Finding Ways to Help Children With Cancer
From The New York Times
For the past year, Alexa Weitzman, 29, has worked as a research coordinator, licensed acupuncturist and chef at the Integrative Therapies Program for Children With Cancer at Columbia University Medical Center. She comes to the job with a master’s degree in Oriental medicine from Touro College and a lifelong love of cooking.
On doing acupuncture on small children: We use much smaller needles. Oftentimes with kids it’s easier to deal with the kid when they’re doing what they want to do. It’s like, “Keep playing with the toy; we’ll do what we’ve got to do.”
How it can help: We use it a lot for nausea and vomiting if they’re having chemotherapy, for fatigue, to increase appetite, and for headaches, stress, dry mouth, pain from radiation. I sit in on rounds with the medical team. We’re constantly conversing about who we should go see.
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