Thursday afternoon, September 26, 2013.....the warm fall day is starting to cool down to another one of those unbelievable evenings....I'll take it
I am so filled with Gratitude...for the simplest of things. I arrived at Infusion and the first Patient I introduced myself to was a beautiful soul that has been battling her Cancer for over 2 years. She has a personal blog of her journey and she told me, "when my journey ends, if I have helped one Nurse learn a procedure, or one Scientist to identify something groundbreaking in Cancer Research or one person to love, then my journey, regardless of how short my journey will be it has been worth it".
She went on to tell me she has heard me play Harp there before it it helps her forget she's sick. So I set up at her door and her Mom was with her. They started to joke around about her Mom singing along and when I left her she was sound asleep. When I came back 1 1/2 hrs later, she was still sleeping and her Mom was sleeping with her head on her daughters lap....precious.
My second recorded Internship was a nice man next door. I went in and handed him a Brochure explaining the Therapeutic Music Program and he thanked me, but I could tell he didn't want to be bothered. When you are sick, any kind of interaction takes too much energy. I turned around and told him I would play quietly and all he had to do was put his head back and forget about Infusion and think beautiful thoughts to go along with the music. He smiled and said, "ok I'll do that" and I left him 25 min later sleeping.
I was getting ready to move to the other side which is open Bays with curtains, so when I play there it's really for everyone. As I was gathering my stuff, one of the Nurses told me that a patient was coming in next Thursday for his last Infusion. He had asked about me last week, as I wasn't there. He told this Nurse, please if you see her tell her I will be looking for her in two weeks. Come Hell or High Water (my Mom's favorite saying) I will be there next week to congratulate him and perhaps give him a little farewell gift...something meaningful, to give him hope and strength as he continues his journey.
I moved to the other side of Infusion and got my usual "Yeah, she's here!" response...those Nurses on Thursdays are so fun! As I was setting up, I noticed the area was really hectic, loud and seemed agitated. So I played for about 30 minutes, really in the background of this environment that was anything but relaxed and peaceful. I actually started to get worried that the Music was not doing it's job or that my intention was not strong enough to make a difference. But just when I was doubtful, a patient across from me tried to get up and it took 2 Nurses to get her to her feet. She was more than sick, she was completely wasted. I was more determined than ever to make my intention stronger than the racket that was going on around me. After another 15 minutes...I had Peace, Relaxation, Distraction from Sickness and Pain and the talk was at a whisper and the Nurses were humming along.
Nothing changed to create this new environment except me. I became stronger, my music and the vibrations of the strings resonated more, but NOT louder....just with more direction. I am so happy to put my day into words. I will look back on these Postings and remember exactly how I felt on a given day. I am so grateful.
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