localspotlight
nodes is like shutting down the major
intersection of Colonial Boulevard and
Route 41 in Fort Myers. Congestion
Ellen Poage-Hooper
results and traffic has to be diverted.
“If lymphatic fluid isn’t manually
diverted elsewhere, swelling occurs
Finding a Perfect Niche in the area where nodes have been
removed, and eventually, scar tissue
by linda Sechrist
builds up,” advises Poage-Hooper. “In
Europe, manual lymphatic drainage is
F
or Ellen Poage-Hooper, the jour-
ney of a thousand miles began
considered standard care after any type
with the single step she took
of surgery.”
down the stairs of the stage where she
Always looking for the best way
accepted her bachelor of arts degree in
to help patients, Poage-Hooper began
Latin American studies and urban ge-
recommending Laughter Yoga after she
ography at the University of Tennessee.
took a class from another nurse who
In love with all things Spanish, she had
teaches it. “When I got home from her
decided to design roads in Third World
class, I was still laughing, and I knew I
countries; but life had other plans.
had something that would help patients
Instead of highways, Poage now envi-
change the pressure in their lymphatic
sions healing, specializing in manual
system,” says Poage-Hooper, who
lymphedema therapy at Rehabilitation
teaches her patients that the belly work-
Associates of Naples.
out practiced during Laughter Yoga
The path that beckoned Poage-
exercises the diaphragm and makes
Hooper was always informed by her
them breathe more deeply.
desire to help others. After graduation,
“We really do try to find ways not
reflecting upon an unfulfilled childhood
to prescribe medication,” says this Fort
dream, she joined the Peace Corps and
Myers resident, who admits to a twinge
taught English as a second language to
Ellen Poage-Hooper
of wanderlust now and then, but feels
French-speaking residents of Burma.
at home on her healing path.
Hooper manages Rehabilitation Associ-
There, she met a doctor and they mar- ates’ lymphedema program for Dr. Co- Contact Ellen Poage-Hooper, ARNP,
ried in Bangladesh. She and her hus- lin Kanar, a medical doctor specializing at Rehabilitation Associates of Naples,
band traveled and worked in Thailand, in physiatry, a relatively new specialty. 8660 College Parkway, Ste. 160, in Fort
Asia, Africa and El Salvador, where she Much like an occupational therapist or Myers. Call 239-565-1802. Visit Rehab-
gave birth to a daughter in 1987. physical therapist, Dr. Kanar focuses Naples.com. Rehabilitation of Naples also
Life became a little less exotic and on an interdisciplinary approach to has an office at 1855 Veterans Park Dr.,
a bit more domesticated after Poage- treating individuals with catastrophic Ste. 101, in Naples. Call 239-593-0918.
Hooper earned her nursing degree and injuries such as amputation, spinal See ad, page 10.
divorced. “I got a job as a nurse, but I cord and brain injuries, strokes and
didn’t really like it,” she says. Next, Po- the consequences of lymphedema.
age-Hooper tried home care, but found “He employs physical, occupational,
the pace a little slow. Interested in mas- speech, cognitive, psychological and
sage, she became a licensed massage even recreational therapies and tries
therapist. After setting up a practice his best to find effective alternatives to
in Fort Myers in 1994, Poage-Hooper prescribing medication,” explains Po-
began seeking a nursing aspect of mas- age-Hooper, who notes that he is taking
sage, so she could once again go back time out of his busy schedule to study
to problem solving. “I wanted to find acupuncture.
work that I was in love with; I wasn’t Poage-Hooper, an advanced regis-
satisfied just putting people into a state tered nurse practitioner, specializes in
of relaxation,” she says. manual lymphedema therapy. Lymph-
Poage-Hooper found her perfect edema—localized fluid retention and
niche when she discovered a form of swelling—often occurs when lymph
massage called lymphatic drainage. “I nodes are removed due to treatment
knew that I wanted to go for training for breast cancer. “Removing the nodes
in Miami so I could become certified alters the transport capacity of the
to treat lymphedema from a medical lymph fluid,” explains Poage-Hooper,
perspective,” she recalls. Today, Poage- who says that metaphorically, removing
natural awakenings March 2010

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