Fears about Surgery and Anesthesia

Anxiety before elective surgery is common. Therefore, many studies have examined interventions to reduce preoperative anxiety, including pharmacologic anxiolysis, information, distraction, and relaxation procedures. This study compared different methods to measure preoperative anxiety. The aims of the study were threefold. First, to examine the validity and utility of the self-reporting visual analog scale (VAS) and to compare this test to the standard Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Second, to find out whether the authors could identify patient risk factors or operations that correlated with high preoperative anxiety. Third, to itemize the concerns of patients admitted for elective anesthesia and surgery. The study was conducted in a university hospital in Switzerland. The authors developed a questionnaire to evaluate the different aspects of preoperative anxiety. The final questionnaire contained 91 items. Topics covered included the patients' demographic background, relevant medical and anesthetic history, visual analog scales (for fear of anesthesia, fear of surgery, and different aspects of preoperative anxiety), as well as questions designed to assess the impact of the preoperative visit by the anesthesiologist, patients' satisfaction with different aspects of their preoperative care and the patients' perception of their anesthesiologist. This study was performed on all patients admitted preoperatively for surgery over a three-month period . They completed the questionnaire on the evening before surgery, in hospital. 685 of the 734 questionnaires distributed to patients were returned. The authors found a significant correlation between the VAS measuring fear of anesthesia and the STAI, and between the VAS measuring fear of surgery and the STAI. These correlations were not significantly different between male and female patients. 25% of patients scored higher than 1 standard deviation above the normative mean STAI and were defined as having high preoperative anxiety. Factors associated with higher preoperative anxiety levels were age less than 37 years, previous negative experience with anesthesia, information seeking behavior (rather than information avoiding), and patients with high school only education. The different genders had increased fear of different kinds of surgical procedures. The questions evaluating patients' preoperative fears were assessed after factor analysis and found to have three characteristic areas. The first group of characteristics was called by the authors "fear of the unknown." This factor consisted of fear of the waiting period before surgery/anesthesia, of being at the mercy of physicians during anesthesia, of surgical outcome, and of not knowing what occurs while unconscious during anesthesia. This factor correlated highly with the STAI. The second factor, termed "fear of feeling ill," included the fear of postoperative nausea or vomiting, perioperative pain, as well as fear of discomfort at postoperative awakening and of awareness intraoperatively. The third factor was termed "fear for one's life" and consisted of fear of not regaining consciousness, fear of dying and remaining in a coma. These latter two factors were less correlated with STAI. The authors also queried specific anxiety factors and found that "waiting for operation" generated the highest anxiety score. Postoperative pain anxiety ranked number four [out of 10], postoperative nausea and vomiting ranked number six, and awareness under anesthesia ranked number ten of ten. In summary, this study shows that the VAS may be a useful clinical tool to measure preoperative anxiety. Certain patient characteristics might serve to warn the anesthesiologist about the potential presence of increased preoperative anxiety. This increased knowledge may allow anesthesiologists to provide additional appropriate care to ameliorate the anxiety state.

Who else is concerned about the anesthesia during surgery?

This research has just come to my attention and I thought you'd want to see it too! It confirms my research exactly. For those who are able to choose their own favorite slow, steady, instrumental music, it's great. For those who don't have the time or the no-how, my music is already chosen and ready to go. In the near future, I plan to have many different genres of music that are also ideal for surgery. Please contact me if you are having surgery in the near future! Contact: Jacqueline Weaver jacqueline.weaver@yale.edu 203-432-8555 Yale University Patients' favorite music during surgery lessens need for sedative New Haven, Conn.--Patients listening to their favorite music required much less sedation during surgery than did patients who listened to white noise or operating room noise, according to a Yale School of Medicine study published in May. The senior author, Zeev Kain, M.D., professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, said previous studies have shown that music decreases intraoperative sedative requirements in patients undergoing surgical procedures under anesthesia. He wanted to know if the decrease resulted from listening to music or eliminating operating room noise The study included 36 patients at Yale-New Haven Hospital and 54 patients at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. The subjects wore headphones and were randomly assigned to hear music they liked, white noise or to wear no headphones and be exposed to operating room noise. Dropping a surgical instrument into a bowl in the operating room can produce noise levels of up to 80 decibels, which is considered very loud to uncomfortably loud. What they found is that blocking the sounds of the operating room with white noise did not decrease sedative requirements of listening to operating room sounds. Playing music did reduce the need for sedatives during surgery. "Doctors and patients should both note that music can be used to supplement sedation in the operating room," Kain said. The lead author was Chakib Ayoub,M.D., with co-authors Laudi Rizk, M.D., Chadi Yaacoub, M.D., and Dorothy Gaal, M.D., of the University of Beirut Medical Center. The study was supported in part of National Institutes of Health grants. Of course, a major solution is now available: www.surgicalheadphones.com. ### Anesthesia & Analgesia 100: pp 1316-1319 (May 2005)

Surgery allows girl to enjoy Christmas music

CAROLS by Candlelight in Horsham was extra special this year for one little girl and her parents. Emily Vettos, 10, was in the Combined Primary Schools Choir, but what made her carols debut special was that six months ago she was deaf. Her mother Dee said Emily had lived with hearing difficulties for most of her life but was now loving life and singing proudly after an operation. "Emily was born almost six weeks premature and the tubes in the ears are one of the last things to develop, so she had a lot of pressure building in her ears," Mrs Vettos said. "When she was two we realised she was mumbling a lot and so we took her to the doctor and he referred her to an ear, nose and throat surgeon and he found she was profoundly deaf, that she didn't have a lot of hearing at all. "He operated on her and widened the tube in both her ears and for a while we thought she was going really well. "She was very smart, doing well at school but she was very shy and it wasn't until we had an appointment a year ago that we found she had had a lot of scarring in her right ear and was not actually improving. "We found out that she had taught herself to lip read and that was how she was getting by." Mrs Vettos said that after a second operation, about six months ago, Emily had a new lease on life. "We had no idea because she never said anything and she had no idea either," she said. "It wasn't until she had the surgery that she realised, she came out and said `oh mum, you sound great'. And she's really come out since then, she's still got deafness in her right ear, and she will always have some hearing loss, but she's coming out of her shell and doing a lot better." Singing has now become a big part of Emily's life. "She joined the school choir about three years ago and used to stand up the back and was really quiet and shy and then after this surgery, because she could hear the beat and was in tune, she sings with gusto. She's really loud and she loves it," Mrs Vettos said. "She likes everything, she's into 1980s music and Abba at the moment because of Mamma Mia but she's always singing," she said. "We think we'll get her singing lessons for the coming year, she really does enjoy it." Mrs Vettos said seeing Emily sing at carols had been a defining moment for her and husband Con. "I was so proud, from a little girl who really had the odds against her and was so shy and withdrawn, to come on stage in front of other people and perform, well it was the proudest thing I have ever seen," she said. Emily said she had enjoyed singing at the carols celebration. "It went really good and I liked doing all the actions. It was cool because there were a lot of people that I knew and it was exciting," she said. Emily, who wants to be a singer and a photographer when she grows up, said singing made her feel good. "When I was little I was really embarrassed because I couldn't do much and now that I can sing I guess I can do a lot more than I used to be able to, it's a nice feeling," she said.

Would you like to be part of my research?

Would you like to be part of my research? November 29th, 2008 · No Comments All over the world, at any given moment, people are being told that they need to have surgery: back surgery, shoulder surgery, knee replacements, hip replacements, hysterectomies…you get the picture. For almost 20 years I have been assisting people who are having surgery to find the perfect music for them. Now I have created my surgical serenity headphones and downloads so that anyone can use music with their surgery at any time! Now I need to gather some data specific to my surgical serenity music that I have chosen for my first-time-ever downloads of music for surgery. I need to get not only data, but testimonials! If YOU or someone you know is planning to have surgery, please let me know and I will send them a free download in exchange for some basic information about their before and after subjective experience of the procedure and a sentence or two about the experience. I will offer this special, time-limited opportunity until I have gathered at least 100 testimonials. Get your requests in NOW! Sincerely, Alice H. Cash, Ph.D., LCSW

Music before Day Surgery--are there benefits?

This interesting research comes from England. Apparently many patients feel they've been abandoned as they wait for their surgery. If they were given their wireless, pre-programmed headphones prior to surgery, this would undoubtedly calm some of their pre-surgery jitters! Gilmartin J, Wright K. School of Healthcare Studies, Baines Wing, University of Leeds, Leeds UK. j.gilmartin@leeds.ac.uk BACKGROUND: The rapid expansion in day surgery has facilitated a shift in surgical nursing intervention. The evolving evidence base has a major part to play in influencing nurse-led preassessment, information provision, pain management and postoperative intervention. However, the literature is characterised by a number of deficits: poor attention to patient experience from admission to discharge, anxieties evoked and the potential needs of patients are not well articulated. AIM: The purpose of this paper is to describe and interpret patients' experiences of contemporary day surgery. METHOD: This hermeneutic phenomenological approach focused on the experience of 20 adult patients. Data was collected by using unstructured interviews. The transcripts were interpreted through the identification of four prevalent themes using the phenomenological method. FINDINGS: The themes that emerged from the data are emphasised, ranging from the feeling of empowerment during preparation, through apprehensions encountered and the feeling of abandonment in the preoperative waiting area, to recovery dynamics. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that the majority of the patients felt abandoned in the preoperative stage and nurses did not recognise the importance of ongoing psychological support. Therefore, it is crucial to strengthen the provision of emotional support and person-centred care in a day surgery context. There is also a need to be aware that environmental factors can impact on patient anxiety, promoting the use of music preoperatively can reduce anxiety and increase well-being. RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Crucially health professionals need to facilitate person-centred and continuity of care throughout the day surgery experience. Using dynamic interpersonal skills, such as active listening 'holding''containment' and attunement to reduce anxiety and feelings of abandonment in the preoperative period. Moreover, being alert to verbal utterances, para-language and non-verbal cues demonstrated by the patient. Specific information about delays regarding the timing of procedures needs to be carefully explained. PMID: 18705721 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

How music affects the body during surgery

Why use music during surgery? This is one of the frequent questions asked when I go out into the world and quite understandable. In our society, music is thought of primarily as entertainment. Yes, people put it on their iPod or car CD player or home stereo system to chill-out, energize, or just as background music to their day. Our world is full of music: TV, radio, movies and the ubiquitous iPod but music can also have powerful therapeutic benefits. When used during surgery music can help make the heart rate steady, the breathing steady, and the blood pressure moderate and steady. As a result, you will need less anesthesia to stay relaxed and sound asleep during your procedure. If this sounds too good to be true, just Google "music and surgery research" to see the hundreds of studies that have been conducted on this. There is absolutely no doubt about music's effectiveness! If you'd like to get the music that I have carefully and scientifically chosen for surgery, click on the link in the upper left corner. You can download it directly to your iPod or other MP3 player! Don't hestitate to contact me with any questions. Best wishes for your successful surgery!

You know that music makes a difference in your surgical procedure, right? You can have live music but that's a little harder that purchasing either the special music I've put together for you or my pre-programmed MP3 player, ready to go into surgery with you. Which do you want? Click on the ad in the top left corner to order! Thanks! Nine important questions to ask your surgeon before your surgery. Preparing for surgery can be a big undertaking. However, in the midst of your preparation don't forget to get all your questions answered before the surgery. Write down questions if you have to and ask your primary care doctor or surgeon. Don't be afraid to ask what you think is a silly question. To help you prepare for surgery, here are nine questions to get you started. Ask these questions before your surgery, as well as any others that come to mind. 1. What is done during the surgery? Ask for a clear description of the operation. If necessary, ask the doctor to draw a picture to help explain exactly what the surgery involves. Find out if there are alternative surgical procedures. Are there alternatives to surgery? Sometimes surgery is the only way to correct the problem. But one option might be watchful waiting, to see if the problem gets better or worse. 2. How will surgery help? A hip replacement, for example, may mean you'll be able to walk comfortably again. To what extent will the surgery help, and how long will the benefits last? You'll want realistic expectations. 3. What are the risks? All operations carry some risk. Weigh the benefits against the risks. Ask about the side effects of the operation, such as the degree of pain you might expect and how long that pain will last. 4. What kind of experience have you had with this surgery? How many times has the doctor performed this surgery, and what percentage of the people who have had the surgery had successful results? To reduce your risks, you want a doctor who is thoroughly trained in the surgery and who has plenty of experience doing it. 5. Where will the surgery be done? Many surgeries today are done on an outpatient basis. You go to a hospital or a clinic for the surgery and return home the same day. 6. Will I be put to sleep for the surgery? Your surgery may require only local anesthesia, which means that just part of your body is numbed for a short time. In case of general anesthesia, you are put to sleep. 7. How long will the surgery and recovery take? Many surgeries can be done relatively quickly and don't require an extended stay in a hospital. However, it may be different for your surgery, so you should ask. Also ask whether you'll need to stay overnight in the hospital, or perhaps stay several days. You'll want to know when most people are able to resume their normal activities, such as doing chores around the house and returning to work. You may think there would be no harm in lifting a sack of groceries after a week or two. But there might be. Follow your doctor's advice as carefully as possible. Also ask your surgeon if you'll have any restrictions on what you can eat or drink before or after the surgery. 8. What will it cost me? Health insurance coverage varies. You may not have to pay anything. You might have a deductible to meet. Or perhaps you'll have to pay a percentage of the cost. The doctor's office can usually give you information about this, but you also need to check with your insurance company. Be aware there will be both a surgeon's fee and a hospital or facility fee — know the cost of both. Be certain to know if you are responsible for a flat copay — a set amount for the surgery — or if you have to pay a percentage of the bill. There's a big difference. 9. Should I get a second opinion? If, after asking all these questions and others, you still have unanswered questions, are unsatisfied with the answers or are still uncomfortable about surgery, you may want to consider the advice of another doctor. A second opinion, also called a consultation, can be a good way for you to get some more perspective on your surgical options. If you seek a second opinion, do so with someone with expertise doing the surgery. Your primary care doctor may be able to help suggest someone for a second opinion. Keep in mind that a second opinion isn't necessarily any better than the first one. If there's disagreement, or agreement, between the two opinions, it's still up to you to evaluate what choice you feel most comfortable with.

Thought You Might Like to See my Patent!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the actual patent was issued from the U.S. Patent Office a couple of weeks ago. One of my business advisors suggested that I might like to scan the cover of the patent for all of my readers to see. I was a disappointed that my name isn't on the cover. It's actually kind of like a little booklet and my name, the full description and the pictures (drawings) are on the inside. Anyway, here's the cover with it's beautiful gold seal and red ribbon!

Fear of Anesthesia

It's not too surprising that many people have a crippling fear of anesthesia. As a matter of fact, their fear is so intense and so overwhelming that they choose not to have surgery, rather than subject themselves to their terrifying projections. But is anesthesia really that dangerous? According to Sarah Wassner Flynn, (http://www.sheknows.com/) "Serious complications from general anesthesia are extremely rare: Malignant hyperthermia affects about one in 10,000 to one in 30,000 patients and far fewer – about five in one million – will die. But even one is too many. More common are side effects like nausea, dizziness and muscle aches, which are much less dangerous and easily managed. Of course, my purpose in introducing this topic is to let you know that listening to soft, slow, steady instrmental music during surgery has been proven to relax the mind and body tension to the point that up to 50% less anesthesia can be taken and still the body and mind are completely anesthetized! Now that's worth investigating, isn't it? To read more, go to MUSIC FOR SURGERY. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all about the process, the research, or the music I have chosen! To your successful surgery!

Man plays banjo during his own brain surgery!

Several people have sent me links to this unusual video and I wanted to share it with all of my readers and clients! This well-known country music star, Eddie Adcock, was asked to bring his banjo into surgery in order to discern how part of his brain were functioning during hs brain surgery! This is truly a rare an amazing clip! Enjoy!

Surgery Music Patent Issued today from Washington, D.C.

More exciting new regarding my music for surgery patent. The patent office had notified us that the patent was approved but today it was actually issued. Here's the letter: "We are pleased to report that U.S. Patent No. 7,xxx,xxx issued this morning. Congratulations! An electronic copy of this patent is attached, and we will review and forward you the official ribbon copy upon receipt." Remember, until the headphones are ready to go on the market, you can download the surgery music NOW for your own personal MP3 player! If you or someone you know is going to have surgery soon, PLEASE use this music to reduce the amount of anesthesia needed, the amount of pain medication needed and result in a faster, less painful recovery! To purchase the download, go HERE. Let me know if you have questions!

Real Soul Music

Research has shown that 30 to 60 minutes of music a day can lower levels of pain and of blood pressure. It has also been found to improve respiration rates The sound of piano music coming from the operating theatre was the first clue that something unusual was afoot. As the theatre doors swung open and the trolley was wheeled in, the patient was greeted by a smiling surgeon sitting at a piano playing "The More I See You". As the surgeon played on, with random extracts from other piano works, the patient was sedated and prepared for surgery. With the patient and theatre team ready, the music finally stopped, and the surgeon stood up and began his day job. The experiment in Hawaii, a world first, was testing whether music has an effect on health, pain and vital signs, such as blood pressure and heart and breathing rates, as well as levels of hormones and antibodies.

Are you ready for music with your surgery?

People who live in the Louisville, KY area have been hearing about music with surgery for at least 10 years. At first blush, it seems like a radical idea, but once people understand that your body responds to music even when "asleep" it makes perfect sense. The first thing one must understand is: It's NOT about entertainment! Although I'd like to believe that it is definitely enjoyable, the idea is that our minds and bodies respond to the slow, steady pulse of music by staying more relaxed and maintaining and slow, steady heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. THIS allows the patient to require up to 50% LESS anesthesia! That is phenomenal! Anesthesia is one of the most dangerous (but necessary) parts of surgery. If you can maintain the same level of sedation without nearly as much anesthesia, why wouldn't you?

If you're as excited about this as I am, stay tuned to this blog for regular updates!

More News on the Surgery Patent!

WOW! What a difference a couple of days can make in one's life! Since getting word on Monday that my patent had finally been awarded, I have been contacted by loads of people! Isn't that exciting? Most are just asking for information about my idea and of course one of the things that I do is to refer them to this blog! You CAN subscribe to this blog. Did you know that? There's a little box near the top of the page that you can fill in and then not miss a single post! I'm getting so many congratulatory emails that I spend nearly an hour everytime I sit down just reading those! In the meantime, I'm leaving Sunday on my 60th birthday cruise with my kids and their husbands so I'll be out of touch while I'm gone. Please leave your comments on the blog. I look forward to hearing from you!

One of my dreams has come true!!

I am so excited and thrilled to announce the yesterday I was notified that my invention for delivering music during surgery has received a patent from the U.S. Patent Office. Needless to say, there are lots of small details ( like paying ANOTHER $1,000.00!!!) but now I can market the invention as a unique, proven, and patented device for surgery!!! HOORAY!!! It's been a 3 1/2 year journey and I was turned down so many times in the beginning that I thought it might not happen at all. But as of yesterday around noon, the tides have turned and now I can begin looking for angel investors! Wouldn't you like to invest in a simple device that will revolutionize the OR because of it's proven ability to decrease the amount of anesthesia, anxiety medication and pain medication...all through music? I can only let a limited number of people join me in this venture so contact me at chantdoc@healingmusicenterprises.com if you are interested! HOORAY!!!

Music Surgery Soundtrack to be released shortly!

I am sooo excited friends! I've put together the first in a series of downloadble soundtracks for surgery! This music will be available from a new page on my website and for those who are not adept at downloading music, I will also preprogram MP3 players for you to take directly into surgery. I'm working on the Ebook for Music and Surgery right now and putting the finishing touches on it. Please let all of your friends and families know about this exciting release. Surgery is an important and usually necessary event but it doesn't have to be as dangerous. Numerous studies document that patients listening to slow, steady, instrumental music through headphones (or earbuds!) need less anesthesia and anesthesia is one of the things people have to recover from!!

Please stay tuned!!

More about the live music surgery research!

An eye surgeon in Hawaii has reported the results of a delightful study in which he played live classical piano music to some of his patients in the operating room before surgery. In the "preoperative holding area", patients' heart rates were measured along with their blood pressure and respiratory rate. Some of the patients then underwent conventional eye surgery, the noise of hospital machinery their only entertainment. Others were told that their surgeon would be playing them live piano music when they entered theatre, before they were sedated for their operation. Those in the non-music group showed an increase in heart rate and other signs of anxiety when they were in theatre. But the anxiety rates of those in the "musical surgeon"' group showed a beneficial decrease in the operating room. Any patient who has been in an operating theatre will know that it is no easy matter to feel less anxious there than in the waiting room, so this result seems inspiring. Recorded music is often played in operating theatres, but I had never heard of live music being played. "No complications occurred during or after surgery due to the presence of a piano in the OR", the study notes drily. The surgeon played relaxing, melodious music in a gently flowing tempo. Were the patients responding only to the music, or to the fact that their own surgeon was playing it? As the study speculates, "this may have added a further level of confidence in his surgical skill." I'm a classical pianist and, in the thoroughly non-medical setting of the concert hall, I've been struck by how often audience members confide that they have experienced some kind of beneficial effect on their wellbeing or state of health. All kinds of music can be beneficial, but I believe there is something about classical music which makes it specially effective, and I think its therapeutic effects could be more widely harnessed. The long spans of the music, the interplay of melody and harmony, the complex structure, the low volume levels, the absence of amplification, the subtlety of its rhythms – all these are conducive to a pleasurable meditative state at the very least. Moreover, the sight and sound of music being made near you, and for you, can be profoundly affecting. Having musicians and instruments in an operating theatre presents some tricky hygiene issues. Nevertheless my instinct tells me that live music must be more effective than recorded. I believe that the brain can distinguish between live and electronically reproduced music, and that live music is mysteriously more potent. If it reduces the need for sedation, and makes the patient feel calmer, it must be worth exploring the path outlined by the Hawaii experiment.

Calling Dr. Mozart!

The operating room of a hospital is a highly stressful place. Surgeons and assistants have to be extremely attentive, moving quickly but carefully. Playing music during surgeries has been shown to relax the staff and the patients. Some of the benefits that extend to the recovery room are lower heart rate, blood pressure and reduced need for pain medication.Dr. Claudius Conrad, now a senior surgical resident at Harvard Medical School, suggests music can go even further. He’s published a paper suggesting that music can stimulate a 50 percent jump in pituitary growth hormone. The hormone is associated with stress but, paradoxically, can help exert healing. Dr. Conrad is also a classically-trained pianist with a doctorate in music theory.Also, the study of music therapy has evolved in the United States for the past half a century, and there’s growing evidence that music is as good for the body as it is for the soul.

Live piano music in surgery? Why not??

By Helen Altonnmailto:haltonn@starbulletin.com?subject=http://starbulletin.com/2008/06/25/Classical music played on a piano in the operating room for 115 patients having eye surgery at the former St. Francis Medical Center-Liliha had "profound" physical benefits, it was reported today. The music lowered the patients' blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates before any sedation or pain medication, according to a paper in the Medscape Journal of Medicine, a Web resource for physicians of peer-reviewed medical journal articles. Dr. Jorge Camara, a classically trained pianist and ophthalmologist, played music for patients before surgery as part of a study from May to August 2005 to demonstrate the medical benefits of music. The classical and semi-classical pieces ranged from Debussy's "Arabesque No. 1 in E Major" and Chopin's "Etude in E Major, Op. 10 No. 3," to "The More I See You," by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon. The patients, 49 to 79 years old, were having surgery for the first time. The study reports average decreases of 21 percent in their blood pressure, 8 percent in heart rate and 21 percent in breathing rate. "This sentinel paper validates the growing evidence that listening to relaxing music has profound beneficial effects on the physiologic functions of the human body," said Camara, director of ophthalmology in the Department of Surgery, University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. He believes it's the first study in which a surgeon performed on a piano in an operating room for patients before surgery. When Camara began the project, Samuel Wong, former Honolulu Symphony music director, and Arthur Harvey, former University of Hawaii music professor and researcher, joined him in playing the piano for patients. A total of 203 patients underwent ophthalmologic procedures when the piano was in the operating room, but 88 had no music played. The result was "a statistically significant increase of their mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate," the study found. Co-authors of the paper, "The Effects of Live Classical Piano Music on the Vital Signs of Patients Undergoing Ophthalmic Surgery," are Joseph Ruszkowski, Kamehameha Schools music teacher, and Dr. Sandra R. Worak, a research fellow trained by Camara now working in the Philippines. No complications were associated with the music, and patients "were very happy their doctor was playing the piano for them," Camara said in an interview. He said Kahala painter Laurie McKeon, 57, one of the patients who heard live music, wrote about the experience, explaining how scared she was to have surgery and how the piano music made a huge difference. She wrote: "The music soared above me, swirled around me. It penetrated through my pores, beyond my ears, past my mind and somehow, into my heart. I felt at peace. I felt safe. I felt like everything was going to be just fine. And it was." Camara no longer has live piano music in his operating room but patients hear a recording of him playing the piano. He is past president of the Aloha Medical Mission and has given three piano concerts to benefit the organization at the Neil Blaisdell Concert Hall. Citing growing interest in the medical benefits of music, he said, "So much more has to be studied," such as the effect on male versus female patients and rap music versus relaxing classical music. "This is only the beginning of a journey that will open our eyes to the wonderful potential of music for healing," he said. The paper can be seen on http://www.medscape.com/.

Music and Surgery coming to Lexington!

Dr. Jay Zwischenberger, UK chief of surgery, plays his harmonica. Staff and patients are said to find "Dr. Z's" music a source of reassurance and comfort. June 13, 2008 Musicians have long known intuitively that experiencing the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of music —as listener or performer— can help mend the troubled mind, body and soul. And health professionals have long shared an intuitive understanding that this healing quality of music has a lot to offer medical science; witness the calming heart-rate monitors in a Savannah neo-natal ward as the regular visits of a harpist get underway. Now these enduring intuitions are converging to form the basis of an innovative program integrating the arts in health care at the new Chandler Medical Center at the University of Kentucky.

Seven Spiritual Ways to Prepare for Surgery

This article appeared in Positive Thinking and was written by Paul Sterman.

My wife, Joelle, was scheduled for surgery to remove her right adrenal gland in three months, and she was terrified. "Every night I'd wake up and my heart would be racing," she recalls. "Fear would come over me. And panic."It's a common reaction when facing a medical procedure. Some people are psychologically scarred by a past experience. Others fixate on the pain they might suffer, or like Joelle, on the helplessness of anesthesia. "I was afraid of not waking up or feeling really disoriented," she says. "It's that loss of control that's so scary."If you're a stressed-out patient like my wife was, there's hope. You can take steps to face down your fears. Joelle did, and they made a dramatic difference. Her strategies:Don't deny your fearSheila Messina, an R.N. who has had a dozen major surgeries, says it's helpful to recognize your anxiety and get your feelings out in the open. Stay connected with your friends and family. A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that patients with a large support network feel less anxiety and pain prior to operations and have a quicker, smoother recovery.Ask questionsTalk to your physician and to other patients. Joelle peppered her doctor, Christopher Ng, M.D., of Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, with questions. His answers gave her a better idea of what to expect. Dr. Ng also put her in touch with patients who'd undergone the same operation. Talking to them "made me feel like I wasn't alone," Joelle says. "They survived—so could I."Meet your anesthesiologistMessina does this well ahead of an operation and is honest with the specialist about her fear, because it can affect her response to anesthesia. "We tend to become hypertensive when we are fearful, which can make recovery more complicated," she writes in her essay "Making Friends With Fear" in the journal Nutrition.Practice daily relaxation in the weeks leading upto surgeryJoelle used the techniques in psychotherapist Peggy Huddleston's book and CD, "Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster." Huddleston recommends daily relaxation exercises such as deep breathing, meditation and guided imagery (picturing positive images in your mind, like a tranquil scene on a lake or the face of a person who makes you happy). Once you get the hang of these techniques, you can use them in the hospital to bring inner peace.Have a loved one keep you company before the operationWhat's the best thing friends and family can do? "Just stay there with them, hold their hand, have them take deep breaths," says Cathy Smith, an R.N. for Fairview Southdale Hospital in Minnesota. "They might need to cry a little or talk about their fears."Listen to music during pre-opResearch shows music reduces anxiety and blood pressure in hospital patients. It helps people focus on something other than their worries and the hospital noises around them, Smith notes. "Some even play music during their operation," she adds. "It brings them calmness and makes the heart rate slower, which is a good thing because it means less sedation may be needed." She says that ritual music, such as Tibetan chants, is particularly effective, but the important thing is to choose whatever makes you feel relaxed and uplifted. Joelle made a mix tape that included disco tunes, numbers from The Lion King and "slow songs we danced to at our wedding."Bring a little piece of home to the hospitalHuddleston suggests taking along photos and other belongings that help you feel comforted, relaxed and secure. Joelle brought a special blanket and a photograph from our honeymoon in Yosemite.All of the effort my wife put into learning what she could do to combat her fear about surgery paid off on the day of the operation. "I felt almost a calmness that morning," Joelle says. She came through the surgery with flying colors.

Sufi Music in Surgery? Eyes wide shut??

(from the Turkish Daily News) Patients of the cardiac surgery intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital are treated with Sufi music therapy. The department’s medical specialist Erol Can, a Bulgarian immigrant of Turkish descent, tries to heal his patients through playing the ney, a traditional Sufi instrument. The tranquilizing sound of Sufi music echoes in the cardiac surgery intensive care unit of Istanbul's private Memorial Hospital where patients undergo Sufi music therapy as part of their treatment. Medical specialist Erol Can, who pioneered this treatment, was a member of the Turkish community in Bulgaria who were forced to migrate to Turkey in the 1980s. Upon his arrival, Can began researching the effects of the sound of the reed flute (ney) on the mental and physical health of his patients. Each day, while sitting next to one of his patients, Can played the ney and tried to see whether it had any effect on the patient's heart rhythm and blood pressure. After a series of experiments, he proved that Sufi music had positive effects on each patient's health condition. “We got negative results only for one patient,” said Can, noting that the patient was suffering from post-surgery depression at the time. This led Can to undertake further research, where he found that some parts of certain musical genres have negative effects on the individual. “Some parts are not suitable for patients who suffer from depression,” he said. He later decided to ask his patients which musical genre they prefer. Can had received a number of medals by Bulgarian authorities before the forced migration took place. He also hold a dozen of honorary diplomas, his name is on patented projects and he is the author of some 60 scientific articles so far. A cardiovascular specialist playing the ney Can is a graduate of the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria. “I was not able to use my real name. The name that the Bulgarian state gave me was Emil Sariyef. And I just had to work two times harder than those genuine Bulgarians in order to be successful,” said Can. H managed to accomplish the impossible in the field of medicine and graduated with a perfect score of 100/100. “This was a kind of response to the discrimination imposed by the Bulgarian state,” he said. In 1989, when he was a PhD student, Can was subjected to forced migration from Bulgaria to Turkey. “Half of the members of my family were left behind. Moreover, I learned at the last moment that my mother had cancer,” he said. But Can also encountered problems upon his arrival in Turkey. “I was penniless. I had to start my life from the beginning. Furthermore, there was a huge cultural gap between me and the new social environment I was surrounded by,” he said, noting that at that point he began using music as a remedy for himself. This is not surprising as Can was born into a musician family and has always been drawn to music ever since his early childhood years during which he learned to play many musical instruments. The Florance Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul was the first institution in Turkey where Can began to practice medicine. He then continued his career at the cardiac surgery intensive care unit of Memorial Hospital. This was where he performed his initial music therapies with the ney. “Once I played the ney for an unconscious patient of mine. When he regained consciousness I asked him how he felt and he told me he had found himself listening to peaceful music in heaven,” said Can. Music therapy an Eastern tradition Can said music has always been a significant part of rituals and ceremonies at special instances like births and deaths throughout history, since the early Pagan times. For him, its positive effects on the human soul cannot be denied. He said he borrowed the music therapy method from the Orient. “In the Medieval times, while some patients used to be burned in the West because they used to be perceived as souls possessed by evil, experts in the East were treating their patients with music and water therapies,” he said. Specifically, the sound produced by the ney and the kemençe (the Eastern equivalent of the fiddle) is the closest to the human voice and therefore gives the human soul a feeling of peace and serenity, he added. Not so long ago, Can himself underwent heart bypass surgery. As he was preparing for the operation, he wanted to hear the sound of the ney. “My blood pressure had jumped to 160 for I was quite nervous before I listened to the ney sound. But after I listened to it, I took my blood pressure again and it was 130,” he said, referring to his personal experience of ney therapy. A mere hours after he awoke, Can began playing the ney as though he had just taken some painkillers.

Music in the Hawaiian OR...continued!

(See the previous post for the intro to this article.)

Eye-surgery patient Benjamin Semana went to sleep under anesthesia yesterday listening to Dr. Samuel Wong, the Honolulu Symphony's outgoing music director, play Bach and Beethoven on an electric piano in the operating room. Medical benefits of music What: Pan-Pacific Conference on Music and HealingWho: Distinguished speakers and performersWhen: 2 to 6 p.m. tomorrow at the new John A. Burns School of Medicine at Kakaako, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall. Suggested donation: $100 per person.Sponsor: Dr. Samuel Wong's Global Music Healing Institute The unique, musical setup at the St. Francis Medical Center-Liliha is part of the hospital's new Laser Tear Duct Center, which will be used for all kinds of eye surgery. Wong, who is also an ophthalmologist, stopped playing to observe Dr. Jorge G. Camara perform laser surgery on Semana for a blocked tear duct. But the live piano performance continued with Dr. Arthur Harvey, University of Hawaii music professor and researcher, at the keyboard. While Camara had help yesterday from guest musicians, he's a classically trained pianist, as well as a surgeon, and he plans to play for patients while they undergo and awaken from anesthesia. "I could hear it in the background," Camara said after Semana's operation. "It relaxed me. To have a live pianist is an awesome experience, and to have Dr. Wong by my side is incredible." The Laser Tear Duct Center was blessed yesterday by the Rev. Joe Specht, the hospital's chaplain.

Music in the OR in Hawaii

I've written many times about my mentor, Dr. Arthur Harvey. He has been a believer of the power of music during surgery for a long, long time. Enjoy this article excerpt from the http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/20/news/story2.html

Dr. Arthur Harvey played classical music on an electric piano at St. Francis Medical Center's new Laser Tear Duct Center yesterday as Dr. Jorge Camara, in colorful hat, operated on patient Benjamin Semana's blocked tear duct and Dr. Samuel Wong observed at right. Wong, the Honolulu Symphony's outgoing music director, is also an ophthalmologist.

A Surgeon's Heart Beats to Music and Medicine in N.J.

by Robert Wiener NJJN Staff Writer April 03, 2008 For much of his life — indeed, for all of this and much of the past century — Victor Parsonnet has stood at the center of Newark history, especially in the fields of medicine and music. As a cardiac surgeon, he has been closely involved with such pioneering developments as the pacemaker, the transplant, and the artificial heart. As a pianist and patron of the arts, he has until recently served as chair of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and contributed much to its attaining world-class status. And as a third-generation member of the Parsonnet and Danzis families, he is heir to the tradition of quality medical care practiced by his grandfathers, the first Victor Parsonnet and Max Danzis. Now, as he nears the age of 85, the chief of surgery at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is quick to acknowledge he is “the luckiest man alive.” Late last year, when he stepped down as the chair of the NJSO, observers could be forgiven for assuming that he was at last ready for retirement. “I have not retired,” he insisted in a recent interview. “I am emeritus.” Likewise, when it comes to medicine, he has no intention of stepping down. “I retired in July and unretired a week later. I love to work,” he said. “I love patient care, and I love research, and there is a lot to do. It is very important to me.” He is willing, however, to take a look back on a career in medicine and the arts, even if a few of its chapters have yet to be written. His grandfathers were principals in building “the Beth” in 1901. What began as a 21-bed facility on the corner of West Kinney and High streets is today a state-of-the-art medical center on Lyons Avenue that always made room for the Jewish and African-American physicians denied positions elsewhere. Unlike so many other Jews of his era, the second Victor Parsonnet was born not at the Beth but at a summer home in Deal on the Jersey shore. But his boyhood addresses were in Newark — on High Street and Pomona Avenue — and he attended Maple Avenue School and Weequahic High School. He left Cornell University and entered the U.S. Navy Reserve during World War II, and while in the service, he went to medical school at New York University. There was never a doubt he would follow his father and grandfather into the “family business.” “I was brought up in the Depression era,” he said, reminiscing at a round table in his office in the hospital. “People didn’t have much idea about branching out. All I knew was medicine.” His grandfather’s fatal heart attack in a hospital laboratory helped Parsonnet decide on a medical specialty. “I became interested in sudden death,” he said. It was a field just beginning to grow. The right place At the start of his career, Parsonnet said, “there was no such thing as heart surgery. There was no heart-lung machine. You couldn’t open the chest. The heart-lung pumps began around 1957. Heart surgery began as a specialty in the late 1950s. So I was lucky, I was in the right place at the right time for everything.” At first, he operated on blood vessels. Then, seeking more training, he moved to Houston to study closely with two pioneers, Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley. When Cooley performed the first successful human heart transplant in the United States in 1968 and implanted the first artificial heart a year later in Houston, Parsonnet said, “I never left his side. I scrubbed in with him on every case he did.” When he returned to Newark, Parsonnet began sharing his knowledge and “sort of slid into” doing heart operations on his own. To laypeople, few things seem more awesome and inspiring than a surgeon actually holding a patient’s heart. “But I am less concerned about that than about before and after surgery,” he said. “The operation itself is a treatment. The patient’s relationship with me is more telling, more emotional. It’s more important.” But in 1985 when he performed his first transplant — the first ever done in New Jersey — “what was really exciting was holding someone else’s heart and putting it in this empty space.” After his first five transplants, however, “I didn’t want to keep doing it anymore. I did not want to be up all night, and I was interested in other things.” So he shared his skills with others, helping the Beth become the seventh-busiest heart transplant center in the country and the only one in the state. First pacemaker He hit another milestone in 1961as the first surgeon in New Jersey to install a pacemaker, the internal device used to jolt a malfunctioning heart. Parsonnet with the da Vinci surgical system, a robot that is used to insert probes through the abdomen or chest while a surgeon manipulates them from across the room. Photo courtesy Victor Parsonnet “It was a big deal,” he recalled. “Opening a chest with a heart standing still and sewing the wires in and watching it beat was very exciting. We did 16 that first year.” There are now 400 to 500 doctors installing pacemakers in New Jersey and two to three million worldwide, he estimated. But it was a patient at the Beth, not a doctor, who designed the world’s first stents in 1987, installed in the groin area to detour blood flow around a patient’s blocked arteries. The inventor was an engineer named Dominic Wiktor, who was determined to find a less invasive procedure than the heart operation he had received. Of course, progress in the years since then has been dramatic. Now, said Parsonnet, “a new era of diagnostic technology is just beginning. You can see organs inside in three dimensions.” But Parsonnet said he predicts that the most promising developments will come from stem cells. “It looks like they have something for Parkinson’s Disease that will lead to treating an infinite number of things, such as regrowing parts of organs, treating people with leukemia and other blood disorders, and replacing damaged cells with healthy ones.” “But,” he sighed, “it is a political issue.” Looking at the even broader issue of health care in America, Parsonnet had a speedy one-word diagnosis — “disaster.” “We are nowhere near the best medical care in the world. We are far from the best mortality rate. Cuba has a lower mortality rate than we do. France, Germany, England are doing better than we are. I think it’s a disgrace.” Weight of heredity Along with politics, Parsonnet said he spends “lots of time thinking about religion in general” and feels “very strongly about being Jewish.” “I am a secular Jew. My grandfather, Max Danzis, was a Jewish scholar. My grandparents were immigrants from Ukraine or Russia in shtetls that no longer exist. I have a heavy weight of heredity on my shoulders. My first wife, Mia, was a refugee from the Holocaust, so I have very strong emotional feelings about Jewish tradition — but I am not religious,” he explained. Another family legacy is a love for classical music that started when he began studying piano as a child. He followed his father onto the NJSO board. Parsonnet served as chair when the symphony made its new home at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark in 1997, a milestone for an ensemble The New York Times has called “one of the country’s best regionals.” As chair of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Victor Parsonnet enjoys a post-concert moment with famed violinist Isaac Stern. Photo courtesy Victor Parsonnet “It is one of the most important things I have ever done,” said Parsonnet. “Music is part of me.”

Updates on Music with Surgery

Good Monday morning to you! As you may know, helping people to use music with their surgery is one of the main things that I do. There is so much research out there on the multiple and varied benefits of music THROUGH HEADPHONES during surgery that it's no surprise that more and more hospitals are offering music to incoming surgery patients during the pre-surgery phase. I'm working hard to create a powerful and easy-to-use system that patients can take into surgery or having waiting for them in the waiting area. I'm working on an eBook right now that will provide a step-by-step process for creating your own surgery playlist and talking with your physician/surgeon about using music before, during and after the procedure.

As I travel around the country I try to talk with as many interested physicians as possible about these ideas. On a recent trip to Sarasota, Florida, I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Marlene Buckler, an ER doc who is very excited about my music and surgery ideas and has given me many insights and suggestions already. I'd like to refer my readers to her website http://www.stayoutofmyer.com/ and suggest that you sign up for her free "Tip of the Week." I've worked with hundreds of people now, helping them choose the perfect music for their procedure. I hope you'll consider it and tell your friends to visit my website for more info! Have a great week!

Music and Anesthesia

Earlier today I was talking with an old friend about the benefits of music during surgery. Of course the number one benefit that I usually tell people is the fact that reasearch has documented that people using music during surgery have been known to need less than 50% of the usual amount of anesthesia. Why is this important? Because anesthesia is one of the main things that one must recover from after surgery. Pretty much all of the bodily functions such as peristaltic action, come to a grinding halt during surgery. You do know about peristaltic action? Let me quote from Wikipedia: Peristalsis is the rhythmic contraction of smooth muscles to propel contents through the digestive tract. The word is derived from New Latin and comes from the Greek peristaltikos, peristaltic, from peristellein, "to wrap around," and stellein, "to place." In much of the gastrointestinal tract, smooth muscles contract in sequence to produce a peristaltic wave which forces a ball of food (called a bolus while in the esophagus and gastrointestinal tract and chyme in the stomach) along the gastrointestinal tract. Peristaltic movement is initiated by circular smooth muscles contracting behind the chewed material to prevent it from moving back into the mouth, followed by a contraction of longitudinal smooth muscles which pushes the digested food forward."

In other words, you are likely to be very constipated after surgery. The anesthesia causes not only this but lots of other potentially life-threatening conditions. If music through headphones can help, let's do it!!

Super Bowl and Surgery

Are you watching the Super Bowl? I've got one eye on it and the other on my laptop where I'm working on ways to let people know about all the benefits of music during surgery. Each day brings more requests from people who've just found out that they need surgery and are looking for holistic tools to create a safer surgical experience and improve their chances for a speedy and healthy recovery. In the recent past I've worked with patients having hip replacements, heart surgery, prostate surgery, hysterectomies, and C-sections. It's a fact that listening to your favorite music through headphones greatly decreases patient anxiety and the need for benzodiazepenese and other potentially addictive medications.

It also reduces the amount of anesthesia you'll require during the procedure and the amount of pain medication you'll require after surgery! Is this wishful thinking or superstition? NO! This is documented scientific research that you can read about on my blog "Surgery with Music," listed in the box below. Please check it out and share it with friends and family who might be having surgery in the near future. You can also sign up for a personal surgery consultation HERE. Give yourself every possible benefit for surgery with music chosen especially for you and your procedure.

Hospitilizations and Music

I've just found out that my mother is back in the hopital. I'm so disappointed and sad because she seemed to be doing so well, but when you have multiple chronic conditions, it really is to be expected I guess. The picture here was made of my mother on her 82nd birthday just a little over a month ago. She was feeling just great then! Anyway, she will undoubtedly be listening to her favorite music while there but she'll also be listening to basketball games on TV because she loves sports of all kinds!! I think when a person is in the hospital the best plan is to let them listen to what they choose but just be sure to offer lots of good music to them. I'll keep you posted!