Art for Healing

I take it drumming is for those that like noise...Not something I could handle. Interesting how we are all so different.

To me, drumming is rhythm, something the body really likes. Maybe more movement to it would feel better. I love it myself. Length of time makes a difference.

One more little idea, a writer once said what people need to do, and especially teens, is to connect themselves to activities humans have done for a long time. She called these primal activities, such as dancing, painting, building with rocks, cooking, tasting, singing, telling stories, drumming, running, reading swimming, etc. (Of course, we will eliminate the obvious negative ones.) Lazying in front of the tv wasn't considered one of them.

Sometimes words are just not enough to say thank you. I am a fine artist. For a couple years, I had been unable to control my brushes and was in constant pain because of spinal cord compression in my neck. I stopped painting because I couldn't produce the quality of work that I expected. I was getting worse and couldn't find a surgeon to help me until I came to Mayo Clinic and met Dr. Jeremy Fogelson. As the days drew closer to my surgery, I had to find a way to be confident and calm, so I used sketching and listening to music to relax. I had been drawing pencil sketches of Dr. Fogelson as my own art therapy to help me on my journey. It helped me get to know him in my own way. I did other things to confront my fears as well, but I always returned to art and music when I needed to escape for awhile. I was calm on my surgery day and everything I did to prepare myself worked like a charm. While I was recovering, I wanted to paint again and to create something for my surgeon. Prior to my surgery, I was loosing what I cherished most, and my surgeon returned that gift to me.

I called his nurse and we arranged for my followup appointment to be on his surgery day, so I could get photos of him in his scrubs. He enjoyed posing for my camera in the exam room for a few minutes and even made me laugh. I had to work out how to match the photos of him with my photos of the Plummer building to make it look believable. I put the history of Mayo behind him with the beautiful carved doors of the historic building, and that was a challenge to draw and paint them in accurate detail.

It took about a month to create this watercolor painting, and I would have to take breaks and lay down to rest when my muscles fatigued. At my one year followup, I hid the finished painting behind the curtain in the exam room until we finished the exam part of the appointment, and then Dr. Fogelson saw this for the first time. It was a complete surprise to him and he loved it. I really painted this for both of us... to say thank you when words were not enough, and to challenge myself to see if I could do it since it had been so long since I had been able to paint. I'm honored to know that he will enjoy this for years to come. I makes me feel good to be able to do this for someone who gave me back the ability to do the job, and knowing how much it meant to him is priceless.

Art has healing power, and creating art takes that one step further for me. I told Dr. Fogelson that there was an emotional side to healing and recovery, and for me that was to overcome the fears that had help me back in my life. Facing major surgery has a way of bringing all of that into focus. This was truly life changing for me in many ways. All of my experiences at Mayo, and my courage are all in that painting. It also represents the talent, the kindness and compassion of my surgeon. At Mayo, medicine is an art. It's also true that art is medicine.

I wanted to let everyone know that my personal story about my Mayo spine surgery and the portrait gift that I painted for my surgeon is scheduled to be published on the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog on January 9th. I can't wait! We took a photo together for the story with painting in front of the nice stained glass windows at St. Mary's Hospital. It's a story that focuses on me using my own art to overcome my fears and express my gratitude to my wonderful surgeon for saving my ability to paint.

I wanted to let everyone know that my personal story about my Mayo spine surgery and the portrait gift that I painted for my surgeon is scheduled to be published on the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog on January 9th. I can't wait! We took a photo together for the story with painting in front of the nice stained glass windows at St. Mary's Hospital. It's a story that focuses on me using my own art to overcome my fears and express my gratitude to my wonderful surgeon for saving my ability to paint.

How wonderful, @jenniferhunter. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

I wanted to let everyone know that my personal story about my Mayo spine surgery and the portrait gift that I painted for my surgeon is scheduled to be published on the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog on January 9th. I can't wait! We took a photo together for the story with painting in front of the nice stained glass windows at St. Mary's Hospital. It's a story that focuses on me using my own art to overcome my fears and express my gratitude to my wonderful surgeon for saving my ability to paint.