Sunday, February 9, 2014...another cold morning with light sow this afternoon...gotta love the Winter of 2014!!!
I had an interesting week at 2 different facilities. My Companion is still coughing and it's so hard on her, it breaks my heart to watch her. I don't think she's ever gotten over the flu from Christmas time. But with that said, she still smiles and responds beautifully to music...all music! The facility celebrated a Resident's 101st Birthday! The party was held in the Dining Room and they had a pianist/singer that plays weekly doing all the favorites from 1913 and on....he did a lot of Beatles Love Songs which my Companion just loved. The best part of the Party was at the end, the Birthday Girl was sitting side-by-side with her friend, who is 106 years old!! The 106 yr old was patting her arm telling her Happy Birthday over and over like Sisters....it was a tear-jerker for me. F-a-m-i-l-y
At this same facility I had a new patient and the Director was very interested in how she would respond to Therapeutic Music. She does not react to anyone and does not communicate. When I first arrived in her room it quickly became bedlam. They were transferring another patient to her room and as distracting as it was for me, I played through it, with lots of questions from the new roommate about the name of my Instrument? For some reason many Residents think it's an Organ, lol.....I'm ok with that! So I am playing and the new roommate starts plucking the strings and singing! oh, did I mention I love my job? After things settled down and the new roommate left for a tour of her new Unit, I started again, introducing myself to the patient..no response. So I started playing just open chords, nothing that she would recognize. I segued into some traditional folk songs from the 40's and then into Jesus Loves Me....yep that was the one. Her eyes opened wide and she just looked at me.....but it was a response! I continued to play a combination of hymns and familiar tunes of the 30's and 40's. I was so pleased with the little bit of response I did get. For someone that is trapped in their bodies, making eye contact and keeping it is huge. Your eyes are the gateway to your Soul.
I moved on to a man that was not on my Patient List. I love working for this Facility because they encourage me to use my judgement. While roaming the halls I always see a patient that is in need of Therapeutic Music. It's impossible for the staff to keep me updated in the Units, as the turnaround is just crazy. Sometimes I will go to a patient that I had seen less than a week ago and they have either gone home, transferred to a different unit or sadly, passed away. I had been to this man's room a couple times before and he was just so sweet when I would come in he would smile, clap after a song and smile when I left, but with no communication. When I came in he gave me a weak smile and I started to play. A few minutes later his Daughter came in to visit and told me he was the youngest of 9 boys!! They all played the Banjo and growing up they would spend many nights sitting outside playing together. After she left I told him I was going to play Dueling Banjos.....I picked out the melody and he had the biggest grin on his face! He struggled with his words but told me "that was a long time ago that I played the banjo." I felt like he was embarrassed to talk to me because it took him so long to get the thought together and to get the words out. I let him take his time and did not try to finish his sentences, R-E-S-P-E-C-T
My next 2 ladies I see weekly and I love them. As soon as I come into the room they both are so happy to have music and patient A immediately puts her bed down and closes her eyes......she is ready to have mind-body-spirit healing. Patient B has just returned from the Hospital after her 3rd stroke. She can still communicate.....slowly and always asks for Hymns. They get so tickled when I put my Notice on their Door. The notice reads:
"On February _____, Ms. ?????? received 30 minutes of Therapeutic Music, thoughtfully and loving prepared by Therapeutic Harpist, Jacqueline Elgie"
Every patient gets one each time I finish a Session. When the new year started, I removed the ones from 2013 and I thought these 2 ladies were going to jump out of bed and get me, LOL I was going to throw them away but they both wanted theirs. Once I was sitting in the Dining Room with my Companion and I heard a couple walking past and the woman said, "I think this is the perfect place for him, they have Therapeutic Harp" and the man said, "how do you know" to which she answered, "I saw it on their doors". I was so happy to hear this because when I came up with this idea, it was to let the Staff, Family and Friends of the patient know their loved one had received Therapeutic Music. Some patients act as though I have given them a Certificate of Accomplishment......they want to read it and watch me tape it to their door, next to their name.......R-e-c-o-g-n-i-t-i-o-n
I like to play in the Day Rooms. You can sometimes reach as many as 6-8 patients at one time. I went to the Unit 2 Day Room but there was only one patient there and he may be my favorite.....he reminds me so much of my Daddy. He not only looks like my Dad, but he is a gentle man with a sense of humor and a he can whistle like an angel.....just like my Dad used to. So I played for him and he moves his hand back and forth like he is conducting an Orchestra. He smiles and tries to sing the words. Sometimes he will stop singing and moving and just close his eyes and listen. One time I was in the Day Room with him and my Companion and a string broke on my Harp. Like a good prepared Musician, I had left my replacement strings at home, DUH? I eventually just played around the borken string but decided to rest my fingers for a few minutes. I wondered how he would react to videos off Youtube so I found Pattie Page, Frank Sinatra and Doris Day.....he was just blown away at the videos. He touched the screen and smiled and sang along the best he could. It was quality time I spent with him. I left with so much more than I could ever give. C-o-m-p-a-s-s-i-o-n
Oh, this same man sat at my table at the 101st Birthday Party. I took his picture with my IPAD and showed it to him and he smiled, laughed out loud and stuffed his paper napkin into his mouth....yep, swallowed it right up!
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