Walter Loeb was 66 when he decided to follow up on the “massage hobby” he’d been enjoying since he was 50. He was the “oldest” student in his class back in January 1999, and he is still practicing massage at age 78. He works in a spa, in private practice, and with hospice patients. It is this last population that he finds to be the most rewarding of his career, and the one he is most passionate about. “Hospice patients are people who are viewed by primary care physicians to have an anticipated survival of six months or less,” Loeb said. “The hospice objective is to make the person’s quality of life as good as possible for their last days.” The experiences he has had with people in their final days and hours are what Loeb has discovered to be the magic in massage. He said he has many stories of hospice patients who were nearing their final days, and massage either helped them be comfortable and to feel loved in their last moments on earth, or in a few special cases, see a full recovery. He tells of one man in his early 80’s who had stomach cancer and was confined to bed and a wheelchair. “He’d never had a professional massage before,” Loeb said. “After four massages, the man was walking around the neighborhood, driving his car, and was up for a re-evaluation of his diagnosis. He appeared to recover and was discharged from hospice because the six months no longer applied.” Of course it’s not always this way. Loeb also tells of one patient whom he massaged one afternoon and who seemed in good condition, and then the person died in the night. “Hospice massage has been gratifying and enlightening,” he said. Loeb is a retired veterinary pathologist, having studied at the University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, and Michigan State University, where he completed his Ph.D in 1965. While at the Florida School of Massage some 34 years later, Loeb participated in extra electives including Student Clinic Management Team, Feldenkrais, Infant Massage, and Choosing Happiness. Loeb will return to FSM at 3PM on Monday, March 12, for a one-hour presentation on Hospice Massage. Included in the discussion will be: Hospice and its objectives; What the massage therapist can learn from hospice patients; How the massage therapist can benefit the hospice patient; Techniques for the massage therapist working with the hospice patient; and Experiences with hospice patients. Email dar@floridaschoolofmassage.com to reserve your space. The event is free and open to all.
Hospice Massage is indeed very rewarding. I have been volunteering with a hospice in my area and working not just with the patients, but the families. Often the families need the relief of a massage even more than the patient. But we come into this life needing human touch and we go out with the same need.
Very nice, Clara. This can be a very stressful time for the family when they need to stay strong for the patient.
So affirming to hear your story Walter! The mutual benefits of this work is something that is such an unrealized benefit. Please let me know if there is any way we can be of service to you as your work flows in this direction.
Lisa Parenteau
Center for Compassionate Touch
lisa@compassionate-touch.org
I have been practicing for nearly 15 year. Last spring I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel, DeQuervains and sero-negative arthritis. I was devastated with the process of closing my practice that I had worked so hard to develop since moving to Ponte Vedra FL from NC in 2000. I have recently been released to do a few massages a week and true to my nature have overdone it!! I am now looking for a way to share my talents in the Hospice community. I helped a friend through her painful journey with leukemia in 2009-10. She passed just before I took a wonderful Massage for Patients with Cancer class last Jan at FSM. I think now is the time to use those skills. Thank you for putting this story on the site, I hope to come to the lecture and get inspired!!
Thanks for sharing your story, Christine! Sorry to hear about your challenges, but life is about overcoming them, is it not? Please do come to the presentation on March 12th!