I just couldn't think of another title for this post that better summed up how I felt as I left work at 5pm tonight. As I've said before, much of my time so far has been spent preparing the groundwork for actually working directly with the patients, but last Friday a member of the medical team suggested a patient that might benefit from a chat with me and asked if I would see them fairly soon. I was more than happy to do that and visited the patient later on that morning. As a result, I feel that I really properly got my placement off the ground on Friday and started doing what I've been really looking forward to doing most at the hospice; giving patients time to talk, using music as a catalyst, and hopefully finding some way of helping them as a result of our chat. Now, I obviously can't go into any details, but I can tell you that the person desperately misses playing their beloved guitar. After discussing whether or not they would find it too upsetting to listen to a guitar being played, the patient was delighted when I suggested that I'd try to arrange for a guitarist to come into Strathcarron to play for them.
I contacted a friend of a friend, someone whom I've seen perform live locally and know is amazing on guitar, and asked if he would consider giving up a bit of his time to play for the patient. The result was that this afternoon the lovely John Boos sat on a chair at the side of my first 'placement patient's' bed and, amongst other things, played this:
A difference was made to that patient's day by John's generosity in giving up his time and by his incredible musical talent - and that made me feel, as I headed off for home, bloody brilliant!
This is brilliant to see your project which started as an idea in your head being put into practise and benefiting the patients exactly in the way you had hoped.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible story - I had no idea that help like this makes a difference in hospices.
ReplyDeleteI will tell it straight away to my husband who is working for over a decade in the music industry and has just this month started as Head of Professional Development at the Royal Academy of Music.
There should be a lot of musicians out there who might be open to the idea to give a bit of their time the same way as your fantastic guitarist did.
All the best wishes for your WoD time, you are doing an amazing job!
Monika
Hey pal - great to hear from you here! Aw, just cannot put into words how exciting and touching it was to see the idea fall into place. Thanks as ever for your never-ending support! xx
ReplyDeleteHi Monika
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for taking the time to comment on my blog - I'm heading straight off to check yours out after I've sent this comment in! I'm absolutely delighted to hear that you're going to pass on my story to your husband (he has a very grand title!!) There is SOOO much that music has to offer to people in the hospice community and it would be just fantastic to think that some of your musician friends would visit a local hospice after being inspired by my placement! Keep in touch and let me know how it goes!
Jane :)