Lucy’s Love Bus is an organization which I have had the good fortune to work with for many years. Lucy’s Love Bus was founded by Lucy Grogan who at the time was 3 years into her battle with cancer. She wanted other kids who were battling cancer to be able to access the therapies she had found so helpful but which were not traditionally covered by insurance. Through monetary grants, recipients are able to receive therapies such as massage, acupuncture, reiki, yoga and therapeutic riding.
A veritable force of nature, Lucy’s mom Beecher has built Lucy’s dream into a reality. Lucy’s Love Bus currently has a wide ranging network of practitioners like myself that provide therapies to children and families. There is also the beautiful Sajni center in Amesbury which provides programming to support families both physically and emotionally including everything from crafts to acupuncture to aerial yoga. Lucy’s Love Bus also supports programs which provide in-hospital therapies the The Healing Room program at several hospitals throughout New England.
I learned about Lucy’s Love Bus while I was still a student enrolled in acupuncture school. Since that time I have had the good fortune to work with several children at my office ranging in age from 4 to 14. At the beginning of this year through a generous grant provided to Lucy’s Love Bus, acupuncture became the newest of the services being offered to the children and care givers at Tufts Floating Hospital Pediatric Hematology Oncology group.
Working at the hospital has been an amazing experience. Treatments are offered to children whether they are in-patient or out-patient. Their ages range anywhere from a few months old to young adults. Some are in active treatment, while others are in the post-treatment phase where they are just coming in for regular checks and still others are having an acute episode that needs to be addressed.
The staff has been amazing as well. While one might expect a western medical group to be skeptical of something like acupuncture, this team embraced my contribution immediately and actively encourages patients to receive treatment. Much of the nursing staff have acupuncturists of their own that they see for their own wellness needs.
Non-insertive tools (named by kids) : Top left “Mr Fishy”, Top right “Mrs. Kitty”, Bottom Left - Zanshin AKA “hockey stick”, Bottom Center and Right - Teishin AKA “Silver pointy” and “Gold pointy”
In a hospital my normal treatment tools are limited due to the environment and by the condition of the patient. A tool like moxa requires it be lit with a flame and generates a small degree of smoke and odor. This is understandably incompatible with the hospital environment. For patients who are either young (under age 12), potentially immune compromised or have clotting disorders, non-insertive style needles such as teishins or magnets are used rather than traditional needles. Examples of some of the children’s favorites are pictured to the right.
There are also often limitations on time. Most children are best treated with shorter treatment times than adults, but often another appointment for a procedure can necessitate a shorter treatment. A procedure or the medical team rounds can also mean that even with a child who is in-patient isn’t able to receive a treatment during the time I’m there every week. So, while a full treatment every week for every patient would be ideal, we do what we can in the time we have.
There is a wide variety of symptoms that I work on easing. Anxiety is often high on the list for both patient and caregivers. From there it could be everything from nausea to constipation to trouble sleeping and acute pain, just to name a few.
But far and away my favorite part of working with Lucy’s Love Bus is the amazing kids and caregivers I get to work with. A tougher bunch of people I have yet to meet. In the face of what seem to many of us as over-whelming conditions, there is laughter, love, strength and smiles. The moments which make the work so gratifying aren’t just helping patients to feel better but are often things not related to a treatment directly at all. A young girl who was under a year old when I first started working with her greets me with the most amazing smile every week I get to see her. Even on a recent day when I could hear her crying at the top of her lungs as I was walking down the hall towards her room, her face lit up when I poked my head in her doorway. One day I stopped in to check on a young woman who hadn’t yet felt up to receiving a treatment. Only a few moments before, her mom had found out they had located not one but two bone marrow matches for her. Being there to share her mom’s relief and joy at the news was a gift.
It is amazing to see how the dream of one small girl can touch and benefit so many lives of those who never had the gift of knowing her. I am grateful to be able to be a part of making her dream a reality. To learn more about Lucy’s Love Bus, check out the wonderful video piece below that was done by CNN a few years ago. If you watch closely, you might even see yours truly in there!
Lucy’s Love Bus funds all of its services through donations and the need for what they provide is massive. There are many ways in which to help, so feel free to check out all of the information on how you can help here. is a wonderful story on Lucy’s Love Bus that was done by CNN a few years ago. If you watch closely, you might even see yours truly in there!
