Rehabilitation Classes Use Dance

to Promote Healing

PARSONS, Kan., Feb. 9, 2009 – The first session of a unique therapeutic exercise program designed to improve the lives of breast-cancer survivors and others with lymphedema and chronic conditions will be offered at Labette Health March 5.

“The Lebed Method – Focus on Healing Through Movement and Dance” will meet in the Labette Health first-floor conference room from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. each Thursday evening for six weeks.

The classes will be led by Pat Blanchard, a registered occupational therapist at Labette Health who specializes in the treatment of lymphedema. Blanchard is one of only two Kansas therapists who are certified in the Lebed method, and the Labette Health classes are the only ones offered in the Southeast Kansas area.

“It’s a medical-based program that uses slow, repetitive movements to increase range of motion, increase energy and stimulate the lymphatic system,” Blanchard said, adding that the exercises also increase patients’ body awareness and improve their perceptions of themselves.

The lymphatic system collects and removes waste substances from the body. Lymphedema is a condition in which an abnormal accumulation of lymph fluid causes swelling, usually in arms or legs. This chronic swelling is often found in breast cancer survivors because the lymph nodes are traumatized during surgery, she said.

Blanchard said the program was developed in 1980 by Sherry Lebed Davis, a professional dancer and teacher, when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Davis, who herself was later diagnosed with breast cancer, collaborated with her physician brothers, Marc and Joel Lebed, in designing a therapeutic exercise program to aid the physical and emotional recovery of breast cancer survivors. It was later expanded to include others with chronic swelling and related conditions.

Blanchard said that even though the exercises are not strenuous, participants must have their doctors’ permissions to ensure that they have completely recovered from their surgeries and that they are under medical supervision.

“It’s not strenuous at all. The focus is on slow, repetitive movement, and it gradually increases as the classes continue,” Blanchard said. “The ‘no pain, no gain’ idea definitely does not apply here.”

After the first six-week session and a two-week break, a new session will begin April 30 at Labette Health and subsequent sessions will follow the same schedule. Fees will be $30 for the entire six-week session, or $5 for each class. Each session will be limited to 20 people of age 18 and above. To register or receive more information, call 620-820-5477.

The Labette Health Rehabilitation Department offers comprehensive individualized inpatient and outpatient therapy programs. A new Center Of Rehabilitation Excellence, scheduled for completion later this year, is part of Labette Health’s current $32 million expansion and renovation project.