginger Pailley, Springfield, Vermont