It’s really positive that you didn’t turn your client away and were able to accommodate them. However, working lighter on the whole limb and missing out an entire calf sounds a bit OTT. You should never exceed the limits of your training for insurance reasons - but massage is an intuitive process and we all learn through reading, learning, sharing and reflecting. Plus the occasional course to add more knowledge and skill.
Oncology massage training is mostly about managing very fragile, frightened clients and clients with morphine patches, colostomy bags, catheters and intravenous lines. It’s about understanding that clients might have restricted movement, experience nausea and/or dizziness/vertigo and may not be able or willing to fully undress - and ensuring that they feel comfortable. They may feel very vulnerable revealing “shark bitten” bodies and you need to provide bolsters and reassurance that its ok to keep a prosthetic in place if they prefer. It’s about learning how to adapt a treatment to suit these patients whom you could harm with too much pressure or too long a treatment.
This is very far away from what you are describing. You can feel the heat of healing tissues if you “listen” and there is a difference between traumatised and bruised tissues that shouldn’t be massaged and tension following a surgical procedure that a massage can help release to promote healing.
Don’t forget there are other movements besides effleurage and petrissage with your forearms and elbows. Gentle, rhythmic strokes are very soothing and calming and simply applying compression followed by release reduces tension. Lifting and squeezing the sides of the muscle with the heels of lightly clasped hands also feels great and so do “breastroke” swimming movements with the flats of your hands and fingers. Don’t underestimate gentle tapotement and vibration either, I would avoid friction over a recent skin cancer.
it’s important that a client doesn’t feel that a part of them has been left out” instead you should offer a customised experience so that each part of their body feels cared for and acknowledged.
