Tag: LIFE

F E A R

Posted on by Escape Global

Three years ago I had a patient, in fact the first patient I administered music to as an undergraduate which I think was wishy-washy because I had just little knowledge on the guitar. This patient was a beautiful woman from the south western part of Nigeria who was already a grandmother at the time I think, she had Diabetes and other ailments I can’t remember now.
I somehow took special interest in this woman because she was friendly and welcoming despite the pain. At first sight you would tag her happy woman with less worries, at the time her leg was to be amputated due to the ailment.
That’s not even where I’m headed to, lots of persons who look happy, post stuffs on their status and other social media handles encouraging others are 80% of the time dealing with one fear or the other yet putting up a façade.

Back to my story, I visited this hospital weekly, encouraging her with music that gave her hope and helped her faith in God because she was Christian and somehow I saw her loosen up, she began to confide in me with tears in her eyes. I mean this is a woman you would tag strong because she seemed so welcoming but from conversations with her I realized it isn’t what it is. She had lots of fears especially the fear of her leg being amputated; the money that had been spent and would still be spent was also a major fear. All these happened in an atmosphere of music, as we sang short spontaneous songs together, she would loosen up and tell me very personal things that I didn’t feel worthy to be privy to but I noticed one thing, it freed her from all her fears as she spoke while I sang or after I sang whilst communing with her creator, she realized she was better, hopeful and guess what in a couple of weeks she was well and about to be discharged. Greater news was that her leg wasn’t amputated, call it a miracle!
Fear kills faster than the ailment or issue a person might be experiencing.
It is said from research that music has the ability to alleviate pain, anxiety and free anyone from fears. Call it a miracle again!

Fear weakens the immune system. When a person is happy it makes their immune system strengthened to function better.
If fear weakens the immune system faster than the ailment or issues, that means we probably should not be hosting a pity party around it.
I believe that one of the major things that has killed so many persons who were diagnosed with Coronavirus is the fear that they’ve been told that it kills or probably they have read that its a deadly virus, it simply means If we get fear out of the way we would have more recoveries.

I believe that Fear can be cured with music.
When a person isn’t fearful, his spirit can still sustain his infirmity till he jerks back to life and wellness.

Have you ever been fearful?
Did Music help you?
Kindly share with me how music was of help to you.

I miss reading from You 💕

Link to my podcast here; https://anchor.fm/mercy-kay/episodes/F-E-A-R-eivfp3

M U S I C A L D E C L A R A T I O N

Posted on by Escape Global

You know when they say your words are weapon and you can either use it to your favour or use it to the detriment of yourself.
I was yet again in the company of parents who we normally care givers at the Emergency Paediatric Ward of the hospital.
They were a mix of tribe, largely Igbo and few northerners. I wasn’t nervous per say doing this with them even though I didn’t envision it while leaving for the hospital.
I think one of the things this journey is teaching me is to expect the unexpected and be prepared to deliver value at anytime.

I sat in the middle of the ward, strumming my guitar so the lyrics could pour forth, gradually the lyrics were on my lips and I had their attention.
If you’ve been following me, you’d know that I love short spontaneous music and I use it a lot in the hospital because I know it’s easy to remember few lines than lengthy lines and since one of my target is memory, having them remember the music when they hit despair then I know doing spontaneous music will work.

So the first song I did was on Peace and Health because lately I’ve been so endeared to the importance of always being at peace, I decided to gift them with a spontaneous music on Peace. These were the lyrics;
Peace to your body
Peace to your soul
Peace to your mind.

It initially took a while for them to learn this because they didn’t feel good enough to sing so I encouraged them by singing one line then patiently wait for them to sing the next. They were doing so well and at each point they did, I made statements like Fantastic! Awesome! Just so they’d be encouraged. I made sure they declared these lyrics over their kids.

They finally perfected this and then I thought to do another spontaneous that had the fusion of Nigerian Pidgin, Igbo and Hausa language so I asked for the meaning of peace in both languages and I got them.
Here is the Lyrics;
You no go beg!
You no go borrow
Zaman Lafia, Udo!

This was really the most interesting for them because they felt like someone could do a song in their language, there was this sense of belonging.
I made them declare this over themselves and family, making them realize that there’s life in the words they speak and situations should not determine what they speak, little did I know that there was a mother among them who had been declaring very negative words. One of the mothers pointed to her saying ‘You see what we were saying! Just try not to speak negative when things go bad’.

We sang these words again deliberately and the joy! So pure. I feel this moment with these parents changed me more than it changed them because I have become so conscious of what proceeds from my mouth.


I’m thankful that I do this, I leave wards feeling very fulfilled each week and the fact that I bring light, hope, joy, peace to lives humbles me.


This is #TheDiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 7

I’m sure you know by now that reading from you gives me much joy and I always look forward to it!

The Choral of Death

Posted on by Escape Global

Death has always been proud for it seems like no one is capable of overcoming it. Many are scared of it.

Mrs Chinwe, an important personality in the Federal Ministry of Works who just rose to the position of the Minister of Works in Nigeria had just returned from an official trip in the United States.

Having figured that it was already late in the night when they arrived, she decided she was just going to rest in her home. She told her Personal Assistant to let her entourage know that she was headed to the house.

The information got to everyone of them and excitement filled the air as many had not seen their family members in 2 months due to series of meetings, trainings and dinners.

As Madam Chinwe headed home, she was having a chit-chat with her Personal Assistant. As she discussed  her vision for the Ministry of Works, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest region and before Jack, she collapsed.

For some seconds, everyone was confused. They did not know what to do. Someone among them then screamed “HOSPITAL!!!”.

As they journeyed to the Hospital, everyone had different thoughts going on in their heads. While some thought it was because of the stress, others thought she had offended someone in the government who had sworn to deal with her.

In the midst of all that, they were interrupted by the security man at Alpha Clinic – “Why una plenty laidis?  Who una dey find for this kind time of the night?” which simply meant “Why are you guys plenty like this and who are you looking for at this time of the night?” (for my non-Nigerian followers).

Immediately someone responded from the car saying it’s the Minister of Works, they were eagerly allowed to go through.

When they got into the clinic, a series of test was conducted and it was discovered that she had cancer of the colon which had eaten deep into her body.

The Doctor further mentioned that there was little to which chemotherapy could do as she had about 2 months to live.It was a devastating moment. At least for people amongst them who truly cared about her.

Mrs Chinwe’s family was later contacted and informed. It was a painful, sober and tearful moment for them.

For the first few weeks, it was a pool of tears and pain in the hospital until this very day the Music Therapist, Fiona Akinwunmi walked into the hospital after returning from her leave of absence.  She was moved with so much empathy and then decided to begin taking sessions with Mrs Chinwe and her entire family.

She engaged them actively in music as they sang many songs laced with hope.

Day after day, the family got better and Mrs Chinwe’s death got nearer. On the final week before her death, they sang the song “When Peace like a river attendeth thy way, when sorrow like sea billows roar, whatever my lot thou art taught me to say It is well with my soul”.

As they sang this song, there was still pain.

However, with much hope they began talking about their favourite memories. There was this glow on Mrs Chinwe’s face as they sang and listened to music.

There was peace all over her.

The Music Therapist had helped the family deal with the painful thought of Death by echoing songs of hope over and over again while helping them bond. She had also helped Mrs Chinwe approach death with tranquility.

The Choral of death was sang and it healed their hearts, bringing peace as they approached the death occurrence.

While writing this story, it occurred more to me that a lot of patients with terminal illness will have probably been able to come to terms with their present state with tranquility if music therapy was introduced. I understand that Death is terrible and no one wants to watch their loved ones pass on especially when pain torments them.

Here is what I discovered; Music becomes therapeutic for dying patients and families of dying patients as they approach their last days. It also helps them relive memories that have be long forgotten and if recorded can bring the family succor when the person passes on.

Music Therapy might sometimes not improve a dying patient’s prognosis but it could distract them from the pain, the boredom, fear, frustration, anxiety they feel thereby helping them relax.

You will agree with me that the news of death coming soon for a patient is enough to cause an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, this is where Music Therapy comes in, it lowers blood pressure and heart rate. Patients become less agitated when Music Therapy is administered.

All of these is not to insinuate that Music Therapy does not help terminally ill or dying patients recuperate but to let you know that it can also be administered in a way that it makes them meet death with peace.

Whether Live or recorded music or engaging a patient with song writing, improvisations on a musical instrument, singing, lyrics analysis, guided imagery and so on, Music Therapy works perfectly for dying patients.

I would have loved to keep typing on the benefits of Music to dying patients but I’d not want to make this lengthy, so here is a video and an article below this post that can give a practical side or feel to this subject.

Let me know what you think about this post. I love reading from you.

SOURCES: https://health.usnews.com/wellness/mind/articles/2017-01-25/how-music-therapy-helps-terminally-ill-patients

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEP0Wms_5Dg