Gracias por mi elote primero!

Okay, so my day began at 8:15am as I spent 2 hours searching for Country songs for later today. It's now 6:30pm, and I still have a lot of documenting to do. I'm a bit sleepy, but not tired... does that make sense? Anyway, I saw a still fairly new patient this morning around 10am. The MT had visited with her a few times before, but today was the first we met. Freshly bathed, the patient was sitting in her wheelchair at the foot of her bed, slouched over in a sort of granny pose, one that suggested mid-scold. Already nervous to approach the patient and upset her even further, I slowly crept into the room, avoiding any sudden movements. I greeted the patient with a warm smile. "What do you want?" she asked in an irritated tone. I asked if she wanted music, to which she replied, "I don't care" as she threw a disregarding hand my way. I sat down in front of her, guitar in hand, and began to play. I tried Let Me Call You Sweetheart and Home on the Range, but she was not at all interested nor engaged. She persistently spoke over the music, grumbling about her hair still being wet. Well, she's obviously upset about her hair being wet, so maybe if I sing about it, she'll pay more attention to the music. Her wet hair was my bright idea to lure her in. I made up whatever C major melody came to mind as I sang "****'s hair is wet... if only it would dry..." etc. etc. you get the picture... She looked at me like, "You gotta be kidding me, who sent this whack job in here with a guitar?" I found a cheap plastic comb in her drawer and combed her hair for her. "It'll dry soon," I said. "WHEN??" she asked. "NEXT YEAR???" Yeah, she was mad, but hey, it made me laugh! I asked if she knew who George Gershwin was. "WHO???" "George Gershwin," I repeated. "Yes, I know him," she replied, still disgruntled. I sang and played a popular Gershwin tune, and would you believe it, she sang along! Yes, she mumbled all the words, but heck, I would've been happy with some eye contact at this point, let alone her singing along! I was so excited! Every song thereafter, she either hummed or jargoned along with me. It was going so well when she interrupted me to say she had to use the restroom. I tried to find a nurse to help her, but I was repeatedly being ignored and overlooked. One of our RNs came soon after, and eventually, she was forced to take it upon herself to help the patient to the restroom. Well, the music portion of the visit was over, but I was more than satisfied with what we had accomplished already. I stayed until the patient was safely back in bed. I said my good-bye to the patient and asked if she'd like for me to come back and play music for her. She, very politely, said 'yes'. :)

After some more intense chord searching, I traveled to the city of softball field after softball field to see our little Russian. It wasn't long before I discovered that she doesn't give a hoot about the music, and she really just wants to talk. "Beautiful dreamer, wake unt-- 'Do you have any brothers or sisters?'...." "Starlight and dewdrops are wai--'My brother lives in the Ukraine'..." She kept interrupting me! It's one thing to talk in the middle of a song, but she was asking me direct questions, so what was I to do? I eventually accepted the fact that it's okay that she isn't getting anything from the songs I was singing. The caregiver, patient, and I sat and talked outside on the patio for the remainder of my visit, which wasn't exactly music-related, but still, it was nice. She loves to talk about how her father and brother used to play violin, so I think for our next visit, I'm going to bring my keyboard and play some violin concertos and famous orchestral pieces for her. That woman loves to gab! Which is great, because I love to listen to her accent!

The last patient of my day was our other young Mexican patient. He and his wife (she may not be his wife... she barely speaks English so I'm not sure what their relationship is...) are just the nicest people. I sang for him the country songs I found earlier today, and not only did he sing along and play egg shaker, he even made up counter-melodies to accompany me. Both the patient and wife also dared to stray away from the typical steady 8th note egg shaking vamp that I myself tend to over kill. They were getting quite fancy with their musical participation. In the middle of one of the songs, I heard a bell outside. "Ring, ring, ring!" I said, just as a sort of acknowledgment that I heard the sound. The next thing you know, the wife jumps up, runs out the door, and returns with a giant ear of corn smothered in melted butter and cheese. "Elote!" she said. "Grandchildren love elote! You break now! Eat elote! Si?" I politely told her no thank you, but she was very insistent. "No guitara! You eat! Take break!" I conceded, put my guitar down, and ate some elote. What I learned today: elote es muy delicioso!

In the middle of the next song, two of the grandchildren burst through the door (one of whom I met during our previous visit.) The wife said the little girl knew how to play guitar, so I offered it to her and asked her to play. She began strumming the chords for a Taylor Swift song, and soon gave the guitar back to me. I wasn't sure what song she was playing at first, so the grandson told me it was Taylor Swift. I began singing and playing Taylor Swift's "Love Story", and the grandchildren sang along as they gathered their things from the house. By the time the song was over, they were already back at the door and ready to leave again. The grandson was so polite, and apologized for having to leave. I told him, "Next time!" and he smiled and said, "Yes! Yes, next time!" How flippin' cute were those kids?!! Gosh darn it. I hate meeting cute adorable kids who want to play music or nice wives who feed you elote when the only reason you're at their house is because their family member is dying. Life really stinks sometimes....

We ended with some Spanish songs, to which the wife sang along loudly, proudly, and off-beat. It was fabulous. Such nice, nice, nice people. She even let me borrow a cassette for learning Spanish. I told her that "Tu dueles your ears from mi ingles?" That's spanglish for 'your ears hurt from my English?' My Spanish is despicable. But her English isn't that hot either, so I guess we're even :)

You're just a kid!

Yes, I went back to a nun house this morning. I feel like God is trying to tell me to get me to take a vow of nunhood. Every week it seems I'm back at the nunery. At least today it was a different nun house. They are all so nice though, so don't think that I don't like going to the nun-topias. The case is probably just the opposite. I joke because I care. At any rate, I met our new patient who is not a nun herself (just lives in the nun assisted living home). She's a super sweet 88 year old Bostonian Irishwoman. She said the nicest things to me during our visit, like "Just because my eyes are closed doesn't mean I'm not listening! Cause I am!" and "You're a looker, ya know that!" and "Do you have recordings? Cause you should!" I like this patient. :) Even if she didn't say all that, I still enjoyed seeing her, and was glad to be able to play music for her. She's terribly bored and isolated in her room, and she's too weak to run about the nunery and explore. Of course they had street sweeping on Tuesdays from 8-12 and were trimming trees on that block, so I had to park 20 miles away and dodge tree branches on my walk there. But, meeting the little Bostonian with the 'scawws' on her tummy made it all worth it.

My second stop of the day was to a facility with MTs on their full-time staff. I got there, had the valet park my car, talked to one of the facility's MTs, found the patient's room, was told she was sleeping by the patient herself (honey, if you can verbally tell me that you're sleeping, then you're not sleeping... sorry.) got back in my car, and now, at the office for a afternoon of meetings!

Amazing rain and humming birds

Our first patient today was a nice, sweet old man who the MT had seen before, but I just met today. He sang along to the songs and loved loved loved to talk! Our new LVN was shadowing that morning, and sang right along with us as well. It was a lovely chorus of voices on this first Monday morning of April. (would've made for a better alliteration had it been May...)

Around 11:00, I went to go see Kiss from God with our company volunteer. There was lots of visitors and hub bub bustling around. Between all the talking, the caregivers making lunch, and news about the hurricane on the TV, the patient was horribly distracted. I wanted to relocate, but to where?

The patient's boyfriend was in attendance once again. He enjoys participating and is very friendly. The patient didn't seem quite like her usual self today. She seemed like she had been depressed, although she was able to speak or visit all four of her children for Easter.

We tried a song writing intervention, despite the crowds of people and the patient's lack of sincere focus. Since she sings Amazing Grace every night before she goes to bed, I thought it would be good for her to write her own verses for Amazing Grace (since there's already 25, might as well add a few more...) Well, the volunteer helped jot down some of her ideas, and I assembled them into lyrics as quick as I could.

Amazing rain and humming birds
outside my window be!
I thank thee for my nursing skills
that you have given me.

I love my children, 4 in all
2 boys and 2 girls
There's T** and J** and N** and K**
and thank you for my friend M**

Well, after we sang together the lyrics I had assembled for her, she began reciting more lyrics. It was all stream of conscious, right off the top of head. Allow me to share with you what she came up with right on the spot:

Amazing grace and numerous friends
are always at my side
Ev'ry time I turn around I find one coming near
to ask me for a guide.

Holy moly!! I couldn't believe it! The lyrics were not only incredible, but they even fit the music and rhymed!! Kiss from God, I am quite impressed :)

The afternoon consisted of another quite extraordinary experience. The MT and I went to see a new admit. She's only 71 years old. Her caretaker, the patient's cousin, was very warm and welcoming of us (as soon as we convinced her we weren't selling her magazines!) She told us the patient used to play 17 instruments! But, she's been sleeping the past two days. The patient was asleep when we arrived, her mouth gaped open, eyes shut, body limp. As the visit progressed and the patient heard more and more music, she went from dead sleep, to a twitch here and there, to slight movements, to fuller movements, to almost constant moving, to her eyes open, to direct eye contact! The response of the patient was absolutely phenomenal!

No, I can't sing and kiss at the same time. Sorry!

I visited with my favorite Asian doctor/professional egg shaker this morning. He had with him an old prescription he had written from back in the day when he was a MD. Other than "Vitamin B", the rest of the prescription was written in Korean. Although I cannot speak the language, I can tell whether something is written in Korean vs. other Asian languages. "Dr. Lee," I said, "are you Korean??" His eyes lit up and a big smile appeared. "Oh, I am Korean!" "Me too!" I told him. His eyes lit up even bigger, and that's when the word garble came out. "Sheem shu guk ahm-ni-dah blah blah..." "I don't speak Korean, Dr. Lee!" I told him. Just as he began to look slightly disappointed, I quickly told him, "Ahn-yong ha sae yo!" and he quickly bounced back and said, "Oh! Ahn-yong!" I knew learning how to say 'hello' in Korean would come in handy eventually :) All I had to do was move to what I like to call The United State of Asia aka California. So. Many. Asians.

But anyway, I just love that 의사 (doctor). He loves it when I shake his hand and tell him what a good egg shaker he is. I gave him two egg shakers today: one for himself, and one for another resident. I told him to pick someone else to play the egg shaker today. Wouldn't you know he'd pick the only other Asian resident in the room (hehe). It was too cute. Her eyes brightened as she pointed to herself, as if saying "Who, me?" I placed the egg shaker in front of her and told her that the doctor has specially chosen her today. She picked up the shaker and gave it a couple good warm-up shakes.

Alright, the band is equipped, warmed-up, and ready to go. The guitar is (somewhat) in tune. Let's get this party started! Between the doc playin' the ba-jeebers out of the egg shaker and these two residents applauding me as if we were at Carnegie Hall, it was just a grand old time! That is, until we sang "Five Foot Two"... you never know what can of worms you'll open with some of these songs. They seem harmless, but then they trigger something or someone. One of my biggest fans raised his hand like a little school boy and said, "I'm 5'2"! I'm 5'2"! No, wait... 5'3"! I'm 5'3"! How tall are you???" "I'm 5'4"," I told him. "Oh, well I'm 5'3"!" he added again. So I said, "Well then, a 5'2" eyes of blue girl would be perfect for you!"

After I finished the next song, the old man school boy interrupted me mid-sentence to ask me if I saw him blowing kisses to me.

"No, I must've missed it," I said.
"Hey... hey!... can you kiss and play guitar and sing all at the same time???"

Ok. This has gone too far. I politely told him that it would be impossible to sing and kiss at the same time. Yeah, he looked disappointed, but serves him right for asking me questions like that! Sadly, he wasn't discouraged. He continued to blow me kisses in bunches of 50 or so. Just incessant air kisses. One after the other after the other. After the end of the next song, he said,

"You're 5'4" and I'm 5'3"... that's perfect!"
"I think I'm too tall for you."
"It's okay! I'll just stand on my tippy-toes!!"

Thankfully, just then, the aide told me to wrap it up so they could get ready for lunch. I had about enough of this man for one day. We sang a quick good-bye song, I collected the egg shakers, shook the doc's hand one more time, and gathered my things as efficiently as I could. As I left the room, I could hear the man behind me yelling, "You should stay all day! At least for a few hours! It'd be perfect!"

How persistent these old men can be!! No means no!

The middle of my day was spent at a very lovely open house, hosted by a new assisted living facility. They had a guest speaker give a presentation on Alzheimer's and Dementia. She is a geriatrician. (Think 'pediatrician' but for old people.) She was really funny and gave a wonderful presentation! The coolest thing about her was her wholistic approach to her practice. She sounded like she was advocating for the same things Music Therapy and Hospice advocate! (Natural, non-medicinal remedies [like MT] vs. strictly pharmacological treatments, and ensuring quality of life over a cure [hospice!!].)
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Here's some notes I took:

MCI - Mild Cognitive Impairment
•Loss of memory
•Loss in language, spatial relations, or judgment
•Still able to function

Distinguishing types of Dementia
•storage vs. retrieval
•retrieval of some things more than others (personality, language, spatial skills, concentration)
•motor symptoms

Cognitive symptoms:
•amnesia
•aphasia
•personality change
•delusions - fixed, false belief (someone's stealing from me!)
•hallucinations

Lewy Body Dementia
Frontal-Temporal Dementia
Vascular Dementia
Alzheimer's Disease

People w/ dementia in the US
10% of 65+
50% of 85+

Prescription as well as OTC drugs can make dementia worse

Goal: to enhance QOL and maximize function by improving cognition, mood, and behavior

Tips for CGs:
•DON'T argue, correct, confront
•DO distract and pay attention to emotional context rather than verbal context
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My afternoon was spent at yes, that place I always go to. I saw our cute little looker once again. She was sitting right in the lobby entrance when I arrived. Her daughter decided to grab some lunch while I visited with her mother. She took the patient's purse off her lap and went off to lunch. Okay, just to remind you, this patient usually either is A.) sleeping or B.) looks at you sweetly and says "oh that's just lovely!" Today, I saw a whole new side of her. "BRING BACK MY POCKETBOOK!!" She was sooo mad!! For the next 10 minutes, all she could talk about was how badly she needed her pocketbook and how her daughter took it from her. Every time I said 'your daughter', she got mad all over again and screamed for her pocketbook. Even when I said a word that rhymed with her daughter's name, the same reaction was given. Finally she calmed down, and we sat and watched CNN together. The TV was blasting and the radio on the PA system was blaring, so I figured, heck with the music -- we'll just hang out today. And that's just what we did. We had a very lovely conversation. She understood what I was saying, and I understood (most) of what she said. She was extremely in-tune with everything today. What a change! The only inaccurate thing she told me was that she was over 100 years old. I said, "Oh wow! You must take really good care of yourself!" Really though, the gal's only 97. :) You don't want to start a confrontation or conflict. As the geriatrician said, find the emotion behind the words, then focus on that and try to make it better.

My last patient of the week was Miss Chicago. She loves to analyze the lyrics to songs, so we sang some of her favorite songs (Leavin on a Jet Plane, Can't Help Falling in Love) and talked about the words. We also sang some Catholic hymns in honor of the Easter season. She always thanks us for coming and says "I love you!" It may not seem like that big of a deal, but this lady is notorious in her facility for being a huge B*word -- with us though, she shows a much softer side. She introduces me to her teddy bears as if they're real people, and says things like, "I love you!" When considering the rougher side of her personality, I take to heart her 'I love you's' that much more. :)

Happy Easter!

Hey, I'm not your wife...

Went to see my long last Asian family today. The patient's daughter is so nice, and the patient's sister always says "What a treat!" when we come to visit :) The patient was sleepy today, and had trouble keeping her eyes open. She seemed a bit more ornery than usual, but did occassionally let out some of her signature giggles. We picked up-beat songs for her, and even tried some wooden flute music. The patient says "ow" a lot when someone touches her -- it might not indicate pain, but rather, is an easy and familiar word for her to verbalize.

Our afternoon patient was our kisser-eater. His wife wasn't able to come today, so as the MT led the group, I was able to sit beside him and give him some 1:1 attention. Prior to our visit, the MT and I discussed how the patient's wife seems to be benefitting from our visits, sometimes seemingly more than the patient. We discovered today that the patient simply tends to devote his focus to whomever is seated next to him. Since today that person was me, we were able to engage him more in the session. We gave him a maraca to play, which he shook lively with a big grin on his face -- and then he stuck it in his mouth and tried to bite it. He put that darn maraca in his mouth every time I turned my head. Last time, it was his wife's hand he was trying to bite, so even though maracas weren't made to be eaten, at least it isn't another human being.

The patient is usually very affectionate towards his wife. He holds her hand, lays his head on her shoulder, gives her kisses, etc. Today, that lucky receiver of loving affection was me. The patient stared at me constantly, with a longing look. He held my hand, gave it kisses, and even tried to pull me closer to him (I'm assuming to kiss me.) Despite his transference of spousal love onto me, the MT and I also discovered that our patient is very intuned to our music! He was singing along to the older songs and folk songs, as well as tapping the beat with his fingers while we held hands, and swinging arms with me to the beat. His wife told the MT months ago that he doesn't like those old songs, but it looks like he very much does! He even answered all the questions I asked him. Let's see... I asked:

"Do you want to sing music with us?" "No."
"Is it okay if *MT* sings the music and we just listen?" "That's okay."
"Do you know Frank Sinatra?" "Yes."
"What are some of your favorite things?" "I like everything."

I was very impressed with his interaction with us today. Could have done without the kisses and the date-like scenario, but, still... he did well :)

"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."

Hearing the MT yesterday sing all these wonderful old folk tunes inspired me to get my act together and start organizing some music and really working on expanding my repertoire. I arrived at the office around 8:30am to print out chord sheets for traditional, folk, and older songs I found the night before. I thought I'd have enough time to put together a good solid packet of music to take with me to see our two patients this morning, but I barely got 4 songs printed out before I had to leave to go meet the MT. If you're the type of person who begins a project and doesn't like to quit until it's completely done, than you probably understand what I felt like today having to stop and start my repertoire boom.

But anyway, our Miss Chicago was sleeping, so the MT and I went to see our cute little looker (the patient whose smile lights up a room.) She too was sleeping, but we stayed and sang some music to her acapella. When the MT gently touched her hand, the patient awoke. As soon as she mentally processed that there was music in the room, she smiled. I just love seeing her smile. It makes my day every time. We stayed and sang with her for a bit. I touched her hand, trying to offer some comfort and to let her know that we were there for her. She doesn't speak much. Sometimes she'll smile and say, "That was very good!" in the most stereotypical yet adorable old lady voice you've ever heard. Today, she said something different. "You're hands are cold!" As much as I felt bad that my touch wasn't offering the level of comfort I had hoped, it was nice to hear her say something that was completely sensible and appropriate! It was an entirely normal and acceptable thing to say, so kudos, Smiley! :)

The middle portion of the day consisted of paper work (more chord searching), an office luncheon to celebrate the awesomeness of our social workers, and our weekly team meeting. Mid-meeting, our social worker answered a call about my favorite nun. She had revoked our services the day the MT came to visit her with me. I think I was still bitter at her for letting us have a whole session with her and through its entirety, failed to mention she was revoking us. Who knows, maybe it was out of her hands and she didn't even know about it till it happened. Either way, I was not very saddened knowing it was our last visit together.

So anyway, the call. The nun was in the process of being re-admitted to our services. (Oh joy!...) I was anything but excited. They told the social worker that her identical twin sister came since the nun was now actively dying, and that a psych/social team member would greatly be appreciated to support them. Yes, I got voted to attend to the patient. I had seen her two or three times before, and knew her the best out of the psych/social team. And so, I left team and journeyed back to the nunery. I didn't even need my GPS! (big day for me haha)

I ended up staying with the patient for over an hour and a half. In the beginning, I played music as our HCC helped the patient sign the necessary paperwork. I sang the standard Catholic hymns I had in my book, and some praise and worship songs I learned from Cryptora back in the day. Eventually, more and more sisters shuffled into the room, and the mood began to change. It was quite a powerful experience to say the least. To be there and witness a person's last hours of life... I really think it's a "you had to be there" kind of thing. I can explain here what it was like to sing and play guitar as the other nuns gathered around her... I think when I found myself providing background music for the priest as he gave Sister her last rites... that's when it really hit me... the whole experience was just... it was surprisingly a lot more intense than I thought it would be. As I sang songs like, "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and "Refiner's Fire", I kept thinking "Who would've thought that when I was playing these songs back at the FOPs in high school, that I'd be playing them again 6 and 7 years later for someone receiving her last rites...." I honestly didn't think I'd ever have a need to sing those songs again. Turns out, the words are perfect for end of life reflection.

When everyone was gathered, I re-played all the traditional hymns again. (Morning Has Broken, How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, Hail Mary Gentle Woman) The nuns, priests, and family members all sang right along with me. There must've been over 20 people gathered, and they were all singing, supporting Sister, and letting her know that they're there for her.

Despite her state of weakness, Sister's twin called their family members so they could say their last good-bye (SO SAD!) I heard Sister say, "How am I? Oh, I've been better." Everyone in the room let out a little chuckle. When asked 'how are you' by the second caller, Sister replied, "I'm okay. The lady is here playing music." I felt so touched that she mentioned the presence of the music! Up until that phone call, I was standing there, playing and singing, wondering if it was having a positive affect on her. It was so nice to have a verbalized confirmation that yes, she hears the music, and yes, she valued it enough to tell her loved one that there was music for her.

I don't know... I thought the whole experience was just so much nicer with the music in the background and everyone singing together... sometimes silence can be awkward, especially in situations like this... it's not every day you see a loved one gradually pass away right before your eyes... the music created this calming, reflective quality...

I felt bad leaving, but after an hour and a half straight of playing guitar, my finger tips were about ready to fall off, or slice open and bleed (too graphic?) Well, I guess it's my own fault for not practicing enough... or maybe that's just how life goes for guitarists... anywho... I'm beyond grateful for my experience today with Sister... I've had a complete change of heart... I feel incredible guilt for ever disliking her, and now, I'm actually quite quite sad that she is leaving... poor thing... I remember her asking her twin in her Croatian accent, "When am I going to die already?" Her twin didn't understand what Sister said and couldn't get her to repeat it, but I heard it. I know what she said. Poor thing was ready to go. Imagine being in her position... everyone's crowded into your room... the priest is anointing your forehead and giving you last rites... your sister hands you the phone to say bye to Mom... to have to know that you are about to die, and to just anticipate it for hours like that... I can only imagine, what it would be like...

Una semana nueva, una dia nueva, el tiempo nuevo! (91 degrees today!)

Went to our other office today to observe their MT. She did two assessments, which both ended up being wonderful experiences! Both patients were elderly women, but had very different personalities and responses to the music. The first patient was initially very unreceptive to the MT and I. She lived at home with a 24hr caretaker (who was a middle aged Chinese-Filipino man, hard rocker, smoker, cut off jeans... the two made quite a pair!) She was sitting in her easy chair watching Deal or No Deal. The patient took one look at us and said in a harsh tone, "What do you want?!" as if we had dared to interrupt her mid-show. The MT politely introduced us and asked if the patient would like to listen to some music. "No!" the patient responded immediately. Thankfully, the MT was able to tell that quickly to not give up so easily and to keep trying. We definitely don't want to force music therapy upon our patients, but sometimes patients turn down anyone and everyone until they experience first-hand our purpose and that we're there only to help and be supportive. If I was ill and had person after person come into my home, asking me questions and prodding me with needles, I'd probably be the same! But anyway, the caregiver was very helpful and kept saying things like, "C'mon 'Sue', just let her sing a song. She plays the guitar and sings. You'll like it!" The MT added, "I think he (the caretaker) wants to hear a song... can I play one for him?" Finally, the patient huffed in frustration and nodded her head, agreeing to one song. The MT got out her guitar and began singing. Immediately you could see a reaction in the patient's affect. Her features softened and her eyes slightly glowed. It was obvious she knew the song. From there, the session progressed further as further through the continuum of acceptance, as the patient gradually opened up to the MT more and more. The MT made sure to continuously ask if the patient wanted to hear more. It's always important to ask the patient what their wishes are. Often times in the medical system, the wishes of a patient are often ignored, even though the patient is truly (unless consciously incapable) an expert in their own care. The patient went from refusing music all together, to saying, "Well alright" to the suggestion of another song, to "Yes!" It was so wonderful to see her open up and smile. She became a whole new person. The music transformed her from a cranky old lady to a sweet and loving woman. She smiled and watched intently as I sang "Blue Skies" for her, as if she was envisioning the blue skies in her head. At the end, the MT gave her the option of singing more songs, or singing a good-bye song. This is a good example of what I was saying earlier about asking the patient what they wished to do. Even though the patient was clearly enjoying our visit, she told the MT that she was tired and we should just say good-bye. She said it though in a very polite manner and kindly told us she was done for the day. We sang our good-bye song, and we all ended with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts. :)

Too cheesy? Okay, maybe that was too cheesy... but it was all true!

The second patient was an adorable old lady with a big friendly smile glued to her face. When the MT saw the picture of the patient on the wall in a nurse's uniform, she asked the patient if she used to be a nurse. The patient's smile got even bigger! At least we know now that she understands what people are saying to her, even though she herself is nonverbal. The RN and HHA were just leaving as we arrived. The RN said that she was in a bit of pain from changing her dressing and the meds haven't kicked in yet, so it was good timing for us to be there to distract her from her pain. We played a few songs for her, and she slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep. She was so sweet and cute!

Both patients were excellent candidates for music therapy. Patient #1 was able to experience some positive social interaction, while patient #2 was relaxed after a painful dressing change. All in all, a very successful start to the day :)

The second half of my day consisted of documentation and seeing the little Mexican ninos. Well. Nino. El otro nino was at his piano lesson. The MT made a clozed writing activity for the kids, but since the one son wasn't there, decided to save it for next week. Instead, she asked the boy for some of his favorite things, and then put them to music. The patient (his father) came downstairs during this, and so the MT asked for some of his favorite things, as well as added the older son's and the mom's favorite things.