Music and healing at the bedside Anne was admitted to the Palliative Care Unit of Montreals Royal Victoria Hospital with unrelenting back pain due to breast cancer involving her spine. Within days our worst fears were realized. Her symptoms worsened and, in spite of treatment, she became paralyzed from the waist down. A single mother with a new mortgage, precarious employment, and strained finances, Anne was devastated. Her perennial optimism evaporated and a sense of inadequacy mushroomed within our palliative care team. Late one morning, during my daily ward rounds, perhaps two or three weeks after this crisis, I walked into Annes room and sank into the chair by her bed. Our brief chat about her current symptoms was followed by the silence that arises from mutual recognition of shared impotence: not much to say! Groping, I asked, Do you like music, Anne? Yes, I do, she replied. What kind? Her eyes met mine in a glance that conveyed her uncertainty as to whether she should tell me the truth. Did she trust me enough? There was a pause. Then, almost in a whisper, she said, Elvis. Really? I exclaimed. Well, do you know, in 1957 I went to his concert in Ottawa? Her response was explosive. With eyes wide in astonishment, she fairly shouted, YOU were at the Ottawa concert?! I had never previously admitted that I had attended an Elvis Presley concert, but her evident awe was encouraging. Yeah, I found myself responding, I was at the Ottawa concert! What followed was one of the most intense, deeply engaging conversations of my life. It probably lasted about half an hour. I told her about that memorable night, so long ago. And Anne told me about the King, his generosity, and the sense of accompaniment she had always experienced through his music. She was vibrant, fully engaged, and deeply probing for further details. As I left her room, her face was radiant. I felt privileged, like I had been on sacred ground. The significance of our conversation for Anne was evident. It was not just a transient feel-good thing. It was much more than that. For the first time since becoming paralyzed she had experienced a sense of wholeness and the exhilaration of being fully alive. No one attempting to offer hope could have given to Anne what she had now experienced. Though paraplegic, she could be as fully alive as she had ever been. Annes experience and those of other palliative care patients led our team into research areas that posed new questions. What determines quality of life? What is the significance of the inner life and what is its impact on illness? What is healing? How do these issues relate to music? Balfour M. Mount MD is Eric M. Flanders Professor of Palliative Medicine, McGill University.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 03:19:58 +0000
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