A New Place

This last Tuesday, I started at a VA hospital and am enjoying it so far. It's nice to be able to serve those that served our country. The hospital does a lot of PTSD research and I hope to be able to help with the healing in that area...having suffered from PTSD in my early 20's. This is my set up with the harp, dolly, and little stool. Do you like it? I managed to be able to attach the stool to the dolly, grab my big red bag, and travel down the hallways to wherever I go.

Vets sure are talkative. I hope to be able to add some music into my repertoire that they enjoy. I know I'll probably receive requests. Many of the Vets thought I went to school at Julliard and I had to laugh. It's hard to explain about my school to them, since it is a combination of online study material, videos, monthly conference call, DVD study, recordings, papers, quizzes, and last but not least 80 hours of internship in hospital/hospice settings! To learn more about my school program, please visit IHTP.

I am happy to report that I finally had my first experience playing in a patient's room. I started playing and an old lady came out of her bed, into the hallway and started to dance! Then a male nurse hugged her and took her in dance position, and there they were, dancing in front of me in the hallway! It was very cute. Then, the old lady asked me to come into her room and play for her roommate who seemed down. So I didn't hesitate, but made sure the space was secure and asked permission. Lunch was being served, so that was an issue, but we worked it out. However, the old lady just talked and talked while I played and it was difficult to play continuously for the other patient. The old lady told me how she loved to tango and how everyone is so grumpy nowadays.

It was also good practice to play when an alarm went off, I made sure to harmonize with it. Then I moved to another hospital location, where patient's sit patiently in their breezy gowns until their procedures start. Some of the men are rather embarrassed in their attire, but I don't care! I saw a familiar face and he was happy to see me. While I was playing for him, I took a brief pause, and he said, "I just saw an angel fly across the ceiling". He said this very seriously! He also didn't seem the type to be spouting off about angels either. So I thought that was pretty cool.

I got my lucky parking spot in the hospital garage today, so I knew it was going to be a good day!

Personally, I've been getting migraines almost daily due to my decreasing vision and the contrasting differences between the left and right eye. I was able to wear my husband's glasses the other night and actually see better. I had LASIK/PRK done in 2007, and I already have vision changes and will have to wear glasses again. My eyes were so dry from wearing hard contacts for years, that they had to insert permanent tear duct plugs, so that my eyes would remain moist. I'm hesitant to return to contact lenses (and am not even sure I can). Though in some weird way, I loved to wear my last pair of glasses (Gucci!) and think they give sort of a hot intellectual look. ;)

I also saw the doctor today and I have some great news. I have slowly been reducing my dosage of anti-depressants since last October with my doctor's approval and now I can spread it out even further until I finish the bottle and hopefully do not have to be on those ever again! I always thought I had to be on those for life, but since a sort of mind-loop has been lifted, my thoughts have cleared, my mood improved, and my down days only feel "blue". I have been on meds for a good part of my 20's...so over a decade now, and I will finally be pill free. However, the side effect is weight gain when you get OFF the medication and many have gained at least 25-30 lbs. I have definitely gone up a jean size or two, and I don't think it was just the holidays! We have a nice new recumbent bike now. It makes my butt numb while riding it, but hey, at least it's exercise!