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Art for Healing

Posted by Harriet Hodgson @harriethodgson1, Oct 26, 2018

Kudos to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art for allowing physicians to write prescriptions for free admission to the museum. And kudos to Mayo Clinic for its art program. From the beginning, Mayo Clinic believed that art can uplift patients and foster healing. Whether it's Rochester, Jacksonville or Scottsdale, Mayo Clinic displays a wide range of artwork for patients. The Rochester site published a brochure for a self-guided tour of artwork. I live in Rochester and every time I'm at Mayo, I take the time to look at the artwork.

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Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Aug 21, 2019
In reply to @marvinjsturing "@gingerw @hopeful33250 Everything is holding steady for me. Although I was not placed on the active..." + (show)
@marvinjsturing

@gingerw @hopeful33250 Everything is holding steady for me. Although I was not placed on the active list until this summer, I was listed on UNOS last September so l have just about one year in on the transplant list. I have appointments with my local oncologist in September and my local nephrologist in October. I am thinking about getting in touch with Nebraska Medical. I contacted them a year ago. They wouldn't talk to me until I was cancer free for 5 years. I am there now. Mayo's wait time is 3 to 7 years. At Nebraska Medical, it is 1 to 5 years.

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@marvinjsturing If you are a veteran, check with the VA. It is my understanding they keep a separate list going and will send you wherever need be for a transplant. My husband double-listed, and ended up getting his transplant about 150 miles from home.
Ginger

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marvinjsturing | @marvinjsturing | Aug 22, 2019
In reply to @contentandwell "@marvinjsturing Your poor daughter, what a lot to go through, and what a lot for you..." + (show)
@contentandwell

@marvinjsturing Your poor daughter, what a lot to go through, and what a lot for you too, given your own health problems.
I know about stem cell treatments for cancer, but a month in the hospital? That would be difficult for anyone but you do what you have to do.

If you haven’t checked other transplant hospitals it could be worth some more checking. At the time I was on the liver transplant list my home hospital was generally transplanting at MELDs in the low 30s but Mayo was fairly certain I would get transplanted at around 28. I was at 28 and about to get listed at Mayo, but my transplant came through at MGH. I know the wait for kidneys is longer, my niece’s husband has been waiting and on dialysis for about 5 years (not sure if he was on dialysis that whole time) and is pretty close to the top of the list at his chosen hospital now so hopefully I will get a call very soon that he’s been transplanted.
Is there for those waiting for kidneys comparable to MELD.

Prayers for your daughter and for you.
JK

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@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use a formula that takes into consideration your creatinine level, you age, your gender, and your race to calculate your GFR. Your GFR has to be below 20 to qualify for a transplant. For the last 3 years, my GFR has been in the 10-17 range. My doctors are surprised that I am not on dialysis yet.

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2 replies
Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Aug 22, 2019
In reply to @marvinjsturing "@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use..." + (show)
@marvinjsturing

@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use a formula that takes into consideration your creatinine level, you age, your gender, and your race to calculate your GFR. Your GFR has to be below 20 to qualify for a transplant. For the last 3 years, my GFR has been in the 10-17 range. My doctors are surprised that I am not on dialysis yet.

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@marvinjsturing Once my husband found out about his kidney disease [due to high blood pressure], through medication and lifestyle he kept off dialysis for 5 years. His dr told him it was coming and readied him for PD dialysis, placing the graft at 13%. He went dialysis at 10%, was on PD dialysis for 5.5 years then got his transplant 1 Oct 2016, at his second transplant center. He had double-listed.
Ginger [my GFR is 32% right now]

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1 reply
marvinjsturing | @marvinjsturing | Aug 22, 2019
In reply to @gingerw "@marvinjsturing Once my husband found out about his kidney disease [due to high blood pressure], through..." + (show)
@gingerw

@marvinjsturing Once my husband found out about his kidney disease [due to high blood pressure], through medication and lifestyle he kept off dialysis for 5 years. His dr told him it was coming and readied him for PD dialysis, placing the graft at 13%. He went dialysis at 10%, was on PD dialysis for 5.5 years then got his transplant 1 Oct 2016, at his second transplant center. He had double-listed.
Ginger [my GFR is 32% right now]

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@gingerw My doctor also said dialisys was coming. Because of my Whipple, I don't qualify for PD dialysis. Doctor put in a fistula 3 years ago..

I filled out a form on Nebraska Medical's website. They called me 15 minutes later telling me they were sending me a packet of information.

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JK | @contentandwell | Aug 23, 2019
In reply to @marvinjsturing "@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use..." + (show)
@marvinjsturing

@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use a formula that takes into consideration your creatinine level, you age, your gender, and your race to calculate your GFR. Your GFR has to be below 20 to qualify for a transplant. For the last 3 years, my GFR has been in the 10-17 range. My doctors are surprised that I am not on dialysis yet.

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@marvinjsturing With those numbers I’m surprised if you are not near the top of the list. I hope you hear something very soon from the transplant center of your choice. The wait was hard for a liver but kidney patients wait so much longer it must be torture.
Take care.
JK

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candrgonzalez | @candrgonzalez | Sep 14, 2019

I love crafting, but unable to do now due to severe neck, shoulder and low back pain.

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2 replies
Parus | @parus | Sep 15, 2019
In reply to @candrgonzalez "I love crafting, but unable to do now due to severe neck, shoulder and low back..." + (show)
@candrgonzalez

I love crafting, but unable to do now due to severe neck, shoulder and low back pain.

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@candrgonzalez Can totally empathize with the spine pain. I love drawing and painting and can only do so for short periods of time on a good day. Hoping to get scheduled for a rhizotomy in the near future for my neck pain.

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Mentor
Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Oct 16, 2019

Here's another story about my story and recovery of my painting ability with a little help from a gifted surgeon. Country Magazine told my story in a feature article they named "Victorious". I have to say I love that title! I used the healing power of art to get myself through spine surgery and reclaim my ability to create my art work.

I made a little video to show the magazine spread and a closer look at my paintings they featured. The painting of the Native Americans herding horses in a river is the painting I took with me to Mayo when I went for my spine consult. I hung it on the wall so I could look at it during some painful nerve tests, and it gave me a familiar place for my mind to escape instead of focusing on the pain from those tests. When I met Dr. Fogelson the first time, I brought that painting with me to show him what I needed to be able to do again. I had been turned down by so many other surgeons who didn't understand how important it was for me to regain my art talent that I had worked so hard to achieve, and the injury was taking my ability to hold my arms up and control their movement.

Dr. Fogelson loved this painting and that is how we began our doctor/patient relationship, and I brought new paintings to follow up appointments which he enjoyed seeing. The most important painting of my life was the first one after my recovery; the portrait I did for him as a gift in gratitude for restoring my artistic gift, and I brought it to my one year post op follow up. He actually received it a year later after I was able to replace the special hand made frame that had been damaged in shipping and that photo is in my Sharing Mayo Clinic Story.

Here is the online content of the Country magazine article
https://jwcdaily.com/countrymag/2019/10/03/victorious/

This is my Mayo Clinic Patient Story
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

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1 reply
lioness | @lioness | Oct 16, 2019
In reply to @jenniferhunter "Here's another story about my story and recovery of my painting ability with a little help..." + (show)
@jenniferhunter

Here's another story about my story and recovery of my painting ability with a little help from a gifted surgeon. Country Magazine told my story in a feature article they named "Victorious". I have to say I love that title! I used the healing power of art to get myself through spine surgery and reclaim my ability to create my art work.

I made a little video to show the magazine spread and a closer look at my paintings they featured. The painting of the Native Americans herding horses in a river is the painting I took with me to Mayo when I went for my spine consult. I hung it on the wall so I could look at it during some painful nerve tests, and it gave me a familiar place for my mind to escape instead of focusing on the pain from those tests. When I met Dr. Fogelson the first time, I brought that painting with me to show him what I needed to be able to do again. I had been turned down by so many other surgeons who didn't understand how important it was for me to regain my art talent that I had worked so hard to achieve, and the injury was taking my ability to hold my arms up and control their movement.

Dr. Fogelson loved this painting and that is how we began our doctor/patient relationship, and I brought new paintings to follow up appointments which he enjoyed seeing. The most important painting of my life was the first one after my recovery; the portrait I did for him as a gift in gratitude for restoring my artistic gift, and I brought it to my one year post op follow up. He actually received it a year later after I was able to replace the special hand made frame that had been damaged in shipping and that photo is in my Sharing Mayo Clinic Story.

Here is the online content of the Country magazine article
https://jwcdaily.com/countrymag/2019/10/03/victorious/

This is my Mayo Clinic Patient Story
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

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@jenniferhunter Beautiful painting You are a very gifted women .

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