The C Word … Community
Tootie
Service comes in so many forms, you just need to know you want to get involved. It may be just a whim to want to join a community cleanup like what happens at The Homebrewer on Tuesdays on The Boulevard. Free beer! Or like my boyfriend and a friend of his used to make sandwiches and distribute them to the homeless population that camp out in the East Village. Sometimes our community service grows out of a job or business endeavor, or sometimes it grows into one. Rodney Schwan has made caring for others with his healing hands his life’s work for 20-plus years. In the early days of the AIDS crisis, San Diego provided a landing pad for people who made their way to Mexico, specifically Tijuana for experimental treatment and cancer treatment. The desperation caused people suffering with their diagnosis to seek out treatment that hadn’t gone through rigorous testing in the U.S. and drugs that “might” work and was cheaper than AZT. This is before the “cocktails” and way before PrEP and most treatments failed, some quickly and some took time. These people ended up at a spa to recuperate where Rodney was working doing massage and skin care. “The treatments there guided me to volunteer and introduce aromatherapy, massage, reflexology, music and energy therapies.”
Rodney already had some experience in working with AIDS patients while training with aromatherapy in 1992 in London. “I was introduced to how aromatherapy, massage and compassionate care could help AIDS patients.” He found that these therapies were very useful for a variety of symptoms and pain. His ongoing studies led him through San Francisco, Sacramento and then San Diego, all the while volunteering within the community and using his increasing knowledge to do symptom management. Rodney presented 68 case studies showing the efficacy of these modalities and gained more and more people to serve. One case stands out: a patient in a coma woke up while Rodney was tending to him and while holding his hand he said, “This is your purpose Rodney.” His family was outside a quarantine room at UCSD medical center. The family was then able to connect with love and process their goodbye.
Our commitment to helping others, volunteering and community services leads us to our purpose. “As a volunteer, there was a patient who was diagnosed end-stage AIDS. Aromatherapy and holistic energy helped him with cognitive memory care. He lost his eyesight but recovered and survived for years. He came back five years later to celebrate with a cake.” Service to others or our communities, our neighborhoods clears the way to understanding what we would do for free is what we enjoy doing. There’s been pushback on the old adage, “Do what you love, and the money will follow,” almost since it was verbalized. Yet it makes complete sense that true success comes through complete commitment. Rodney committed his study, work and then his free time to using the tools of aromatherapy, and body work into hospice and palliative care. His involvement with hospice came by way of a skincare client Blair Bloom, who was head of the foundation at San Diego Hospice and opened the door to his volunteering there. They worked to acquire grants to start the program. This led to more and more opportunities for service and eventually a business. “Back in 1997, my volunteerism transitioned into a grant-funded program to develop a sustainable aromatherapy and integrative medical program, which then went into being fully funded through 2013.”
He was also able to pass on the good work to teach others through his work with medical professionals. “We had doctors from around the world come and train to certify and pass medical board certification in Palliative Medicine. This continued on after the closure of SD Hospice through UCSD and Scripps Medical.” Never thinking about where we end up, we set off on just doing a good thing. Good for the people we are trying to help or the issue, and good for us who find so much happiness in the act of giving. Rodney’s lineage in natural medicine can be traced back to his grandmother, “My grandmother was an RN assistant and mountain herbal medicine woman. She also guided me into hospice and encouraged me along the way.” He’s been there for others, their families and his very own. His mother went into hospice and his father had brain cancer. Acceptance by our friends and family is so important and while they don’t totally understand the level of our commitment to a cause they can help so much by just supporting, Rodney’s support came from his dad’s understanding. “My father finally got what I was doing while caring for his end-stage brain cancer. He taught me what patients actually need.”
Caring for seniors is so rewarding for Rodney. “Being present and volunteering to elderly is the most heart- and soul-rewarding, soul-learning experience of all. Every day I learn and pay their wisdoms forward within SD community.” There are so many ways to get involved and make a difference in someone else’s life at whatever stage. If you’ve been inspired, Rodney can offer opportunities through contacting him at his email, rodneyschwan@me.com.
