Hope, in all of its forms, plays a powerful role in health care and medicine. A terminally ill patient may hope to find spiritual comfort; a researcher may hope that they will discover new cures; and a volunteer may hope that they can bring a smile to an overwhelmed visitor’s face. At Pennsylvania Hospital, we understand that hope cultivates action that can improve our patients’ outcomes and quality of life.
Throughout this issue of What’s New, you will find stories that touch on a spectrum of hopes, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s hope for an equal and just world, and a cancer patient’s hope that she will one day fully reclaim her sense of self. As you’ll read below, nurturing hope is an all-hands-on-deck affair, especially during a difficult hospitalization. Encouraging a patient as they experience setbacks can be challenging, but with the continuous support of their care team and their loved ones, patients can learn to cope with the daily realities of their illness or injury while also remaining hopeful that they can achieve their health goals.
Pennsy Patient’s Jam Session Goes Viral
When music volunteer Allie McCrea had her mom record her singing a song with her critically ill father, she never imagined that a video meant for her siblings would touch people worldwide. McCrea is a graduate student studying music therapy, and twice a week, she practices her skills by helping cancer patients learn to use music as a relaxation tool. She points to her father, Kevin, as the source of her lifelong love of music.
“My dad has been disabled all of my life, and I’ve seen firsthand how music brings him peace,” McCrea explained. Kevin has been hospitalized at multiple institutions since April 2019 following a spinal reconstructive surgery to treat injuries he sustained as a U.S. Army paratrooper. The many obstacles he faced — “two cardiac arrests, two heart attacks, six episodes of sepsis, like 20 bouts of pneumonia, going on and off a ventilator repeatedly….” McCrea listed — ultimately led him to be transferred to PAH in November to receive advanced care. But through it all, his daughter’s musical therapy lifted his spirits, as did one song in particular: Thomas Rhett’s “Up.”
When McCrea shared the video on Twitter, she hoped to receive a few supportive comments. Instead she received more than 600 replies, 5,000 retweets, 28,000 likes and over 630,000 views — plus local news coverage and a response video from Rhett himself. For a family that is taking it “day by day, and often minute by minute,” this was an overwhelming surprise.
“It uplifted us when we needed it most,” McCrea said. “My dad was starting to feel hopeless, but this song became his anthem. It brings him joy even on the worst days and reminds him that things will get better.”
While Kevin has a long recovery ahead, being a viral video star definitely made an impact. “When the news started covering the video while he was at Pennsylvania Hospital, nurses and residents came into his room to have watch parties!” McCrea said. “It really made him feel special and has given him the burst of energy that he needs to get through all of this.”