November 9, 2011 - Posted by tamilb
Bryan Sisk, here giving his little neice a guitar lesson, has used his guitar to reach out to pediatric patients.
When I was at my book signing at Cleveland Clinic last month, I met Bryan Sisk, a young medical student who used to work with Dr. Tuohy (who is developing the first preventive breast cancer vaccine there). Bryan told me how he wrote a book, A Lasting Effect: Reflections on Music and Medicine, about his experiences playing guitar and singing songs to patients at the Clinic’s Children’s Hospital. He gave me a copy of the book and I just got around to reading it.
Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. A Lasting Effect is less than 100 pages but it is full of stories and poems that put things in perspective about my cancer experience. I was amazed by Bryan’s depiction of the grace and resiliency of the children and their parents as they face life-threatening and life-altering diseases. Not all of the young patients have cancer; some have heart problems, epilepsy or other conditions.
Reading the book broke and warmed my heart at the same time. The stories show the power of music and simply being present for these kids. Bryan tells of one patient whom nurses warned him about being difficult. Knowing that Bryan was carrying a guitar, rather than a needle or other invasive device, changed the child’s whole disposition.
Many of the stories are happy and hopeful, but some are tear-jerkers. Take this poem, for example:
Relapse
In the first room I enter
Is a young boy I’d seen
For several months in the past
But not recently
“Look Mom, It’s Bryan”
He yelled happily
“It’s been such a long time
Since you last came to see me”
He showed me his Legos
And explained his game to me
As he played with his toys
His mother whispered quietly
“He relapsed in December,
His cancer came back
Now he’s admitted for chemo
Four days at a time.”
I solemnly nod
But keep my smile for him
Another painful reminder
Of why these sick kids come in
It’s passages like this that make me feel like my problems are small. I’m an adult; I’ve lived a great life; and I’m feeling healthy. I wonder aloud how I would handle my child being sick. At the same time, Bryan’s work gives me hope that there is a new generation of doctors who truly care about the individuals they treat.
Bryan, now a fourth-year medical student, rarely has time to play for patients these days. But he told me has trained a first-year student to take over the helm. Bryan is considering pediatric oncology as a specialty. He certainly has already had wonderful training.
A Lasting Effect: Reflections on Music and Medicine by Bryan Sisk, is available online at
Amazon and
Createspace . Additionally, the book is available at several Cleveland bookstores, including Joseph-Beth Booksellers at the Cleveland Clinic, Mac’s Backs on Coventry, Visible Voice in Tremont, Appletree Books on Fairmount, and Matthew’s Medical Books on Euclid.
If you like the book, then please “like” it on . By the way, if you like my book, From Incurable to Incredible, “like it on my page, too!
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Bryan Sisk, here giving his little neice a guitar lesson, has used his guitar to reach out to pediatric patients.
When I was at my book signing at Cleveland Clinic last month, I met Bryan Sisk, a young medical student who used to work with Dr. Tuohy (who is developing the first preventive breast cancer vaccine there). Bryan told me how he wrote a book, A Lasting Effect: Reflections on Music and Medicine, about his experiences playing guitar and singing songs to patients at the Clinic’s Children’s Hospital. He gave me a copy of the book and I just got around to reading it.
Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. A Lasting Effect is less than 100 pages but it is full of stories and poems that put things in perspective about my cancer experience. I was amazed by Bryan’s depiction of the grace and resiliency of the children and their parents as they face life-threatening and life-altering diseases. Not all of the young patients have cancer; some have heart problems, epilepsy or other conditions.
Reading the book broke and warmed my heart at the same time. The stories show the power of music and simply being present for these kids. Bryan tells of one patient whom nurses warned him about being difficult. Knowing that Bryan was carrying a guitar, rather than a needle or other invasive device, changed the child’s whole disposition.
Many of the stories are happy and hopeful, but some are tear-jerkers. Take this poem, for example:
Relapse In the first room I enter Is a young boy I’d seen For several months in the past But not recently “Look Mom, It’s Bryan” He yelled happily “It’s been such a long time Since you last came to see me” He showed me his Legos And explained his game to me As he played with his toys His mother whispered quietly “He relapsed in December, His cancer came back Now he’s admitted for chemo Four days at a time.” I solemnly nod But keep my smile for him Another painful reminder Of why these sick kids come in It’s passages like this that make me feel like my problems are small. I’m an adult; I’ve lived a great life; and I’m feeling healthy. I wonder aloud how I would handle my child being sick. At the same time, Bryan’s work gives me hope that there is a new generation of doctors who truly care about the individuals they treat. Bryan, now a fourth-year medical student, rarely has time to play for patients these days. But he told me has trained a first-year student to take over the helm. Bryan is considering pediatric oncology as a specialty. He certainly has already had wonderful training. A Lasting Effect: Reflections on Music and Medicine by Bryan Sisk, is available online at Amazon and Createspace . Additionally, the book is available at several Cleveland bookstores, including Joseph-Beth Booksellers at the Cleveland Clinic, Mac’s Backs on Coventry, Visible Voice in Tremont, Appletree Books on Fairmount, and Matthew’s Medical Books on Euclid.If you like the book, then please “like” it on . By the way, if you like my book, From Incurable to Incredible, “like it on my page, too!