Reiki and chemotherapy

A month or two ago, I wrote about one of my clients, a sweetheart of a dog, named Kaya. She was going through chemotherapy and her guardian had me giving her reiki treatments as well, to give her the best chance at recovery.

Well, last week, I went to give Kaya a reiki treatment, following her very last round of chemotherapy. The veterinarian had done a battery of tests that week, including a sonogram, and he concluded that Kaya is now cancer free! There is no way to quantify the effects (i.e. if it was the chemotherapy or the reiki or the combination of both that made the cancer go away). All I know is, Kaya's family and I were thrilled with the news and I think Kaya was pretty happy too!

Kaya didn't suffer any of the normal side effects of chemo and her mom and I are confident that it was the reiki that helped with that. The doctors had never seen a dog go through chemo, without nausea and GI problems, lethargy, etc. so they were quite stunned that Kaya never experienced any of those things. I certainly felt them when I would go see her the day after each chemo treatment, but by the end of the treatment, all those symptoms would be gone and she would feel great until her next round of chemo.

When I was with Kaya last week, I explained to her that she was all better now and that she wouldn't have to go to the vet for anymore treatments. I asked her if there was anything she needed and she actually requested a bath. :-) She could still smell the medicine in her skin and fur and she wanted it to be gone. She wanted a fresh start, so to speak. I passed the message along to her mom and she said she'd be more than happy to make sure Kaya got a bath the next day. I think it's the first time an animal ever told me that WANTED a bath, but I could certainly understand her reasoning.

It gives me hope that maybe people and animals who are going through chemotherapy could get some relief from their symptoms with the addition of some reiki. It is definitely worth considering if you or your pet are going through that type of cancer treatment.

While I am going to miss my visits with Kaya, I am actually happy that she doesn't need to see me anymore. At the end of our session last week, she did something she had never done before. She rolled over on her back and let me give her a belly rub. She made all sorts of cute noises and looked as happy and playful as a puppy. I knew she was telling me that she was going to be just fine. It left me with a very good feeling when I drove away from their house for the last time.