Cancer Support

If you or someone you love is facing cancer, Reiki can help.

Whether you’re dealing with an initial diagnosis, preparing or recuperating from surgery, or coping with the side effects and slow recovery that is often a part of chemotherapy and radiation, Reiki treatment supports your body’s healing.

If you’re the caregiver, helping a family member or friend with cancer, it’s hard to find time to care for yourself. Reiki treatment can give you a respite from your worries, replenish your energy, and help you regain perspective.

Many people receiving cancer care at Kootenai Medical Cancer Center and other Inland Northwest regional hospitals have come for Reiki sessions. Reiki consistently helps them cope with the challenges of both the illness and the treatment.

A number of hospitals in the U.S. use Reiki as part of their cancer care. Memorial-Sloan Kettering offers Reiki on cancer wards and in its cancer outpatient center. Dartmouth Hitchock Medical Center uses Reiki for patients receiving radiation, and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center provides Reiki for children with cancer and their families.

The American Cancer society acknowledges patients subjective reports that “Reiki speeds healing, increases physical and spiritual well-being, and reduces the intensity and frequency of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.” (Radiology Today, May 12, 2003).

What people receiving cancer care at Kootenai Medical Cancer Center in Coeur d’Alene, ID say about Reiki:

I am an ovarian cancer patient. I was diagnosed three and a half years ago. My initial chemo treatments were pretty harsh. I was introduced to Reiki and found it really helped me to relax and feel renewed. This (the treatments) was a time when quiet music and loving hands took my mind off everything! It even helped the nausea.

~ Jerene Nelson, Post Falls, ID

I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I went into surgery about a month later with my husband and Susan Mitchell by my side, giving me Reiki every step of the way. I had a lumpectomy but needed to do chemotherapy and radiation as well. Again Susan and my husband treated me during and after each of the three rounds.

When it came time for radiation, I treated myself daily after each radiation treatment. Susan treated me regularly during that six-week time frame. My neighbor who has Reiki also treated me each morning during the entire period of surgery, chemo and radiation recovery. On weekends my sisters took over for my neighbor. During this whole time, I felt pretty good.

Dr. Davenport’s comment as I finished radiation was “We would like to see all our patients finish in such great shape as you have.” I attribute my healing to the wonderful power of Reiki and to the dedication of my friends and family! I am now cancer free and feeling great!

~ Sherri Mitchell, Sagle, ID

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and was treated with surgery to remove my thyroid. After surgery, it was necessary to receive radiation treatments for the remaining cancer cells on my trachea. At the end of this eight-week, five-days-a-week treatment, I was left with very little voice and was very fatigued. As I started to mend, I felt that I needed not to be “just recovering,” but to be active in my recovery.

Ten months later, I heard about Reiki and, at the same time, met Susan Mitchell. Receiving Reiki has made a difference in my life—in my physical recovery and in my attitude toward my illness. Radiation has left me thus far cancer free, but it also did some damage to my throat. I credit my Reiki treatments and my spiritual walk with God for being able to recover and live life with the expectation to remain cancer-free and to find adventure around every corner.

~ Carolyn Lenhard, Wallace, ID

I was originally diagnosed with ovarian cancer that has now metastacized. I started receiving weekly Reiki treatments two months ago. The treatments give me a sense of calm in the midst of everything I’m going through: the cancer, the pain, the chemo. The further I get into the cancer treatment, the more I look forward to Reiki. Everything has gotten so stressful. My body’s changing just about every day. But when I get Reiki, I can totally relax—no phone, no demands, no one to relate to. I don’t have to worry about comfort levels. It’s my time not to hurt and not to worry. It’s like going to heaven for a little while.

~ Jodi Warren, Post Falls

Learn more about Reiki Treatments, on the “How this Works” page.

Learn More

Need a broader picture of how Reiki helps?

Learn More

Ready to schedule a treatment?

Schedule Treatment