How one occupational therapist sews together ‘tools’ for healing

March 6 is “World Lymphedema Day.” Here’s a look at how one practitioner provides individualized therapy to her patients.

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

One of Michael Booth’s greatest thrills is watching his young son play basketball. When he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and underwent surgery and radiation, he had difficulty turning his head to watch the action on the court.

Booth, 46, is married and the father to a 5-year-old. He likes to hike and remain active. As a result of his treatment, his neck was scarred behind his right ear and was tight and painful. He sought occupational therapy to help improve his quality of life.

“You don’t know anything about this until you get sick and go through it. It’s nothing anyone really talks about,” said Booth, who recently worked with IU Health occupational therapist Amy Huntsman.

Lymphedema therapy intervention entails skin care, lymphatic drainage, compression, and exercise,” said Huntsman who has been an occupational therapist for 33 years. She is certified in lymphedema treatment and has focused her career on working with oncology patients.

Before moving to Indiana, she worked in Ohio where she started a head and neck program after a family member experienced lymphedema. “I had made a promise going forward that I would help patients with this chronic condition improve their quality of life,” said Huntsman. She later created two other head and neck cancer programs and joined IU Health in 2023.

As a side effect from radiation treatment, patients often develop changes in their skin – tightness, and a heaviness that pulls on the neck and shoulder muscles creating a forward stooped posture, said Huntsman. Booth’s therapy included neck and shoulder stretches, skincare and physical exercise.

Some of that therapy is done outside of office visits.

In a corner of Huntsman’s office sits a sewing machine where she stitches together various head and neck bandaging devices. Elastic fabric provides high working power and a low resting rate – light pressure at rest and high-pressure during movement. “I fabricate custom eye, lip, chin and neck straps for high medical complexity patients that I see from around the state of Indiana as well as Illinois. This is why it is important for patients to perform their home exercise programs when wearing compression so that when muscles contract, the lymphatic fluid will dissipate and move out of the compromised region,” said Huntsman, who is married and the mother to two daughters. Twenty-six years ago, her grandmother gifted her with sewing lessons hoping she would pass down a family tradition. Just a few years later, Huntsman began incorporating the sewing into her profession.

The handmade contraptions are specific to each patient’s needs. For Booth, the goal is to wear a compression for 10-15 minutes a day. “I watch a lot of basketball so sometimes I wear it two hours at a time. It’s important to me to have the stamina to keep up with my son and to live my life to the fullest,” said Booth.

“What I love about my job is how our rehab therapy team collectively works together in helping patients with advanced cancers reach their goals and making them feel that their needs are being met,” said Huntsman. “The big payoff is when I hear back from former patients that they are thriving by getting back into the community once again.”