Music Therapy and Stroke Recovery Part 3

Steve Makofka

The short report that I got back from the neurologist was that the EEG showed no unusual results or significant changes while the subject was engaged in memory recovery using Heart Song techniques and listening to music selections discovered in the Life Soundtrack. This was actually the expected result. Both the subject and I knew in advance that the EEG was probably not the right tool for measure the kind of brain activity we were tracking. So if we knew that in advance, why bother? Here are the benefits we received from participating in the study.


1) We had an idea and acted on it. Sure, the neurologist probably could have told us in advance that our activity wouldn't produce any significant EEG results. But now we know for sure.

2) The subject recovered some significant memories in a pleasurable setting. His recollection of his early piano lesson and being able to think about his old piano, his teacher, and the music he played brought long buried memories back to the surface and produced warm feelings of nostalgia.

3) I learned some valuable lessons in how to set up clinical trials, and also learned how much I have to learn. Gaining insight into one's own ignorance can be very valuable.

So, yes, I believe it was time well spent. And I know that the next study will be even more valuable since it will benefit from the lessons learned in this study.

Team St. Leonard's Memoirs Group: Welcome to the St. Leonard's Memoirs Group!

We are all residents at the St. Leonard's Retirement Center in Centerville, Ohio. Although we have varied backgrounds, we all share in one activity — the writing of our memoirs.
In some cases, we have published our books. In other cases, we are still working on those books. And in all cases, we help each other accomplish our goals.

~Mary

Team St. Leonard's Memoirs Group No. 2: Memories of Him

My husband, Fred Ebert, died August 20, 2005, of the dignity-robbing disease, Alzheimer's, at the age of 85. He was a tall, handsome man who was a printer
by trade. He used to work in the garage a lot and have to measure many things
for the job. I remember one day, it took him five tries before he could get the proper measurement he needed, and this was so unlike him because he was normally good at this. It was at this point that I realized he didn't understand the way he once had.

The two of us traveled a lot; however, on one of our trips, I remember how he kept driving around in a circle and we always ended up in the same spot. I told him that we had been at this point before, but he insisted that we never had. This is when it came to the time that I had to sit myself down and ask myself ... is it him or is it me? Yet, with the occurrence of other symptoms of this disease, I realized it was him.

Therefore, I did all I could do to protect myself such as my assets, and my future. I had a general idea what I was in for. I knew that change was the worst thing to do for someone with his disease, but he was beginning to become unruly, and I needed to be secure.
I saw him failing and I needed the help.

I remember one evening as we were sitting on our screened-in porch, he kept leaning forward to look out toward the front door. I inquired as to what he was looking for, and he told me he was waiting for his wife.

In March, 1993, we made the decision to put our home of 33 years on the market and made arrangements to move to St. Leonard Retirement Community. It was a new environment for him, but turned out to be a good move, a safe decision.

He was in his own world. Many times, he ran away and I would have to go out and find him. One day, I took him to our Day-Away program and informed the instructor that I would return at 5; however, he managedto walk away from the building — walking 3 miles in 95 degree weather before the police found him down on 725.

Just before I admitted him to the Dementia Unit at our nursing home, I lost him again at Office Depot. He left the store and had walked away, with no identification on him. A customer recognized him and turned him around and I had no opportunity to thank her.

At this time, and as his condition worsened, he never asked how I was doing, or how the finances were, or anything of that sort. The six years he spent in the Nursing home were really tough, with lots of problems as the disease progressed. However, my eighteen years living here at St. Leonards has been a happy place and surely the best move I have ever made.

I will turn 88 years-old next November. I am a survivor and I just deal.