Healing Therapies Foundation Brings Comfort to Tri-Valley

For more than 25 years, Sandra J. Wing has lived and worked in Pleasanton. Some know Wing as an Army veteran. Some know her as a University of Phoenix teacher with a master's degree in business. Some know her as an advisory board member to Hope Hospice. As of June 2018, at least 1200 Tri-Valley residents know her as someone who helped alleviate their pain as the founder of the Sandra J. Wing Healing Therapies Foundation.

This cancer charity moved to Hacienda on May 1, 2018. Wing started the foundation nearly 10 years ago to help cancer patients get access to some of the healing therapies that had helped her so much during treatment. Wing survived a dual cancer diagnosis at the age of 47. To treat her uterine and ovarian cancers, Wing underwent a full hysterectomy as well as chemotherapy treatments. Each chemotherapy session left her feeling "defeated and immobile."

During the course of her treatment, Wing discovered that acupressure, therapeutic massage, acupuncture, and mindfulness exercises such as deep breathing meditation and guided/visual imagery brought her considerable relief. Those healing therapies became an integral component before, during, and after Wing's surgery and throughout her chemotherapy treatment.

"Mindfulness and incorporating positive thoughts and energy were a huge part of my healing process," she says. "My attention was given to my ailing body to get through the cancer period and heal."

"The problem with cancer treatment of chemo and radiation is that they come with harsh and often toxic side effects," says Wing. "I know, as a dual cancer survivor, how painful, uncomfortable, and overwhelming the treatments can be."

In the fall of 2008, few health insurance companies covered the therapies Wing found so useful. So she created the Sandra J. Wing Healing Therapies Foundation to help patients find comfort and some peace of mind with grants for therapies that help reduce the painful side effects of treatment.

"We didn't expect demand that's out there, the need that's out there," she says. "When we first started out, nobody knew what mindfulness was."

While some insurance companies and health providers now offer access to some of these healing therapies, many do not. "We get a lot of calls from all around the US, a couple per month," says Wing, "They ask if there are any other services like ours, and we are not aware of any just like this. There's a demand out there; people are looking for these services."

The Sandra J. Wing Healing Therapies Foundation provides $500 grants for complementary therapies while a patient is under a physician's care as part of a chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment plan for cancer. Funds are paid directly to service providers for one of the five therapies. Eligible patients must be residents of Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, San Ramon, or Danville.

Patients who are eligible for a grant select one of the service providers associated with the foundation, which pays the service provider directly. Each service provider has been vetted by the foundation, which encourages massage therapists and other specialists in the five areas to apply for inclusion in its provider directory.

Thanks to the generous support of donors, more than 120 volunteers, and a single employee, Wing has been able to help improve the lives of Tri-Valley cancer patients for 10 years. Supporters are invited to register for the foundation's sixth annual SWing for Cancer Therapies Golf Tournament, which will be held on Thursday, September 6, 2018 at Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton.

For more information about the Sandra J. Wing Healing Therapies Foundation, please visit www.healingtherapiesfoundation.org.

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