Joanne Henderson has been battling ovarian cancer for five years.

She had a full hysterectomy and chemotherapy shortly after diagnosis. In November 2009, the cancer came back and has metastized to her stomach wall, spleen, liver, lungs and pelvic area.

It's an emotional roller coaster, says Henderson, 68, of Mehlville.

Last week, while Henderson was a patient at St. John's Mercy Medical Health Center for a bowel obstruction, Merry Schlegel, a nurse in integrative medicine and therapy services, stepped into her room and offered her alternative treatments such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage and guided imagery.

"The next day here comes a woman named Catherine who offered to give me a massage," said Henderson. "I said I don't have any money with me, honey, so I can't pay you. And she said, 'Oh no, this is through a grant program.' She proceeded to give me a heavenly head and neck massage that took me into a different place."

The following day, a woman from music therapy brought her a CD player and CDs. Then Catherine returned on the third day to give her yet another massage.

"I kept thinking, 'Where am I?' " Henderson said.

Alternative medicine has long been associated with granola-eating, Birkenstock-wearing hippies. But a growing number of physicians and other traditional health care givers are using holistic therapies to manage pain, stress and fear in the patients they treat.

St. John's Mercy began offering integrative medicine and therapy services at one of its outpatient clinics 10 years ago. Since then, it's expanded to three other outpatient clinics. Four years ago the hospital began offering it to hospital patients in the cancer and heart and vascular departments.

"I think there was a push by the Sisters of Mercy looking to provide patients with alternatives," said chiropractor Michelle Smith, manager of the program. "We have a lot of success with pain. We have drastic reduction in nausea, anxiety and pain management."

According to Smith, a group of physicians and upper management designed and developed the program. Outpatient clinics offer additional services including wellness classes such as Tai Chi, Pilates, zumba, and nutritional counseling.

Hospitalized patients must have a doctor's referral, but anyone who is being treated by a doctor at St. John's Mercy Medical Center qualifies for the treatments at the outpatient clinics without a referral. Typically, insurance covers some outpatient services such as chiropractic treatments, which range from $40 to $60. Other services are offset or covered by funding through a hospital auxiliary.

Inpatient services are free and covered by a grant to the medical center. Smith estimates that 2,000 people receive inpatient integrative therapies each year and that several thousand more get it at their outpatient clinics.

Holistic nurses and chiropractors assess patients to see if they're struggling with pain or nausea and determine their comfort level with these types of treatments.

Massage is the most popular service, but acupuncture shows the greatest reduction in pain, Smith said.

"Once someone has been acupunctured, they love it," she added. "It feels like massage, it's relaxing and calms the system down. But it's something that's uncommon and unknown, and if they're being stuck for the first time, they're a little leery."

Shriners Hospital for Children offers alternative treatments to manage pain, but St. John's Mercy is the first and only general hospital in the area to provide alternative treatments. It wasn't the first in the nation, though. According to Smith, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and several other medical centers have been offering them longer.

"This is one portion where they can say, 'This particular treatment really helped with my pain levels or this helped me sleep better. Can we do that again?' " Smith said.

Henderson is out of the hospital now and plans to look into meditation sessions at David C. Pratt Cancer Center at St. John's Mercy.

With cancer, thoughts run rampant constantly, she said. "You're always wondering: 'How long do I have? Will I be here next year this time?' You try to get away from it for a short time but it's always there in the back of your mind and certain things trigger it. This is the opposite. It puts you in a peaceful spot for a short time. It's grand, it really is."