{"id":1080,"date":"2011-08-14T23:38:05","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T04:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healingmusicenterprises.com\/blog\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2014-11-19T12:33:17","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:33:17","slug":"music-is-becky-lippards-saving-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healingmusicenterprises.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/music-is-becky-lippards-saving-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Music is Becky Lippard’s saving grace"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
[Tagline]<\/div>\n
Published Saturday, August 13, 2011 11:00 PM<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Katie Scarvey<\/a>kscarvey@salisburypost.comWhen faced with the prospect of losing most of a lung, Becky Lippard knew what was important to her.\u201cI\u2019d rather have five years of singing than 15 years without it,\u201d she told doctors.<\/p>\n

Becky is well-known locally for her beautiful voice. She\u2019s appeared in many Piedmont Players musicals, including \u201cSmoke on the Mountain\u201d in 1994, \u201cSanders Family Christmas\u201d in 2000 and the 2006 world premiere of \u201cSmoke on the Mountain Homecoming.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been in lots of other shows as well, including \u201cH.M.S. Pinafore\u201d and most recently \u201cNunsense\u201d and \u201cHairspray\u201d and sings frequently with a Lee Street Theatre group, whose shows are so popular they\u2019ve had to turn people away. She\u2019s also served as the piano accompanist for various shows, including \u201cCurtains,\u201d \u201cSeussical,\u201d \u201c1776\u201d and \u201cTommy,\u201d and she\u2019s served as a church organist locally for the past 11 years.<\/p>\n

All of this comes naturally to Becky, who majored in music and voice performance when she was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n

Although it hasn\u2019t necessarily paid most of her bills, music is more than just a hobby for Becky.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic has been the saving grace,\u201d she says. Recently, as she\u2019s navigated a series of threats to her health, music has become a healing force.<\/p>\n

Last June, Becky had dental surgery, and her health began to deteriorate following that, she says. In July, she lost her job unexpectedly and continued to feel bad. She was listless and feeling depressed. As bad as she felt, she forced herself to try out for the Piedmont Players Theatre show \u201cNunsense,\u201d hoping it would help snap her out of whatever was getting her down. She got a part, but she wasn\u2019t feeling any better.<\/p>\n

While rehearsals for that show continued in September, she finally went to the doctor. Test results showed that she was anemic, dehydrated and in kidney failure. That led to 10 days in the hospital. She got out just in time to take publicity photos for the show.<\/p>\n

Somehow, she managed to make it through the run of the show.<\/p>\n

While she was in the hospital doctors discovered that Becky had what they felt was a carcinoid tumor on her right lung.<\/p>\n

She couldn\u2019t have it removed, however, until her kidney function improved, since the risk of complications during surgery was too great.<\/p>\n

In February, her nephrologist determined that she needed to undergo dialysis because her kidneys were no longer filtering impurities. In March, she had a catheter installed so she could undergo dialysis in her own home. She began doing that in April, after receiving training.<\/p>\n

Becky hooks herself up to a dialysis machine every night for nine hours. As she sleeps, toxins are cleared from her body.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you feel so much better,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t mind the process at all, she says, although she has to make sure she has an uninterrupted block of time to do it in. For example, when she was in \u201cHairspray,\u201d the show ended at 10:30 Saturday night and she had to be at church the next morning at 8:30 \u2014 which didn\u2019t leave her a very big window of time for dialysis.<\/p>\n

Her doctors weren\u2019t sure what had caused her kidney function to deteriorate so quickly, but there was some speculation that it was possibly related to the tumor or to medication Becky had taken during or after her dental surgery. Although Becky is diabetic, she had always had healthy kidney function before last year, she says.<\/p>\n

In May, much healthier because of the dialysis, Becky was finally cleared for her lung surgery. She scheduled it for May 20 \u2014 which allowed her to get in one last singing gig with Lee Street Theatre.<\/p>\n

A surgeon at Wake Forest\u2019s Baptist Medical Center removed two thirds of Becky\u2019s right lung. Fortunately, the tumor hadn\u2019t spread, and it was determined to be benign.<\/p>\n

After the surgery, she felt terrible, wanting to just curl up in a ball and sleep. She was in intensive care for five days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a hard time getting out of the drug-induced state,\u201d she says. \u201cI just wanted to be left alone with the drugs to stop the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Worried that Becky wasn\u2019t bouncing back as she should be, a nurse tried to provide stimulation by bringing an iPad to Becky\u2019s bed and playing Stevie Wonder on it.<\/p>\n

While the doctors observed, she turned on Stevie Wonder \u2014 \u201cYou are the Sunshine of My Life\u201d \u2014 and Becky began snapping her fingers and tapping her leg.<\/p>\n

She remembers the doctors furiously scribbling. \u201cThat\u2019s good for you,\u201d her doctor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea,\u201d Becky responded.<\/p>\n

The next day, her best friend and her aunt came to visit her, and Becky found her voice again.<\/p>\n

She sang, \u201cOh What a Beautiful Morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becky credits music with helping her recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is important,\u201d she says. \u201cThat and prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becky says that having most of one lung removed hasn\u2019t affected her singing, and she\u2019s incredibly grateful for that. The tumor was probably keeping her from using that part of her lung anyway, and it\u2019s possible she\u2019d had the tumor a very long time before it was discovered.<\/p>\n

Lee Street Theatre is planning another evening of music at the Black Box Theater for November, and Becky\u2019s looking forward to singing again. She loves Broadway tunes \u2014 \u201cMusic Man\u201d and \u201cGypsy\u201d are favorites.<\/p>\n

Her favorite musical role to date has been Mrs. Lovett in \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d (who\u2019s \u201ca little bubble off plumb,\u201d Becky says).<\/p>\n

Becky\u2019s happy to continue doing what she loves, but there\u2019s still that issue of nightly dialysis.<\/p>\n

The next step, Becky says, is going through the steps necessary to get on a kidney transplant list. She\u2019s been told she\u2019s a good candidate.<\/p>\n

Still, she says, \u201cI feel better than I have in over a year. I didn\u2019t know how bad I felt until I felt better.\u201d<\/p>\n

When people see her these days, they often tell her how well she\u2019s looking, and she responds: \u201cThis is what it looks like for me not to worry. You haven\u2019t seen this face for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year has been a lesson in humility,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think you\u2019re strong and independent and you find you have to ask for help…and people want to help you. I just couldn\u2019t have made it (without help).\u201d<\/p>\n

Becky hasn\u2019t had a full-time job since last July, but she works part-time at Center for Faith & the Arts and continues serving as a regular substitute organist for the Third Creek Presbyterian Church choir, which she\u2019s done for 11 years now. In 2008, she traveled with the choir to Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

The church has put together a barbecue fundraiser for Becky on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 4-8 p.m. at Third Creek Presbyterian Church, 2055 Third Creek Church Road, Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Meals are by donation, and Becky\u2019s Lee Street Theatre buddies will provide entertainment.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, and Becky will sing too.<\/p>\n

You can hear for yourself that one and a third lungs, if they happen to be Becky Lippard\u2019s, sound better than two lungs on most people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Tagline] Published Saturday, August 13, 2011 11:00 PM   By Katie Scarveykscarvey@salisburypost.comWhen faced with the prospect of losing most of a lung, Becky Lippard knew what was important to her.\u201cI\u2019d rather have five years of singing than 15 years without it,\u201d she told doctors. Becky is well-known locally for her beautiful voice. She\u2019s appeared in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMusic is Becky Lippard's saving grace - Healing Music Enterprises Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/healingmusicenterprises.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/music-is-becky-lippards-saving-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Music is Becky Lippard's saving grace - Healing Music Enterprises Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Tagline] Published Saturday, August 13, 2011 11:00 PM   By Katie Scarveykscarvey@salisburypost.comWhen faced with the prospect of losing most of a lung, Becky Lippard knew what was important to her.\u201cI\u2019d rather have five years of singing than 15 years without it,\u201d she told doctors. 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