The Hug I’ll Never Forget - A Giving Tuesday Story
From the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles | 12/2/25
This special edition of the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles arrives midweek in honor of Giving Tuesday. Instead of adding to the noise of sales and promotions, I’m sharing a story of real community care—one you helped bring to life. It’s about pain, healing, hope, and the impact we create together when care is accessible to those who need it most.
Read the full email below - and if something speaks to you please feel free to comment, share, or reach out!
Hi friend,
Today I want to share a story with you — a story you helped create, whether you realized it or not.
It’s a story about pain, uncertainty, resilience, community care, and a moment I will never forget for as long as I practice this work.
But first, I need you to meet Maria. (1)
Maria came to me several years after her breast cancer treatment, and she was in pain no one seemed to understand.
The kind of pain that makes a shirt unbearable.
The kind that keeps you braless not by choice, but by necessity.
The kind that makes you brace when someone goes in for a hug — even when you want it — because the tenderness is just too much.
When she first sat across from me, she looked exhausted… and also hopeful. Hopeful in that quiet, cautious way people get when they’re not sure they’ll be believed.
During our first session, even the lightest touch made her flinch.
Her breast was mottled, dry, irritated — simply angry.
And just as painful as the symptoms was the isolation she felt.
She’d been told the pain was “in her head.”
She’d been offered meds that didn’t work.
She’d been living with a body that hurt, and no one could explain why.
But she kept advocating. And she kept showing up. And we kept working — gently, slowly, with an eye toward nervous system comfort as much as physical relief.
At my encouragement, she re-engaged her medical team. She pushed for answers. She followed every lead.
Eventually she saw a dermatologist… then a wound care specialist… and finally landed in hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
And that’s when real healing began.
I’ll spare you the gory details — but I won’t spare you the moment everything changed.
One day, near the end of her care, Maria walked into the treatment room with a different look on her face.
“Look what I can do,” she said.
And she opened her arms and pulled me in for a hug.
A hug.
The very thing that had once been unbearable and felt so unattainable.
I still tear up thinking about it!
Her final diagnosis was delayed-onset severe radiation fibrosis — incredibly rare and incredibly painful.
But she finally had answers. She had a path. And she was healing.
She could feel human again. Held again. Comfortable again.
And here’s where YOU come in.
When Maria first reached out to me back in December 2022, she wasn’t in a financial place to afford my services.
But because of the Pay It Forward fund, I was able to gift her that first new-client session and then offer discounted care as she fought for her diagnosis and healing.
You made that possible.
Your generosity. Your trust. Your willingness to pour back into this community.
Everything that happened in that room — the relief, the hope, the hug — is something you helped bring into the world.
What is the Pay It Forward fund?
A few years ago, I stopped accepting tips for myself. Instead, every dollar of gratuity and every monetary gift goes into a fund dedicated to one purpose:
To make breast cancer-related oncology massage and lymphatic therapy accessible for anyone in our community who needs it, regardless of financial circumstances.
Cancer is financially draining — often long after treatment ends.
This fund allows me to meet people where they are while still honoring the value of my work and the sustainability of my practice. (2)
This Giving Tuesday, I’m asking — with love and zero pressure — if you’d like to contribute.
Whether it’s $5 or $50, every dollar goes directly toward care for someone in Western New York navigating life before, during, or after breast cancer.
You can contribute via Venmo here: @Amy-Hartl-LMT (under business profiles) or use this payment link to pay online.
And if you give $20 or more, I’d love to gift you a copy of Wildfire Magazine — a publication created by and for breast cancer survivors and thrivers — as a thank-you, while supplies last. (3)
A little circle of giving.
A little spark of connection.
A reminder that we rise higher when we rise together.
Thank you for being part of this work, this community, and these moments of healing that none of us create alone.
With so much gratitude and forever in this with you.
P.S. Some of you may remember the Sunday email I sent this summer about receiving a national award for accessibility in massage therapy.
What I didn’t share then is how deeply the Pay It Forward fund factored into that recognition. The committee specifically highlighted my work making oncology massage available to people who might not otherwise have access.
That honor wasn’t just mine — it was ours. This community helped make that possible, and I’m endlessly grateful for the impact we create together.
P.P.S. If donating isn’t accessible right now, please know this: your presence here, your stories, your trust, and your care are gifts, too.Truly.
P.P.P.S. If you like what you read here please consider forwarding this email to a friend or sharing it on your socials.
(1) Client's name has been changed for privacy.
(2) At this time gifts and donations are not tax-deductible.
(3) I will reach out with a list of available issue themes for you to choose from.