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Music therapy helps Hillsborough Co. boy overcome cancer
One boy in Hillsborough County battled through cancer at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital with the help of music therapy.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - A lot of people enter the hospital on some of their darkest days. A cancer diagnosis can be one of the most difficult things for someone to hear, especially at 10 years old.
But one Hillsborough County boy's story was transformed by the power of music through days and weeks spent sitting in a hospital bed.
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Elijah Yarde-Cephas, 11, is now in remission, after being diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, an aggressive type of bone cancer when he was 10 years old.
"’Your child has cancer,’" Elijah’s mother, Sheena Cephas said. "You know, that was just the most painful news."
Cephas says she’ll never forget the day in September of last year when they got that news.
"It was like an out-of-body experience," Cephas said. "You know, it was just like, is this real?"
The diagnosis was hard for an adult to understand, no less a 10-year-old.
"At first, when I heard that I had cancer, I didn't even want to, I didn't even have a word to say," Elijah said.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital quickly became a second home for Elijah. He spent eight months in and out of the hospital for treatment.
"When I first got there, I couldn't even stay awake. I was just lying in my bed sick," Elijah said.
Elijah began chemotherapy and cancer treatments, while often spending days at a time at the hospital. He was in a lot of pain and spent most of the time in his hospital bed.
"When I walked in, he was lying down in bed, and he was in some pain and discomfort," Rachel Beverly, a music therapist at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital said.
Beverly works with children of all ages at the hospital through the music therapy program. She visited Elijah’s room during the early days of his treatment and started playing guitar.
"And she played him to sleep," Cephas said. "It was like my son had no worries and pain in the world."
Cephas says this was a pivotal moment in Elijah’s treatment because music played a major role in his healing.
"It's like I didn't realize I was sick the whole time she was playing," Elijah said.
Elijah says the music helped him temporarily forget about his pain. He says he’s always loved music.
"I just like singing a lot," Elijah said. "Singing and playing instruments. It just, it inspires me."
Beverly says music therapists work hand in hand with the doctors who are providing patients with medical care.
"Music is just an exceptional connector between people," Beverly said.
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She says music can be a powerful part of a patient’s healing. She says it can help bring patients comfort and peace, while also helping them express themselves during a difficult time.
"Psychosocial support is so vital to a child's hospitalization," Beverly said. "Making sure that they're getting music therapy services as well as psychology services."
For Elijah, his outlook on his cancer treatment transformed with music. He began enjoying his trips to the hospital because he would get to spend time with Beverly and the music therapists.
"It was just really inspiring to me," Elijah said. "On how music can make someone feel."
Cephas says watching her son find joy throughout the challenging time was comforting to her, as well.
"I had said, ‘Elijah, I think you should make a song. You know, tell everyone how you feel about your journey, how grateful you are of just the things that you've been through with them,’" Cephas said.
Elijah decided to write his own song, dedicated to the doctors and staff at the hospital. He called it, ‘My Goodbye Song.’
In May, Elijah proudly sang that song for everyone at the hospital when he rang the bell, marking the end of his cancer treatment.
"It was not a dry eye in sight," Cephas said. "Oh, my God. That song touched the souls of everybody in that hospital."
It was a bittersweet goodbye because Elijah was sad to leave the people he bonded closely with for the last eight months.
"For him to achieve those goals and be able to see him share his story and share his song, it makes my music therapist’s heart very, very proud," Beverly said.
Elijah hopes he can inspire other people out there, especially other children who may be going through something similar.
"All you need is hope and faith," Elijah said. "And you can get it. You can go through this."