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BY JOANN MILIVOJEVIC

SINCE THE START OF THE WARS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, thousands of American military person­nel have died; many more have come home wounded. And countless families have been touched by this war's tragedies. Many massage therapists are making ef­forts to help veterans and their families during these difficult times. Here's how some therapists are making a difference. OPE RAT ION HEALING IL\ND S Manchester , New Hampshire, is an

00 idyllic small city, population about o o <:" 100,000. It's a place where you can .S "" fish , tak e in a show, or just s tro ll 0­'" qua in t New England neighborhoods.

It 's a far cry th e turmoil th at Gabri­elle Grlgore ex pe rienced in her na­tive country of Rom ani a. In 1992 she escaped a harsh life, one th at was lived mostl y under co mmun ism and politi cal upheaval that en su ed afte r the co mmunis t sys tem col­lapsed. Grigore came to America as a refugee . She bar ely spoke English

and had young, twin daughters in tow. As a s ingle mom struggling to survive on welfare, she didn't have much to spar e . But wh at this form er neurosurgeon did have plenty of was ambi t ion and , in Ame rica, th e freedom to be an en tre prene ur.

Grigore didn't want to pursu e another medical degree in th e United States; however, she did want to continue in the healing arts . In a sh or t time sh e ga thered together some investors and founded th e North Eas te rn Institute of Wh ole Health. Toda y, she is a licensed massage thera­pist and doctor of oriental medi cine . Sh e has S6 instruc­tors a t th e school.

"I was blessed to be helped by this country," says Gri­gore. "Coming here changed my life and I know wh at it takes to be free ."

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To show her deep appreciation to th ose wh o help pro­tect American freedoms, Grigore launched Operati on Healing Hand s in 2005 . Th e pr ogram offer s free tuition to her massage school. Th e offer is ex te nde d to ve te r­an s , ac tive duty militar y personnel, their families , and to th ose who lost loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan.

At first , people were skeptical. Why would macho sol­dier s who carry weapon s and fight be inter ested in a t­tending a massage school , even if it was free? Grigore didn't listen to th e na ysayers. She marketed th e program through the media and by passing ou t flyer s at airports, veterans' hospitals and ve te rans' ass ocia tions .

(above) JaimeBernardo works with U.S. ArmyStaff Sgt. Justin Shellhammer. "I wanted to take my cha nces," says Grlgo re , "and I

(l-r) Jaime Bernardo, U.S. National Gua rdStaff Sgt.Tim Gustafson, his wife believed if I m ad e th e offer, th ey would come." Janice Gustafson, andTouch of Relief team member Natalie Condos pose On e of those who did is 39 -year-old Richard Rob­after a massage session. itaill e . He is a former army res ervist wh o served in Ku­

wai t from 2003 to 2004. In addition to mil itary service , he has been a boxer, construction supervisor and cur­rently works as a school gu idance counselor.

00 o "Wh en I saw th e ad on a local TV s ta tio n explain ing

o N that she' d be giving fellowships," explains Robitaille , "I OJ)

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thought this would be a great thing to get into, and I ca n say th at massage therap y has cha nged my awa re ness of my who le health ."

Robitaille believes th er e is a hu ge need for vets to re­cei ve healing tou ch , emotiona lly as well as physically. He successfully co mple ted the p rogram and today se ts asid e one day a week to see clients . He tailor s each ses ­s ion to a client's needs , but likes to s ta rt with th e neck "to build trus t."

Th e North Eas te rn Insti tute of Whole Health currently has 30 military-connected people enrolled under Ope ra­

TOUCH OF RELIEF This nat iona l nonprofit organization, founded by Jaime Bernardo of Potomac Massage Training Institute. provides massage therapy and other CAM therapies to rehabi litating military personnel and t heir fam ilies, disaster relief efforts , and domest ic violence shelters for women and children. He recruits volunte er professionals

to provide therapeutic servi ces and wellness education, t hen seeks foundation, corpora te and community

funding to support these programs.

For more information, contact Jaime at jbernardo®touchofrelief.org or go to www.touchofrelief.org.

tion Healin g Hands, Gr igor e will co ntinue to make th e offer in the future.

"It's bee n ve ry impressive to se e how man y changes they go through," says Grtgore , "They come tr aumati zed and the massage expe rience ca uses the m to go th rough a full men tal, ph ysical and emotional c ha nge ."

BRlNGING SOLACE TO FAMILIES All so ldier s are traumatized by th e horrors of war but non e more so than those wh o are pe rm anen tly or se­verely wounded. Some recover. Some don 't. Those wh o do recover often ha ve th e loving support of th eir famili es who help the m cope wi th a forever -cha nged life.

The stress of reh ab takes a great toll on fam ily mem ­bers, too . Imagine , for exam ple, bei ng the mother of two young infants who mu st tend to her chi ld ren and pre­pa re her wheelchair-bou nd hu sband for medical treat­ments seve ral times a day . The emo tion al and ph ysical strains are high.

Two organ izations th at help reduce some stress are Touc h of Relief, Inc. (TO R) and the Po tomac Massa ge Trai ning Institute (PMTI) . Th rough a gra n t from th e Balm Fou nda tion, a TO R team consisti ng of expe rience d PMTI massage therapi s ts provi des c ha ir mass ages to parents, spouses, and c hildren of ve ts, and to wounde d so ldiers, too. T he grant covers the costs for massage therapists' time , supplies and eq uip me nt expenses. This gra n t has been recently renewed for a third year.

PMTI is located near th e Walt er Ree d Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Walt er Reed tr eats the most criti­cally wounded military pe rso nnel, suc h as amputees and th ose with traumati c br ain injuries (TBI) . Surgical

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1vl0ST COMNION INJURIES According to a 2005 st udy published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia1, low back pain was the

most commonly reported complaint among injured soldiers .

The study's targeted population included 162 U.S. active duty and reser ve soldiers who were seen

in the Walter Reed Army Me.Qj£al Center in Washington , DC, or t he Landstuhl Regional Army Medical Center Pain Clinic in Germany, for injuries sustai ned or exacerbate d in Iraq between March 2003 and July

2004 . The most common pain complaint

was low back pain, which occurred in

53 percent of subjects . In these 86 patie nts , 49 prese nted with radicular symptoms and 37 with axial low back pain. These injuries were most often assoc iated with heavy lifting and vehicl e coll isi ons . The second most common presentation was nonradicular extrem ity pain,

which accounted for 23 percent of presentin g complaints . Twenty-four

patie nts had leg injur ies, 16 arm injuries and in t hree sold iers, both upper and lower ext remity injuries were present . The most common cause of ext remity pain was missile and blast injuries.

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and medical procedures can take a few months , or up to two years. Dur ing that tim e, so me patients ' ca regive rs s tay a t the Fisher House , a hou sin g facility for famili es of so ldiers receiving tr ea tm ent at Walter Reed .

The TOR team received spe cial training at PMTI to work with th e families an d th e wounded vets . For ex ­amp le, th ey learn how to ge t a client in and out of a wheelchair, to man eu ver around crutch es an d pro sthet­ics when workin g with am putees.

One vet was injured by an improvised explosive devi ce (lE D), and has more th an a hu ndred pieces of sh ra pne l in his body. Becau se he was wea ring his ves t, the pieces are lodged mostly in his ex tremities (several of his fin­gers had to be removed) and some pieces are wedged in his head. Deeper pieces of sh ra pnel can 't be removed, but so me move a round and eventually work th ei r way to the surface where they ca n be seen and surgically re­mov ed. The massage th erapists work on him, very care­fully, to relax him before and after surgeries.

In addition to massaging pa tien ts ' caregivers, T OR also trains families on how to do s imple m assages for one ano the r and th eir wounde d loved ones. It's an emotion­ally challenging experience . Touch-especially when it comes to an amp utee- ca n be confusing .

According to Demara Sta mler, executive director a t PMTI, they train ca regivers on how to do very basic neck and sho ulder massage. For amputees, "we let th em know it is OJ( to touch th e area and it is helpful to touch it." But she caution s t hat com munication th rough out is ex t reme ly im po rtan t.

Ja ime Bernard o, execu tive direct or of TOR, has been th e proj ect man ager for thi s p rogram since its inc eption in 20 05. He works directly with patients and families and co ncurs that communica tion is key.

"By far th e most imp ortant thing is to listen to th e wounde d vet ," explains Bernardo. "They've been through many med ical procedures and th ey know how it affec ts them. We s tay conservati ve and give th em what they say th ey need ." For exa mple, Berna rdo's team ad­dresses res idu al and phantom pain along with mu scle tigh tne ss and spasms inher ent to th eir post-surgical re­hab therapy.

Bernardo reports that it's tough not to pick up emo ­tions and s tress . To stay balanced , TO R team members write in journals, e-ma il on e ano the r and share th eir ex­periences. "Som etimes we really have to dig deep within ourse lves so we ca n do our work," Bernardo expla ins.

MASSAGE 1"'HERAPISTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN COMPASSIONKfE in bringing relief' to those Families also have to dig de ep to be with their recov­

ering rela tives for months a t a time . Some even take out who ser-ve OUT country. second mortgages.

Seei ng the ben efits of massage therapy on caregiv­ing fam ilies motivated Bern ard o, along with Director of Programs Mary Co ntre ras, to s ta r t TOR and pa rtner with PMTI. Openi ng progra ms in San Anton io an d San Diego in 2007, th eir goal is to se rve families in more Fisher Houses, as well as other at -need people around the cou n tr y.

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Massage th erapists across the cou ntr y have bee n com­pas sionat e in bringing relief to those who serve our coun­try. Som e offer discou nt s and/or co mplime n tary servic-

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es to vets and active du ty pe rsonnel. Others, like Krist y Frances , have don e so in th e form of in te rn ships while s till in massage sc hool. A studen t a t the Shi Integr ative Med ical Massage and Traditiona l Chi nese Acupunc ture Sch ool in Lebanon, Ohio , Frances worke d on two vets with chron ic pain wh o had never had massage before . Alth ough she told th em wha t to exp ect, had sheets ou t and left th e roo m for them to dis robe , she was surprised by wha t she found when she returned .

"They too k their shi rts off, bu t kep t pan ts, bel ts an d shoes on, " says Fran ces . "They bo th sa id thi s isn' t a pleasu re th ing and ju st [wanted work on their backs] ."

She tr ied to explain th at working on the ir arms and legs would be hel pful becau se it's a ll co nnected , but th ey refused . She tre ated bo th men once a week for five weeks. Even tually one took his bel t off so she could work on his lower back.

"I was th ere for th em so I wen t with it ," says Frances . "T hey go t more co mfortable as time wen t by. It was very hu m bling to hear thei r sto ries . I'll never forget it."

Th e Shi School has bee n involved with chron ic pain centers , including with th e U.S. Departme n t of Vete ra n Affairs (VA) sinc e 1996. Sharon Barnes, exec uti ve di­rector of the sc hool, says th at all s tude nts ge t an orien­tation on how to deal with chronic pain iss ues befo re intern sh ips begin. The benefits of the expe rience extend to both s tude n ts and pati ents. For example , after a few week s of massage, Barnes rep orts th a t some patients were ab le to reduce pain medi cati on s and othe rs became

more soc ial with spouses and medi­cal staff. She highly recommends that massage schools get involved with c hronic pain ce nters .

"You 'll see things in five weeks that would take 10 years to observe otherwise ," explains Barnes.

Melissa Tracy, an oth er Shi gradu­ate, s ta r ted ou t as a nu rsi ng ass is tant servi ng clients in hom e health care, hospitals and nur sing homes. To­da y, she is a firefighter and ma ssage th er apist ' who has volun tee red a t VA health ca re fac ilities , giving th e nu rses the re complimenta ry chair massages . She lives ne ar Wright-Pat­terson Air Force base and offers a IS per cen t discou nt to th e mili tary personnel. She's well awa re of the hardsh ips service people go th rough because she has famil y mem bers serving in Iraq. The temperatures th ere ca n soar to 140 deg rees and wea ring 80 pounds of gea r is ph ysi­ca lly grue ling, as well emo tionally ch allen ging.

"When they come home, 1 feel so lucky to pu t my hands on them and give th em co mfort," Tracy says .

Mnssage therapists across the country are compassionate and eager to bring relie! to thosewho serve the UnitedStates.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROJECTS NIE TIONED IN THIS ARTICLE, CONTACT TIlE FOLLO\VI G:

OPERATION HEALING HANDS

North Eastern Institute of Whole

Health

Cont act: Gabriel le Grigore

www.neiwh.com (click on "f ree tuition ")

(60 3) 623 ·5018, ext. 12

FISHER HOUSE MILITARY FAMILY

HOUSING CENTERS

Potoma c Massage Training Inst it ute

Contact: Jamie Bernardo

www.pmti.org jbernardo@touchofrelief.org (202) 686·7046

STUDENT INTERNSHIPS

at a local VA Shi Integrati ve Medica l

Massage and Traditional Chinese

Acupuncture School

Contact : Sharon Barnes

888-335-4283

REACH ING OUT

BEYON D THE RIBBON Haleta Holmes

Haleta@cinci.rr.com

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Fifty-on e-yea r-old Hale ta Holmes , an Ohio milit ary re­servist, is a lice nsed massage th erapist and an instructo r at the Sh i School. She has volunteered at disaster sites to massage firefigh ters , police officers and sea rc h and rescue personnel.

Having grown up in a military fam ily, she's se n t care packages for so ldiers in Afgh anistan . Now she is orga­nizing a referra l network of lie nsed ma ssage th erapists who are willing to p rovide a couple of complem entary massages to returning vet s and discounted se rvices thereafter. Her network is called Reaching Out Beyond the Ribbon.

"The idea is also to set it in their [th e so ldier s'] minds that th ere are people who can take care of them whe n th ey get home ."

Of cour se, easing the musculoskeletal pain is among the goals for war-weary so ldie rs, but for Holmes it 's the emotion al re lease tha t is even more important. What re­ally motiv ates he r ar e Vietnam causality reports which state th at nearly 60 ,000 U.S. soldiers were kill ed in bat­tle and th ousands reportedly committed suicide upon th eir return .

"That sta t istic really shattered me in such a way that said we've rea lly got to do someth ing about this," ex­plains Holmes . "The re is just som ething deep th at hap­pens to them ove r there. If th ey don' t have to a chance to talk abo ut it and a chance to come to terms with it, it ca n lead to a lifet ime of hardship ."

For massage therapists who wish to he lp military se r­vice people and families, th eir co mpassion couldn't be more needed. There are many ways to he lp as these few stories have exemplified . Whether it's a couple of hours a week as a volunteer at a local VA hospital or veteran ass ociation , or offering reduced- ra te se rvices, massage thera pis ts can bring much-needed re lief to those who serve our country.

REFERENCES 1 . Cohen SF? Griffith S, Larkin TM, et al. "Presentation,

diagnoses, mechanisms of injury, and treatment

of so ldiers inju red in Operat ion Iraqi Freedom : An

epidemiological stu dy conducted at two mi litary pain

management centers." Anesth Analg 2005 ;101:1098­

1103.