Denied a massage because of my cancer...

[jml]

Hi Friends~

Any one else experience this ridiculous discrimination at the hands of an ignorant, arrogant, naive massage therapist?
Unfortunately this is the 2nd time this has happened - the 1st was in casual conversation with an acquaintance that is a massage therapist (who I have steered clear of for many years ever since), but this 2nd time was @Massage Envy Spa in Hermosa Beach, CA - a franchise of a huge national corporation.
Here's the back story:
My sister from San Fran & I are enjoying the Christmas holidays with our other sister and her family in Hermosa Beach. Up until this point, we were having a grand time and thought we'd squeeze in a massage and facial, for a little relaxation and pampering.
We are both members of Massage Envy in our respective cities, and I will say the folks in the Atlanta location have always been really great. Always helpful when I tore my pec in my reconstructed side, which continues to get really tight and rigid when I exercise & don't stretch enough and also not afraid to do my massage, even when I had a palpable supraclav node.
So we go in a little early for our appointments to fill out paperwork, and as I'm writing the details of my health history, I'm already anticipating having to do a lot of explaining and reassuring that it's okay for me to have massage while on treatment, I've been on/off treatment x10yrs, blahblahblah. I even consider just NOT saying anything. So in the interest of full disclosure, in the line to list "medications", I started to just write "Multi Vitamin" and leave it at that, but I did include "chemotherapy".
Initially the front desk/sales assoc who reviewed my paperwork said that she didn't think I could have the facial bc they feared there might be some negative chemical reaction with their Murad products & my chemo. I told her that I was surprised by that because I've been dealing with this disease for nearly a decade and am pretty well versed it what treatments are contraindicated for me, etc. I'm told, "It's our policy." And she says the massage is questionable too, but she would talk ask the LMT.
We were taken back to the "Relaxation Lounge" to wait, when the 3 -front desk person, massage therapist, aesthetician - come in and the massage therapist says she can't do my massage because (I'm paraphrasing) she doesn't 'want to make me sicker by pushing the cancer around, possibly to my lungs & brain and giving me lung and brain the cancer'.
WHAAAT???
(i shouldn't have been so surprised bc this is the same blathering nonsense that the 1st massage therapist said to me in conversation years ago.)
I told them that that is impossible and there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support that she can influence disease progression with massage, and she, the LMT, says "I know what I can do."
So now her ARROGANCE is even more irritating than her simple ignorance. So we exchange a few more words and them I'm told again, "It's our policy."
My sister grabs my arm and says "Let's go..." and drags me out of there because I was about to LAUNCH! She said that she just wanted to get me out the way of all the evil stupidity!
So we walked out, but I quickly turned around and went back in to get names of the Manger and Franchise Owner.And the front desk girl just kept saying, "I'm so sorry. It's our policy. My grandmother had BC."
I said, "Fine, your policy is your policy and I'm not arguing with that, but what your LMT is saying is completely inaccurate and unfounded and it only makes her sound ridiculous and ignorant."
I asked about their on-going education and was told "Oh we just had more of that," but she couldn't identify who did the training, couldn't tell me the Manager's last name or the Franchise Owner. When I called back to get the name of the 2 therapists & speak with the manager, the same front desk girl said "he's out" and that "he comes & goes" so she didn't know when he would be back.
Basically I got the major run around!
I do understand that we were dealing with 3 young women, who are infinitely ignorant, not only about customer service but also about the fields that they are LICENSED to practice, and that is ultimately what I have the greatest issue.
As "licensed professionals" they have a responsiblity to provide safe, knowledgeable services and if they can't do that, they shouldn't be practicing at all.
The corporation, Massage Envy, does not have a disclaimer on their website, consent paperwork, etc that states "their policy" regarding refusing treatment to people under going cancer care/chemotherapy. I think the front desk girl just thought her best strategy was to hide behind the "It's our policy" statment.
My sister posted a review on YELP for the Massage Envy Spa-Hermosa Beach location, telling of our experience, I've posted on my personal FB page and I posted on the Massage Envy -HB page that I was denied services bc of my cancer.
I've also sent an inquiry to the California licensing board for Massage Therapy to ask what the standards of their education & testing are regarding cancer tx & massage, and a friend has sent an inquiry to the corporate hq of Massage Envy to ask what their corporate policy is regarding providing/denying services to cancer patients.
While I hold the silly ignorant LMTresponsible only for her own lack of knowlege, I do hold Massage Envy, the corporation, responsible to setting a standard for ALL of their therapists - massage & aestheticians - to be appropriately educated about the benefits of their services but more importantly if/how/why their services could or would be contraindicated and even dangerous to potential clients. It should be included on their websites and in their consent paperwork.
I've also sent an inquiry to Murad, the skincare company that provides Massage Envy with all their facial products, to ask about the safety of their products with patients in treatment of cancer.
As you can see, I'm not done with this by any means!
I've been doing some searching around and reading articles about massage and cancer, and they all say that this archaic belief that massage manipulates blood flow and lymph dynamic to the extent of influencing disease progression & metastasis is unfounded, but I guess the LMT from Massage Envy HB must have been asleep that day in class when they were reviewing disease processes!
Sorry such a long story, but I thought you'd get a kick out of it. I'm sure some of you may have encountered the same silliness.
I really want to put an end to this ignorance and am looking to make a pretty big splash with this, hopefully changing the corporate policy for all Massage Envy locations and even within their industry to get all LMT appropriately educated about the truth and reality of massage and cancer.
Is that too much to ask?
And all I really wanted yesterday was a little relaxation & pampering...

Keep the Faith~

Jml