Samantha and Ashley were born in July of 2010.
They were born seven weeks early.
They were both healthy babies.
Ashley was the first one to show symptoms.
She had swelling of the abdomen.
We got admitted to the emergency room and they did a CAT scan and the CAT scan basically
told us that she had a tumor and then Samantha started showing symptoms.
Eight months ago they were diagnosed with AML, which is acute myeloid leukemia.
So our hospital where we were at sent us over here to Miami Children's Hospital basically
telling me they have a better chance figuring out what was the issue in fixing it.
We've been doing chemotherapy for the past about seven months.
It's been rough, but we make the best of it.
We have great family, friends, sorry.
When we first got here, we live in Jupiter.
So we took us a two hour drive.
I mean over here it's been great, the doctors, the nurses, they're very supportive and they're
awesome actually.
I should say.
I've never been to a doctor's office that I felt like I was a part of the family.
So when I come here, they make me feel like, you know, this is like my second home.
I lived here for eight months, you know, this is my second home.
The household twins came in and I got to work with them when they first got diagnosed, which
was really meaningful because there was a lot of unknowns.
There was a lot of, what does this new diagnosis mean for my daughters and so what I was able
to do is provide not only the music therapy for Ashley and Samantha to give them opportunities
to improve their mood, but also help their mom and their family, you know, take a little
break.
The therapy is awesome too, the girls love it.
You know, it's nice to know when the kids are going through a rough time that they can
have the happiness, you know, playing music, playing games.
So mom, you can get a break, that's pretty awesome.
To be a music therapist, you need four years of undergraduate curriculum from an approved
university and then you do a six month internship followed by the board exam.
So there's a national board exam that you take to make sure that you know not only your
musical skills, but your skills in psychology and also your skills in science.
There has been numerous research studies that show that music therapy is effective in helping
children cope when they're in the hospital.
You know, some kids, they feel pretty bad, especially going through chemotherapy.
I think the music therapy is awesome.
They come in and they play some music and they put a smile on the kids face.
We do make a big difference in the lives of these families.
I mean, these families are in probably the most difficult situation in times of their life.
So we really feel blessed and honored to do what we do on a daily basis.
What we need is just more, more therapists to see more patients.
We've doubled in size from one year to the next and so we're talking 15, 17 music therapists
and we're at four.
So this is a good start, but definitely what we would need to grow is just more, more continued
funding, more supplies, more instruments, all these different things to really take
the program to the next level.
When you're in the hospital all the time, it could be a toll on somebody.
It's hard, it's really, really hard, but you know, the little things that you guys do
around here to make it easier for us, thank you.
