Seniors say the darndest things

Today we went to a new facility that I will be taking over during the rest of my time at Seasons. One of the facility's employees wanted to see music therapy in action, so off we go to see some the patients signed on to our services. We get settled into a quiet room, the patient was sleeping peacefully. As I start to play the patient's roommate walks in - having freshly showered. In order to give her some privacy my male audience excused himself from the room, and closed the curtain around myself, my advisor, and the patient. As I hear him close the door behind him, I also hear the squeaky clean resident yell after him, "Suck my d***!!" I look over at my advisor with what I am sure were eyes as big a saucers and holding back a laugh.

Throughout the rest of the session, thinly veiled (one hospital curtain separation) commands such as
"shut the hell up" wafted over my improvised guitar playing. But then the kicker came...

The roommate pulled back the curtain, looked at us, whipped the curtain back into place, called out, "EAT MY SHORTS!!" and stormed out.

I couldn't make this stuff up... even if I tried.

"Hospice is like a box of chocolates"

I have really come to understand that in hospice, you never know what you're going to get.

I have a client who I just love. He is hilarious. Apparently, he is exceptionally inappropriate with other people who care for him (earning him the title of "dirty old man") but with me he's just downright funny. I ask if he would like some music and he says yes. Then, before I even get the guitar case open he hollers, "Well, come on then!" or "Let's go!" He sits and listens to the music with his eyes closed and responds after a song has completed by saying, "That was beeeeeeautiful" or he'll comment, "That was an oldie but goodie". Sometimes he'll say, "You left me in left field with that one". I'm really not sure how to take that last comment...

On the other hand I see a client who is always in bed, normally asleep, and NEVER responsive. He's a hard one to see because while it's easy just to play some improvised bedside music, its frustrating because it's hard to tell if he even hears it, let alone responds positively.

Last Thursday, I went to go see this client. It was my last stop of the day and the facility is close to home so it's easy to stop by on my way out in the morning or on the way back in the afternoons. I signed into the facility, made my way up to the patient's floor, and found his bed empty. Inside I thought if this guy died and no one told me, I'm going to be frustrated. I ask a nurse passing by where the patient is, and she directs me down to a common area where I have never been before. And there he is! Sitting up in a broda chair. Awake, alert, and oriented x1. WHAT?! I hardly even recognized the man. I introduced myself and he responded! Said a very clear yes to wanting music and talked to me through the entire session. Yes, he was also talking to a few hallucinations, but where did this come from?! He SANG ALONG with a few songs and when I placed my guitar on his lap for vibro-tactile stimulation, he even tried strumming a few times on his own!  I was flabbergasted. We had such a great time together talking about his past and singing songs that I stayed for longer than I have ever spent with him. The time flew by!

I think I floated home... thinking about how different each day is for everyone. You have to go into each session as if this will be the last time you see that patient and do the best for them every time. And honestly, once you think you have someone "all figured out"... you don't. You never know when something will happen from "out in left field".

Yes, hospice is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're going to get. 

and it's really oh so sweet.



Good things for the day...

A great quote for today... no matter WHAT you do for a living

"do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, by all the means you can, to all of those you can…” 

- John Wesley

18th century reformer of the Church of England

A fantastic book to read (I just finished it last night)

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind...        

(taken from Google product review)

Other great reading material - a new blog from one of my classmates and friends, Morgan. Morgan not only just got married but also just started her internship at West Music in Iowa. She is a wonderful up and coming therapist, she often set the (high) standard for our classes and I loved hearing her ideas. I have truly enjoyed getting to know her and cannot wait to read more about her adventures out in the field. Morgan's post "What the hell am I doing here " is one of my favorites. Check her out!