2 Heartwarming Stories, with mild profanity

Kate Prouty
Oct 25
3 min read

Kate here.

It's been a busy, frustrating couple of weeks. We moved, I had a lot of meetings, people are getting sick all around me, and I lost another phone charger.

But . . . sometimes things turn around when you don't expect it.

STORY 1

[ALL IDENTIFYING INFO HAS BEEN MESSED WITH AS USUAL. I DON'T WANNA GET SUED]

One day last week, a client who has had neuropathy in his feet for almost two decades came in for his monthly massage.

He said, "You know, after last time's massage, where you did that new thing on my feet, they felt really good for two or three days! It was amazing!"

"Okay! I'll be sure to do that all again today." 30 minutes from the end of the session, I started working on his left foot. When I went to switch feet, he spoke up.

"Wait just a sec."

He hadn't spoken a word in over an hour, so I admit I jumped.

"Okay, I will. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, but--wow! Right now, the foot you massaged just feels . . . like a regular foot! The other one you haven't touched is kind of numb, and the toes burn. And I can't really feel individual toes, you know? So, just wait a minute. I want to feel the difference between the two feet."

I waited, and he wiggled his toes, first one foot than the other. He flexed and extended his ankles, then he said I should go on.

As he was leaving, he gleefully said, "I'm going to take my grandkids to the mall! And I'll be able to walk because I can feel my feet!"

What a fabulous outcome!

But wait. There's more.

[did anybody else have the urge to buy Ginsu knives just then?]

STORY 2:

I was working at the Cancer Institute, giving massages to patients getting chemotherapy. I overheard a patient tell the nurse that her feet were driving her crazy with pain at night, and that she'd fallen twice in the last month due to numbness.

I approached her and asked if I could try to help. She said that she's had neuropathy for 15 years due to diabetes, and now it's worse after chemo.

"Nothing is ever gonna help this. I was in the hospital two weeks ago because I stepped out of a car and I collapsed. I couldn't feel my foot at all, and BAM, down I went."

"Well, ma'am, we can try this for maybe 5 minutes, and if you don't like it or it doesn't seem to be doing anything, I can switch to massaging your shoulders."

She shrugged, then pulled the blanket up so I could get to her feet.

After five minutes of massaging one foot, I paused.

"How are you feeling?

She frowned. "You know, at first it kind of hurt, but now it's starting to feel--I don't know, exactly. Keep going."

I kept going. After ten minutes on her left foot, I switched to the right. She kept chatting with me, telling me all about her illnesses, her cat, and the silly TV show she had on. Finally, I finished up.

"All done. How are you feeling?"