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t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 5 28 Before a massive stroke last year robbed her of speech and mobility, Cathy Flowers was always actively involved with her husband Billy's band— dancing and singing along during their shows and practice sessions. So when Billy was told early on that Cathy's outlook was so dismal that even if placed in a nursing home she would "only be taking up space," he had a hard time accepting that he would never again enjoy those moments with his wife. So Billy jumped on the opportunity to have his wife transferred to TIRR Memorial Hermann. When she arrived, Cathy was unable to open her mouth and could not speak. Several weeks into her therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann, Cathy was working with Morrow and Kelly Betts, a physical therapist, when Billy suggested they play a song by Johnny Cash. "They played the song, 'Walk the Line,' and they gave Cathy a fake microphone," recalled Billy. "And she sat there with Kelly and Maegan and started mouthing the song. As the song went on, she was even singing along with the key chorus. And at the very end, Maegan cut the music off, but Cathy kept on going to sing 'because you're mine, I walk the line.'" That day marked a huge milestone in Cathy's recovery. It was so monumental that Billy had shirts made featuring a line from the song's lyrics, "because you're mine, I walk the line." For Billy, seeing his wife's personality and smile return in the seven months since her stroke has been nothing short of incredible. Morrow feels fortunate to be able to help patients reach those milestones. "In patients like Gabby and Cathy, who were deal- ing with aphasia, where they can't get the words out when you ask them a question, spontaneous speech might come out," she said. "But when I work with them, I use a technique called music/speech stimulation. And it basically looks like I'm just singing with them, but I am actually stimulating speech from their brain. So I am accessing a different part of their brain to retrieve words. I'm retrieving lyrics instead of proper semantic speech." Music therapy has also found a home in Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, where services range from helping children in their pediatric trauma center work through severe burns or brain injury, to facilitat- ing socialization and parent/infant bonding. "There is almost never a 'typical' day for us here," said Jessica Jarvis, a music therapist at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. "And I love it because that means I get to use music in a variety of ways for emotional, physical, cognitive, communicative, and/ or social goals. Music is used psycho-emotionally, writing a song to process a death or a traumatic accident. It can be used during the beginning stages Cathy Flowers, pictured top left with her husband Billy, and bottom with music therapist Maegan Morrow, suffered a debilitating stroke in May of last year. Today she is on the road to recovery thanks to extensive therapy and determination. For us, music was like a key that unlocked the doors inside her head that might otherwise have stayed shut or taken longer to open. Music therapy has unlocked her potential. — BILLY FLOWERS Husband of TIRR Memorial Hermann Patient Cathy Flowers