Healing Music Blog

Brain Tumor Surgery: Awake and using music!

January 31st, 2012 · Music and Surgery, Music and the Brain

An interesting article came my way today, written by a man who had undergone his second awake, brain tumor surgery! In this article he talks about all of the things that helped him and can help YOU, including music! Enjoy!

The anesthesiologist grabbed my hand as I woke up in the room. As I embraced her touch, my head was locked into metal equipment even when I could move other parts of my body. But I wasn’t supposed to. Standing behind me, my neurosurgeon reminded me not to try moving my head. With his hands in my brain, his touch worked to save my life.

Sometimes life makes people return to difficult places and experiences for survival. For me, that includes my second awake brain surgery in September 2011. My first brain surgery in 1998 and recovery was completely new to me. Since then, I have come to understand some essential health and healing components needed when dealing with cancer. Cancer care cannot only address the cancer diagnosis and instead must support the whole person.

With brain surgery twice saving my life, I’m experiencing once again how the separation of conventional with integrative cancer treatments must end. Integrative cancer care combines conventional cancer therapies with whole person cancer care of full body, mind and spirit, including social and environmental health. Over the last several months, I’ve been creating my integrative cancer care plan post-surgery. Here are some of my self-care strategies and the beginning of my integrative cancer care treatments.

Sleep and Rest: For me it started with the basics of sleep and rest. Most healthy adults need between seven and eight hours of quality sleep nightly. But people dealing with health problems often need more. Post-surgery I couldn’t sleep, with huge side effects from the surgery and my drugs. When I had very little sleep, I spent time the next day trying to relax, although often did too much. Even spending a few minutes to relax helped me to restore and rejuvenate my body, mind and spirit.

Meditation, Imagery and Visualization: When I could not sleep and felt exhausted the next morning, a guided meditation to relax my body helped me move from a tightened mind and muscles to a sense of peace. I also listened to soft music with visualizations guiding me into relaxation. Wonderful CDs that I used after surgery included Peggy Huddleston, Steven Halpern and O. Carl Simonton. Other popular CDs for cancer patients include Martin Rossman, M.D., Belleruth Naparstek and Jeanne Achterberg, Ph.D.

Diet: Throughout my cancer journey, I’ve been learning about cancer-fighting foods with specifics about what to eat and avoid. Post-surgery, I could hardly open my jaw. Similar to what I experienced with the surgery in 1998, my neurosurgeon moved my jaw near my left ear as he cut into my brain. The first three days after surgery, I drank my favorite organic green vegetable juice from Whole Foods and blended vegetable soup my mother made. By the fourth night, my jaw opened enough for me to eat other food. I continued my eating with many organic anti-cancer foods. Recovering from brain surgery and feeling completely weak physically, I craved different foods. Sometimes cancer patients need to change their diet at different phases of their treatments.

Exercise, Stretching and Movement: I started some exercise with brief walks on my street. With visual blurs through my left eye, I couldn’t always see clearly when walking outside and even felt imbalanced. But after a few minutes walking I found my balance and strength each week. Ultimately decreasing my drugs in September, I started feeling able to reconnect to myself in other ways. I stretched daily increasing my circulation, supporting my nervous system and finding deeper calm. As a next step, I slowly began returning to the 5Rhythms movement practice founded by Gabrielle Roth. The more I connect with my body, the more I find myself.

Spirituality: With my awake brain surgery in 1998, I walked through a gateway into a spiritual journey. My brain tumor journey opened a significant window into my soul. I began to see my life experiences as opportunities for my soul’s development. Through my spiritual journey, I look deeply into myself, cultivate new levels of knowledge and understanding about being alive. Those steps continue through this chapter recovery post-surgery. I’m connected to spirit and feel it with, through and around me. I ask questions, tune into guidance, my intuition and instincts. My spirituality has been a very important form of support. Spirituality helps both people with cancer and caregivers improving their quality of life.

Acupuncture: Treatments of acupuncture post-surgery support my recovery through relaxing my nervous system, supporting detoxification through my liver and kidney and building my immune system. Studies indicate health benefits for acupuncture to cancer patients, including reducing side effect from chemotherapy. Some acupuncture treatments can also support soul and spirit. My incredible Five Elements acupuncturist after my first brain tumor surgery supported my healing in those ways and many others.

Social Support: I could not have gotten through the last several months before and after brain surgery without wonderful support from family and friends. While Lotsa Helping Hands organized some of my support, a local non-profit Ceres Community Project even delivered me healthy meals. Along with asking for specific needs and managing it, the experience of receiving support without asking has been very helpful. People with cancer really need that too, and especially when they don’t have the time and energy to request as well as organize their social support.

Osteopathy: Adjustments by my osteopath improve the flow of fluids in my body and better balance, especially within my brain post-surgery. The treatments feel like parts inside of my body become more integrated helping me to feel healthier. Osteopathics can treat the nervous system, immune system, circulation, musculoskeletal, joints, tissues, lymphatics, organs and other functions. I felt incredible adjustments through my osteopath’s light touch. She even reduced the pain from the bruises on my head from surgery. As cancer occurs with imbalance in the body and then cancer treatments create side effects, improved internal functions through osteopathy can also strengthen the innate healing capacity. Osteopathic physicians (DOs) are well-trained in their medicine and specialty. Many people do not know that there are two types of complete physicians in the U.S.– DOs and medical doctors (MDs). Both DOs and MDs are fully qualified physicians licensed to prescribe medication and perform surgery.

Supplements: Appointments with several providers created a daily schedule of supplements I take throughout the day. Providers have varied knowledge about developing supplement protocols for cancer patients. After dealing with a brain tumor for over 13 years, I know some conflicting perspectives. Jeanne Wallace, Ph.D., CNC and her practice Nutritional Solutions specialize in brain cancer and several other types of cancer. Other providers work with all cancer types, but may not have enough knowledge. Learning how to evaluate cancer treatments and their providers is important. I’ve also had supplements through intravenous infusions, including Vitamin C and glutathione.

Journaling: Finishing steroids the month after my surgery and more connected to myself, journaling gave me a vehicle to express my feelings, experiences, self-discovery and more about life. I certainly know that expressing rather than repressing feelings about any stressful life events can enhance well-being and reduce emotional stress. In research studies, psychologist James Pennebaker, Ph.D. and others have found those benefits along with improvements of immune functioning and a decrease in frequency of medical visits.

Massage and Touch: During the weeks that I approached my brain surgery, and as I’ve been recovering from an extremely invasive procedure, I haven’t been very comfortable with massage. Yet I know that massage therapy through a provider with skill and integrity provides ease in the midst of disease. Relaxation, increased circulation, deeper breathing and other benefits offer incredible support. Although I haven’t had quality massage since the surgery, I will find a quality provider. In the meantime, I’ve been giving myself light touch with some massage.

This only includes some of what I’ll use in my integrative cancer care plan post-surgery with self-care strategies and treatments. Wherever I travel in my journey forward, I know that cancer care must address the whole person.

Jeannine Walston is co-founder and Executive Director of EmbodiWorks, a non-profit organization providing integrative cancer care resources about body, mind and spirit, including social and environmental health. She has extensive experience in cancer education and advocacy, health care policy, and both conventional and integrative cancer.

For more by Jeannine Walston, click here.

For more on cancer, click here.

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What are Therapeutic Characteristics of Music?

January 6th, 2012 · Music and the Mind-Body, Music Healing, Music in the Hospital, Music Medicine, Music Research

We all know that music makes us feel better! It cheers us up, it calms us down, it brings back wonderful memories of love, childhood, holidays, vacations, and our whole lives. The field of music therapy has provided lots of wonderful information on this and so much more.

The following list is from www.preludemusictherapy.com. I highly recommend this site to you and encourage you to check out all of the resources it provides!

Music captivates and maintains attention — it stimulates & utilizes many parts of the brain.
Music is easily adapted to, and can be reflective of, a person’s abilities.
Music structures time in a way that we can understand (“that’s the last verse – my exercise session is almost over!”).
Music provides a meaningful, enjoyable context for repetition.
Music provides a social context — it sets up a safe, structured setting for verbal and nonverbal communication.
Music is an effective memory aid.
Music supports and encourages movement.
Music taps into memories and emotions.
Music — and the silences within it — provide nonverbal, immediate feedback.
Music is success-oriented — people of all ability levels can participate.

If you still have doubts about the power of music in the health and healing world, I urge you to start at the beginning of this blog and read all the way through. Music is powerful medicine!

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Music is Good for your Health: But we knew that!

December 29th, 2011 · Classical Music

Dr. Cash with Flautist, Carol Cutler

Yes indeed, music is good for your health!

In fact, Music Therapy is a recognized form of treatment for a variety of disorders and conditions.

The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) states that “Music therapy is an established health-care profession that uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals of all ages.”

I am sure that you will agree that playing music or listening to your favourite tunes makes us feel good.

So now, wearing my medical hat, I want to look at the scientific evidence that confirms what we all think and feel. Here are some proven benefits of music:

1. Stress relief.

People listening to music are calmer, and their levels of stress hormones are reduced. These stress hormones contribute greatly in the long run to heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. So less stress hormones is a good thing.

2. People who listen to music have been shown to actually learn better.

3. Muscle relaxation is another benefit achieved by listening to music. This is especially important with people who have tension headaches, back or neck pain.

4. Better sleep: Studies have suggested that listening to music before going to bed may help with insomnia

5. Music promotes good exercise habits.

Listening to music during a workout, makes the time fly by, allowing one to continue working out and not be bored.

6. Music is used in general hospitals to alleviate pain in conjunction with anesthesia or pain medication.

7. According to the AMTA, music is used with elderly persons to increase or maintain their level of physical, mental, and social/emotional functioning. The sensory and intellectual stimulation of music can help maintain a person’s quality of life.

The notion of the positive effect of music on health and wellbeing is actually quite old.

In fact, it goes back to the ancient times of Aristotle and Plato. In the U.S.A., after the world wars, local musicians visited hospitals and played for veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma. The veterans’ positive physical and emotional responses to music led the hospital to actually hire musicians.

It soon became apparent that these “hospital musicians” needed some training before entering an institution or hospital. This resulted in the first music therapy degree program in the world at Michigan State University in 1944. So this is how music turned into therapy.

However, music is not just for treatment because as you can see from the above, we can all use a little music in our lives.

As we enter a new year, a resolution to listen to or play more music is a healthy one.

I wish you and yours a happy, health and musical New Year!

Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, MD, CM, MPH, FRCP(C)

Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer,

Eastern Ontario Health Unit

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How does music affect behavior?

November 30th, 2011 · Music and Emotion, Music and the Brain, Music and the Mind-Body, Music in the News!

Does music affect the behavior of adolescents? This is one of the most frequent questions I get when I go out to speak around the country. I think it’s a bit of a rhetorical questions because we know that music is powerful and does affect people’s behavior, but especially people who are unsure of themselves, who they are, and what they really want out of life. This fits the description of many adolescents. When teenagers feel alienated from peers and family, they are more prone to identify with powerful media personalities and do some vicarious living through them. If these media personalities sing violent music with violent, negative lyrics, it is going to take a toll on them and the adolescent may actually commit violent acts under the influence of this powerful “music.”

I think you’ll enjoy what this physician has to say about it:

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What the Ancients knew about music and mathematics

November 4th, 2011 · Ancient beliefs about music

This fascinating information can be found at http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/greek.music.html. The following is an excerpt:

Archaeological evidence and written accounts, both historical and literary, show that music was vital to ancient Greek culture. Choruses in the Greek plays were sung, and music was central to religious and state ceremonies and to social rituals such as weddings, funerals, banquets, etc. The Homeric epics were probably “sung to formulaic melodies” (Bonds 4). But memorization was key to performance, not written notation, so only about 45 pieces of music, mostly fragments, survive from the time in bits of papyri and marble, and in documents copied in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

More material survives regarding music theory than actual music. Pythagoras supposedly discovered the connection between music and mathematics — that the intervals of octave, fifth, and fourth are “perfect consonances” because they can be expressed (and replicated) by the ratios 2:1, 3:2, and 4:3, respectively. Later Pythagoreans credited him also with the notion of the “music of the spheres” — the idea that the rotation of the planetary spheres creates an inaudible harmony. Music was part of the quadriviumin the liberal arts, primarily because, along with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, music’s mathematical nature could be emphasized. “Practicing musicians, although widely admired for their performances, were not considered among the intellectual elite: they could entertain, but they could not edify their audiences” (Bond 12).

The belief that music could govern the human soul and had power over behavior is illustrated in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, in the story of Odysseus and the Sirens, and elsewhere. This “doctine of ethos” — the “belief that music has the power to elevate or debase the soul” (Bond 10) — led Aristotle to note the moods created by various modes and Plato to recommend restrictions to certain modes of music on the part of youths. Music in the Dorian mode bolstered courage and in the Phrygian mode fostered thoughtfulness (an early form of Mozart for infants). Plato even warned about the politically subversive potential of music (and he was right — look what happened with the jitterbug).

Works Consulted

Bonds, Mark Evan. A History of Music in Western Culture. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.

Musique de la Grèce Antique. Atrium Musicae de Madrid. CD. Arles: Harmonia Mundi, 1979. HMA 190101015.

Palisca, Claude V., ed. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume I: Ancient to Baroque. 4th ed. NY: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., 2001.

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What makes music scary?

October 31st, 2011 · Scary Music

With Halloween here, I’ve been contemplating what makes music scary. Some of my younger readers may not know that for a couple of decades, movies were silent. In other words, the audience just read the dialogue at the bottom of the screen, and a pianist sat to the side of the screen and literally improvised whatever music seemed appropriate to what was happening on the screen. This was quite an art and just anyone couldn’t do it.
The musician had to be able to represent not only horror and fear but also romance, humor, religious feeling and tremendous joy.

Now that movies have soundtracks, the music that has been composed for them will be among the classics of
tomorrow. The scary movies have some of the most famous themes. Two that come to mind immediately are the themes from “Jaws” and “Psycho.” Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a definite classic horror film. It’s music, by Bernard Herrmann, truly evokes fear and panic. The famous shower scene music (the screeching violins) is parodied and copied in media all
over the world.

Of course, most of this music is in a minor key and incorporates sudden changes of dynamics (louds and softs).
You might also hear unusual instruments such as a digiridoo or perhaps a sitar. The purpose is to create an atmosphere that is unfamiliar; a soundscape that disorients and confuses. Have a fun Halloween and pay attention to the music

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Surgery Music with a Lumpectomy

October 22nd, 2011 · Music and Cancer

Are you having a lumpectomy? Or breast surgery of any kind? Surgery is a frightening experience and especially when the end result is so unknown! A mass in the breast might be one thing and it might be something very different. Anxiety tends to run sky-high and yet you know that you don’t want to have too much anxiety medication or too much anesthesia. I deally, you want just the amount you need and no more.

Anesthesiologists know how much people your age and weight typically need, but the exact amount is determined and maintained as the operation proceeds. More and more, surgeons and anesthesiologists are seeing patients bring in their own chosen music with an MP3 player or the Surgical Serenity Headphones, self-contained and cordless, pre-programmed with the best, scientificallychosen music for your procedure.

Listen to Susan talk about how her process went and then decide if you’d like to have some for yourself or a family member. To you good health!!

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