Dear Dr. Reuer,

Happy New Year! I am writing to express my gratitude for the Music Therapy team at the hospital. I am one of the wound specialists and have the privilege and challenge to perform often complicated and painful wound treatments on our patients. I have had the chance to collaborate with various team members in the past and have witnessed the positive impact music has had on the patients and myself. However, this impact was especially evident in a recent experience.

Recently, we had a sweet woman admitted with terminal cancer and some very deep and painful wounds. The dressing changes were difficult for her even with pain medication and support of her family. One day, while I was setting up for our treatment, one of the Music Therapy interns, Sarah Murrin, came in and offered her services. Sarah played beautifully while I did my hour-long treatment and the overall experience was dramatically better with the addition of Music Therapy than our previous treatments without.

From then on, I coordinated with Sarah and intern Allison Nocita along with help from their coordinator Annela Flores to be together for each wound treatment for the last couple weeks of this sweet patient’s stay. Sarah and Allison have such compassionate hearts, gentle demeanors and great abilities to connect with the patient and her family. They included the patient in choosing music she enjoyed and even had her sing along when she felt up to it. She loved Johnny Cash’s “Walk the Line” and would come in right on cue for her line.  Music Therapy created such positive memories for her and her family who were present for most of the treatments.

Her family, which included her two children, were very touched by the experience of including Music Therapy and expressed this appreciation regularly. They would ask if Sarah or Allison were coming each time I started setting up. This patient unfortunately passed away during her stay and Allison was able to play once more for the patient and her family in the last hour of her life. This added so much peace in this difficult time. Please pass on to Allison, Sarah, and Annela how very much I appreciate their work and hearts along with the patients, families and other staff. They do such important work that makes an undeniable difference in the care we deliver here.

With much gratitude,

Ruth Martinez
Doctor of Physical Therapy
Certified Wound Specialist
Geriatric Clinical Specialist
ScrippsHealth