“I forgot how much I loved singing.”
I was going through my usual pre-round routine: checking out from night team, printing out pre-rounding report, vitals, labs, consultant notes, when this snippet from a music therapy note broke my usual auto-pilot routine. For the first time, the picture of the patient on the chart struck me. Gone was the healthy, jubilant, plump smile in the picture, replaced by a gaunt, cachexic shell of a body that had remained after multiple rounds of chemotherapy. This experience made me reflect on the intersection of music and medicine.
Understanding the Connection Between Music and Medicine
Over the course of the week that the patient was admitted, I had poured into past oncology admissions and clinic visit notes to gain insight in the course of her disease- molecular markers, chemotherapy regimens, and uncountable scans. I thought I had known the patient backwards and forwards, so much so her “one-liner” rolled off the tongue easily on rounds after a week of repeating it. I prided myself in knowing the patient.
The role of music and medicine in patient care is profound, often providing comfort and emotional support during difficult times.
What I really only knew was a tiny snippet of her colorful life. I could memorize all her past H&Ps, all her molecular markers, and all her chemotherapy regimens. All it took was a note not from any physician, PT/OT, pharmacist, or nutritionist but a music therapist to humbly remind me that the patient I was taking care of was beyond just the mere cell receptors of her cancer. Her diagnosis did not define her as a person.
Enlightened, I grabbed my pre-rounding sheets and briskly walked to pre-round on the patient. As I entered the room, I realized her once anxiety-ridden face was gone, replaced by the same jubilant, plump smile in her profile picture all those years ago. She was calmer now than after any of the opioids and any anxiolytic we’ve had given her. They said laughter is the best medicine. Well, I would vouch music is a close second.
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