New Preston clinic to help cancer patients cope with treatment side-effect
A new clinic has launched in Preston to help cancer patients struggling with the debilitating symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy (PN), a condition that may happen after some cancer treatments.
The clinic is being funded by Rosemere Cancer Foundation at the request of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s lead cancer nurse and end of life lead Anne Tomlinson.
The charity has given CancerHelp Preston based at Vine House in Cromwell Road, Ribbleton, £9,969.84 to set up the clinic and run it one day a week for the next 48 weeks.
Over this period, patients with PN, which is increasingly being listed as a possible side-effect of some newer chemotherapy treatments and which can cause extreme pain in the feet and hands as well as tingling and numbness that can spread upwards into the legs and arms, will be treated with reflexology.
Reflexology is a type of foot massage but the treatment will also incorporate the use of aromatherapy essential oils such as frankincense, peppermint and myrrh, which may help circulation. Each patient will have their own blend made up after assessment and will be given a foot soak and cream with their blend of oils for home use.
Jeanette Smalley, general manager at CancerHelp Preston, explained: “There is research to suggest that as many as one in 10 cancer patients treated with newer chemotherapy medicines develop PN as a side-effect of their treatment but despite this, there is little evidence of any PN management in the UK. Instead, PN tends be regarded as something that has to be tolerated and which should reduce after treatment ends.
“However, research from the US and our own anecdotal evidence suggests reflexology can help reduce PN’s physical symptoms, which in turn may aid mobility and also help reduce anxiety and depression.”
Jeanette continued: “The funding from Rosemere Cancer Foundation will enable us to do several things. It will enable us to run a dedicated PN clinic to monitor the number of patients experiencing PN, treat patients by providing them with eight, one hour weekly reflexology sessions at the end of which they’ll be given their home use soak and cream, and then to gather their feedback on the effectiveness of their treatment.
“We will share this feedback with our CancerHelp colleagues, local hospital trusts and hospices. Longer term, we could develop a PN management plan aimed at reducing the condition’s impact, embedding it as a CancerHelp service.”
Dan Hill, chief officer of Rosemere Cancer Foundation and head of charities for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re excited to be supporting the new PN clinic. We already fund complementary therapies throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria for patients and those helping them through their cancer treatment journey.
“There is a plethora of evidence to recommend complementary therapies alongside conventional medicine as the ideal approach to cancer treatment and so it will be very interesting to discover the feedback from PN clinic patients and the medical staff treating them on their experience of reflexology with essential oils.”
Rosemere Cancer Foundation fundraises to bring world class cancer treatments and services to cancer patients being treated at eight hospitals throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria, as well as at Rosemere Cancer Centre. The cancer centre is the region’s specialist cancer treatment and radiotherapy centre for the two counties.
The charity funds cutting edge equipment, research, training and other cancer services and therapies like complementary that are beyond limited NHS resources to make patients’ cancer journey more effective, comfortable and stress-free.
For further information on its work, including how to make a donation, visit www.rosemere.org.uk