FRISCO - Seeing her run with friends, few would guess 9-year-old Sarah Lewinski is a child in pain.
I mostly hurt in my feet, Sarah explained. My calf, my knees, my wrist and my shoulder.
She limps, she hobbles around, added Sarah's mother, Ro. She's exhausted, it takes all your energy out to do the most basic things that you would think of; getting dressed and just making it down the stairs.
Diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when she was two, daily medication, including weekly injections of chemotherapy, has been Sarah's golden ticket to mobility.
But with big drugs, come big potential for side effects.
It's scary to think what could happen, Ro said. Cancer, for one. Infertility. Skin cancer's a big one.
Those frightening possibilities are why Ro Lewinski decided to add an unconventional, drug-free therapy for her daughter. One usually reserved for adults -- massage.
Once a month, at Frisco's Massage Envy, Sarah has a therapeutic massage on the joints that cause her the most pain.
Medical massage therapists usually have extra training.
You want to go real slow, said licensed massage therapist Shannon Hurley. Just so we don't inflame the tissue that's already having problems, already hurting.
Massage for children is unproven. But experts say what it does for adults, it does just as effectively for kids.
It relaxes you, Hurley said. It helps your mental stress. Pain is caused by stress. Stress is caused by pain. It's a vicious, vicious circle.
In fact, massage is used to treat a variety of pediatric conditions, including cerebral palsy, autism, and ADHD. In some cases, it's covered by insurance.
For safety reasons, parents stay in the room during a child's massage.
When I go to heaven, I will be without any arthritis, Sarah said. I will feel like a new person without arthritis.
Sarah told News 8 the massages feel like heaven.
It gives her at least two weeks of relief, Ro said. You know, hey, it's not a drug. It's not in her body. It's actually something that she looks forward to. It's a treatment that she enjoys going to.
Sarah qualified for free massage therapy through a special Massage Envy program, called Healing Hands for Arthritis.
I love it, said clinic owner Brendan McBratney. The fact that we can do something that she actually looks forward to - it just touches me.
In addition to her usual prescription medicine, the healing touch helps make it possible for Sarah Lewinski to play without pain with her friends.
E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com
