Music therapy 'gives hope' to Sacramento cancer patients
Music is pain relief for patients at Sutter Cancer Center
Music is pain relief for patients at Sutter Cancer Center
Music is pain relief for patients at Sutter Cancer Center
Cancer patients at Sutter Cancer Center in Sacramento are getting help with healing, thanks to a music therapy program that is bringing new light into their lives.
"No, this is not entertainment," said Sarah Pavis, who is a board certified music therapist. "It’s really coming from a clinical perspective. My first question is, 'How are you feeling?'"
Pavis has a bachelor of arts in music, as well as 1,200 hours of clinical training.
"We are in a really sacred space. And music can provide a lot of room for expression. But it can also make people feel incredibly vulnerable," Pavis said. "There might be someone who is really holding back from processing a certain emotion, and a certain song lyric is going to trigger that. So, we're there in that moment to be a therapeutic presence."
McConnell Music Therapists, like Pavis, will play music for patients while they are undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments. The patients can sing along or just listen.
"Their group is so fantastic. I could endorse them to the heavens," Nancy Willson-Strader said. "They are so caring and loving. When you're in the hospital like that, it's like being in a cage."
Willson-Strader had seven long-term hospitalizations from May to September after being diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia.
"I was 57 so, I mean, it came out of nowhere," Willson-Strader said. "It's like your whole world is just ripped from you. And the treatment that you have to go through is really hard -- the hardest trial that I had to go through."
Willson-Strader received stem cell therapy and has been released from the hospital, hoping to enter remission. She said singing the lyrics helped her during her most trying moments.
“It gives you hope, because when you are sick like that, you don't know if you're going to be around next month-- or next year-- or if you have a future," Willson-Strader said. “(The lyrics are) talking about a future -- ‘I have a dream of a future.’ So yeah, it means a lot."