
Sam Reynolds runs an online resource for those adjusting to life after cancer at www.samspaces.co.uk and runs the monthly support group Safespaces. We asked her to put our new Jennifer Young spa treatment for people living with and beyond cancer to the test. Here's what she thought:
'Self-care becomes quite the priority after a cancer diagnosis, but when it comes to spa treatments we can feel more stressed out than blissed out.
For patients and survivors, simply completing the questionnaire pretreatment can bring on a panic attack, let alone the thought of having to strip down to our M&S t-shirt bras and undies! When it comes to ticking boxes and adding further details to having had any of the ‘medical conditions listed below’, there is a sharp intake of breath and in my case about three sides of A4 paper!
For anyone affected by cancer, the word ‘treatment’ itself can often be associated with all things chemo and radio and any patient will tell you that the idea of massage and facials can feel like a form of psychological torture after surgery. After two of my three breast cancer diagnosis, I was refused a facial because I was still taking the maintenance drug tamoxifen. What a treat indeed! And once again, the complexities of life after cancer are never ending.
However, the idea of a few hours to myself in London to sample a new spa treatment, specifically designed for those affected with or post cancer, after eight weeks of school holidays, made me feel slightly light headed. After three uninterrupted chapters of my book, a coffee so hot there was actually steam coming off it, a little sniff around my favourite shops and a salute to the mother ship that is Liberty’s, I arrived in Carnaby Street and skipped into the most stylish shed ever (and not a cow pat in sight!)'
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