Our services
Oncology rehabilitation includes a wide range of therapies designed to help you build strength and endurance, regain independence, reduce stress and maintain the energy to participate in daily activities that are important to you.
The rehabilitation therapies we offer patients include:
Physical therapy
As part of your cancer treatment, our physical therapists may help you design an individualized exercise program that combines range-of-motion training with light resistance exercises. These therapeutic exercises aim to reduce fatigue and improve physical function, safety and well-being.
Occupational therapy
Our occupational therapists are available to help you with daily living activities that are important to your routine and quality of life, such as dressing, showering and eating.
Speech and language pathology
Many cancer patients may benefit from speech and language pathology. Therapists address problems you may be experiencing, including dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, loss of voice and cognitive changes that often result from cancer treatment.
Manual therapy
Our massage therapists may offer techniques designed to help reduce your cancer-related pain and improve your quality of life during cancer treatment. Some manual therapy options include:
- Traditional massage
- Stone therapy
- Myofacial release
- Soft-tissue manipulation with passive stretching
- Aromatherapy
- Effleurage massage
- Friction
- Trigger point therapy
- Acupressure
- Reflexology
Side effects managed by oncology rehabilitation
How do anxiety and stress affect cancer patients?
In a health care environment, patients often feel scared, overwhelmed and confused by the abundance of information and clinical jargon they have to digest. With a cancer diagnosis, and the unsettling implications that come with it, the emotions may be even more pronounced. Stress and anxiety are common side effects of cancer and its treatment. You may feel uncertain over your future, fearful of the unknown or stressed about how your cancer is impacting your ability to work, care for your family, travel or function on a daily basis.
How do intimacy and relationship challenges affect cancer patients?
The stress of living with cancer may have a negative effect on a patient's interest in sex and capacity for emotional intimacy. Every patient’s experience is different. For some, a healthy sex life may be difficult to maintain because of the physical and emotional impacts of treatment. While intimacy and sex are closely related, many patients may find that during treatment and recovery, they put more emphasis on the emotional connection rather than physical intimacy in a relationship. Men and women also deal with intimacy and relationship struggles differently and experience sometimes widely varying challenges. For some women, cancer and its treatments may cause a range of symptoms that interfere with sexual function and physical intimacy
How do balance issues affect cancer patients?
Good balance is vital to day-to-day life. Balance, or the body’s ability to remain stable while standing, sitting or moving about, is important in preventing injuries from falls or missteps. The vestibular system of the inner ear is critical to good balance, as is the cerebellum, or the rear part of the brain stem that controls and regulates muscle movement. Chemotherapy drugs, pain medications and other interventions, as well as cancers of the head, neck or nervous system, may affect the vestibular system or the cerebellum. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy may also result in balance issues.
How does lymphedema affect cancer patients?
Lymphedema is a common side effect of some cancer treatments, including surgery or radiation therapy. The resulting blockage prevents fluid from draining sufficiently, causing it to collect in the fatty tissue under the skin, most often in the arms and/or legs. The risk grows with the number of lymph nodes affected.
How do body issues affect cancer patients?
For cancer patients, a change in self-image may be triggered by a number of factors and have damaging side effects, including depression, insomnia and social isolation. Cancer and its treatment affect each patient differently, and may have many physical impacts, including:
How does malnutrition affect cancer patients?
For cancer patients, malnutrition may be caused by not getting enough calories, protein or other nutrients like vitamins and minerals, either because of the disease, its treatment or various other related complications that can affect appetite and how the body digests, absorbs and uses food. Being malnourished may make patients weak or drained. In some cases, it may lead to disruptions or delays in the treatments needed to fight cancer. Malnutrition may also lead to longer hospital stays. Another form of malnutrition involves the consumption of too many calories, which may lead to weight gain and excess weight. This may increase the risk of a cancer recurrence, secondary cancer or another chronic illness like heart disease or diabetes.
How do digestive issues affect cancer patients?
Digestive issues may include constipation, diarrhea and stomach cramps. For cancer patients, such symptoms may be caused by a number of factors, including cancer type, pain medication, infection, lack of activity, diet and even some treatments, such as chemotherapy. For example, chemotherapy is designed to destroy rapidly growing cancer cells. However, some normal cells that grow quickly may also be targeted and subsequently damaged, including cells lining the intestine. These intestinal changes can cause digestive discomfort.
How do memory and cognition issues affect cancer patients?
Memory and cognition issues are characterized by impairments in learning, thinking, recall, language skills and concentration. Cancer patients and survivors alike often experience cognitive changes during or after treatment, a phenomenon commonly called “chemobrain.” Despite the name, chemobrain symptoms develop not just in chemotherapy patients, but in those treated with radiation, hormone and immunotherapy, for brain cancer and with brain and spinal cord infections. These patients may experience difficulty learning new information or tasks, or have trouble multitasking, retrieving common words, names and dates or who simply take longer to process information. Most symptoms subside within a brief time, particularly symptoms linked to medication. Some patients, especially those treated with radiation and chemotherapy, experience longer-lasting effects.
How does dry mouth affect cancer patients?
Dry mouth is marked by an exceptionally parched mouth, often caused when salivary glands become irritated or damaged, leading them to make less saliva or saliva that is thick or sticky. A cancer patient may experience this side effect, also known as xerostomia, when taking certain prescription or over-the-counter medications, when undergoing chemotherapy, or after radiation treatments that target the head or neck area. Because saliva serves so many important functions, dry mouth may lead to a range of other symptoms, including increased thirst and hoarseness and an increased risk of oral infection and tooth decay. Other potential complications include altered speech, changes to taste or smell, difficulty swallowing and indigestion. Any of these side effects may impact patients’ overall eating and drinking habits and nourishment.
How do mucositis and mouth sores affect cancer patients?
Mucositis is defined as an inflammation or ulceration of mucous membranes along the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus. A frequent adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatments that target the head and neck, stomatitis, or oral mucositis, is characterized by inflammation of the mouth that can develop into painful ulcers and mouth sores. Basic tasks such as eating and swallowing can become a challenge, leading to nutritional consequences, an increased risk of oral infections and difficulty speaking. Gastrointestinal mucositis impacts the digestive system, and is more likely to affect cancer patients who take chemotherapy drugs. It may also be caused by radiation treatments to the abdominal or pelvic region. Telltale signs typically appear two weeks after the start of treatment and can include diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, rectal bleeding and anal or rectal ulcers.
How do eating difficulties affect cancer patients?
Difficulty chewing may result from stiffness or pain in the mouth or jaw, or from problems with the teeth that make it hard to eat. Treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, may also interfere with a patient’s ability to chew or swallow food. Problems swallowing may include choking or coughing while eating, the inability to swallow, pain while swallowing or a feeling that food is stuck in the throat. These issues may range from mild to severe, and may be caused by the cancer itself, especially mouth, throat or esophageal cancers, which may cause the passages to tighten or narrow.
How does numbness affect cancer patients?
Numbness is often accompanied by tingling or a pins-and-needles feeling. It may affect patients across cancer types. This partial or complete lack of sensation may develop in one or more body parts, especially the hands, feet, arms or legs.
How does fatigue affect cancer patients?
Fatigued patients often describe feeling tired, exhausted, lethargic or weak, having heavy arms and legs, and little drive to participate in activities. Some experience either bouts of insomnia or may sleep too much. For those suffering from fatigue, even simple activities may seem grueling. The feeling typically doesn’t go away, even after a full night’s sleep. Factors, including the type and stage of cancer, treatment history, current medications, diet, sleep or rest patterns, psychological profile and certain conditions (such as anemia, breathing problems, decreased muscle strength, etc.), may be important considerations in determining how to approach symptom management.
How does pain affect cancer patients?
While some cancer types are inherently painful, regardless of stage, many patients fighting advanced cancers may experience pain caused by tumors rubbing against organs, nerves or bones. Tests and treatments may also cause pain, or compound it by prompting side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, anemia, lymphedema, fatigue, fever, chills and mouth sores.While a certain amount of pain may be expected, several therapies may be used to alleviate, manage and reduce suffering.
How do mobility challenges affect cancer patients?
For cancer patients, immobility is a lack of movement that may be caused by joint pain, muscle pain and stiffness, malnutrition, cancer metastases, medication, anxiety or depression. Immobility may also be a symptom of soft tissue sarcoma, a cancer that forms in the muscle, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons and the lining of joints. Immobility may lead to infections, including pneumonia, which the body may be too weak to fight. It may also increase the risk of blood clots. Remaining in one position for a long period of time puts extra pressure on the spine, which may cause back pain and other sources of debilitating discomfort. Depression is another common risk for bedridden patients who may be unable to care for themselves or maintain an active social life.
How does weight loss affect cancer patients?
Patients undergoing cancer treatment may have difficulty maintaining weight. Not only does this affect energy levels, it also signifies an inadequate nutrient supply to support normal cellular processes, leading to possible symptoms that affect quality of life and require treatment interruptions. An integrative approach to addressing weight loss may alleviate multiple symptoms. Patients may experience several symptoms that may lead to decreased caloric intake and, ultimately, weight loss, Nausea etc
How does insomnia affect cancer patients?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep. From anxiety and pain to worry caused by financial or travel issues or changes at work, several factors may lead to chronic sleep disturbances. Sleep is important in restoring and rebuilding the body’s cells and tissues, which is especially important during cancer treatment.