An experience to share with everyone……mixed feelings about this.

[Michael]

Hi guys,
I had an experience via a medical check-up today that I shared with Johnny today through e-mail and he specifically asked if I would go ahead and share it here on the forum. I have no problem sharing it with everyone, but I’ve got mixed feelings about my situation. A few years ago around 2009, I suffered a life-threatening brain injury where I lost 2 years of my memory ( there’s 2 members here, plus Johnny, who knew about this already). I had fallen down and hit the back of my head on some ice and recovery was very slow. That first year of recovery especially was REALLY hard…..I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Over the past few years, I’ve gone for annual check-ups to monitor my injury, make sure there’s no aneurysms, clots, etc.. On top of my injury, there were some other things that happened to our family that compounded the stress. Today, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Here’s where music/the saxophone comes in.
My Neuropsychologist did a scan on my brain for the first time in 3 years and he wanted to compare the findings with the scans on record from 3 years ago (this would be shortly before I started to learn to play a saxophone from Johnny, it’s been 2 and 1/2 years as of this fall). He also made me take an IQ test because these types of tests are also useful for diagnosing folks who may have things such as OCD, Autism, etc., and not just for testing a person’s “intelligence”. What we discovered in the scans/IQ test was astounding…my brain has produced 7 TIMES MORE neurological connections now than it did from 3 years ago; and the highest growth of the neurological connections where found in areas of the brain that govern creativity, memory, abstract thinking, hand/eye coordination. It was said that my memory has been “supercharged” and my IQ test was very, very high too (exact score isn’t important, please don’t misunderstand me for making mention of a high IQ) My neuropsychologist said in his 20 years of medical practice, he personally had never witnessed a recovery like this before and we wanted to see what the reason was, what’s the connection, explanation. Bear in mind, this is the kind of injury that many folks never even get to walk again, that’s how serious it was. I had 2 doctors sit with me and asking me all kinds of questions and we hit the nail on the head when I told them that in the past few years I’ve been an avid music student. They kind of looked at each other like it all made sense now. My doctor said that, in truth, the Saxophone/music theory would do better for me than any kind of medication they could prescribe for my newly-diagnosed PTSD because studies have proven the differences in brain patterns in musicians vs nonmusicians and then told me not to make the “mistake” of not playing a Saxophone, quote, “doctor’s orders” It’s even been proven to help people avoid getting things like Alzheimer’s disease later in life (that’s not a guarantee by any means). He wanted to assure me that although it’s understandable that I’m not too happy about having PTSD, but that my situation was “a gift” and I shouldn’t view it as a disability. What’s the point in sharing this experience with you? Because in my situation, it is now MEDICALLY PROVEN that the Saxophone/music theory study has actually aided in my recovery process, there’s no question about it. In order to deal with my PTSD (anyone with a traumatic injury can get this, I am NOT a bad person!) my doctor counseled me to stay social with the Saxophone and encouraged me to start thinking about doing things like gigs simply because with my PTSD these types of things will help me to feel better about myself. With PTSD, people can deal with feelings of low self-esteem, not seeing the good/talents/qualities in themselves that others may see in them. People can say good things to them till their blue in the face and a person with PTSD will simply shrug off those encouraging words and not think anything of it. They may even think that those people who are trying to encourage them are just saying those things to “be nice” if you get my meaning. So in my case, I would be hurting myself if I’m not as social as possible. He talked about my new circumstances being a “blessing in disguise” despite my feeling of having PTSD…today when I confided in my supervisor about my new diagnosis (I work in the medical profession) I was immediately approved for a reduction of work hours, transferred to another department where the stress is not as bad….and they gave me raise to compensate for my reduction of hours!!! I was blown away to say the least 🙂 They also approved of 3 weeks PAID medically leave so I can have some time for myself with the move and all–we’re in the house Nov.1 🙂 🙂 🙂 I went from 40 hours a week to 28 hours a week, my pay won’t be exactly the same but almost; good enough anyway. So with this extra time that I will now start having, I wonder what I should do with it? You tell me..what do you think I should do? 🙂 Hey….my neuropsychologist said that music/Saxophone was “doctor’s orders” 🙂 I’m sharing this experience with you because Johnny asked to share it with everyone…the benefits of playing a Saxophone/studying music theory shouldn’t be underestimated guys.

[Dazza]

Great to hear Michael. That’s a good news story I am sure everyone enjoys learning about. I recently played a few songs with an 87 year old sax player in a trio who played from age 13 to 25 then gave it away for 45 years and took it up again after his wife died of Alzheimers. His Doctor and family told him to find something to engage his grey matter and he hasn’t stopped playing for the last twenty years and his mind is sharp as a tack. The thing is life is not a practice run to something that comes along later so you will never know if playing a challenging instrument like the sax and learning music in general means you have a healthier life but I reckon there is enough evidence now to support the notion. Anyway, you learn to do something that makes you and others happy so everyone wins a prize! Cheers matey!

[Anonymous]

Good for you Michael!

Keep doing those uploads! and don’t forget to add your comments to other peoples uploads, they are looking for feed back as well.

[Michael]

yes, absolutely about commenting on others videos. I try to as much as I can and I see them, lately I haven’t been on the cpu too much with the move into our new house, uploads will re-start after for me too. Johnny’s autographed pic that he sent me looks great in the frame we bought for it, hanging on our freshly-painted wall 🙂

[Anonymous]

Michael, that’s really good news about your rapid recovery.

You could spend an extra 2 hours a day following Doctor Ferreira’s instructions?

I hope you will keep proving the high recovery rate for SAX therapy 😉

Best Wishes to you Michael

[William Cingolani]

Hey Michael. In 1959, age 17teen. I too had brain injury in 1959, Cab wreck in Little Rock, Ark. Was pronounced dead at the scene. Knocked out for two weeks, But I recovered. Studied music theory and the guitar. In 1985 took up sailboat racing and later I sold the boat in i995 and started studying saxophone. Music taps into a different part of the brain. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=music+taps+a+different+part+of+the+brain&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

http://blog.brainhq.com/2010/04/22/top-12-brain-based-reasons-why-music-as-therapy-works/

You’er on the way to recovery Michael, Winton Marsalis would be proud of you. Keep up the good work. In music and in life you write your own story.And it’s your story and nobody else’s. Keep blowing that horn and keep posting.

[Michael]

Hey William….that happened to you in Little Rock, Arkansas? That’s something you mention that because I live here in Little Rock Arkansas 🙂 My traumatic brain injury didn’t happen here, it happened out west in New Mexico before we moved here (this would have been the winter of 2010) Those are good references too, as my doctor told me much the same thing and said, in truth, it would do be more good than any kind of medication; not saying that medication may not be necessary in the future…I hope not. I’ll be re-posting soon as I have a lot to post and haven’t shared–I had planned to start doing so now in October–I like watching others post too. I haven’t been on the cpu much lately with us moving into the house we bought, almost done 🙂

[Kevin]

A few years back during the summer I began learning the sax I was in Owens Valley, CA in a small town called Bishop getting some lunch at the Thai Thai restaurant at the air field. A man that I guessed to be in his 80’s showed up with his Cannonball Alto sax, a small PA system, a laptop with backing tracks, and he played seamlessly from one song to the next. His level of playing was very good, intonation spot on, and I was a captive audience (an understatement) as a wanna-be saxophonist. I share this because it relates to the above comments and the many benefits that playing a wind musical instrument can provide to us “over-the-hill” newbies (as well as those who have made it a life long endeavor).
As a teen I was rushed to the ER numerous times for severe asthma attacks. My lungs are likely scarred from all the inhalers that kept me breathing. But I must say that the sensation of taking a deep breath after a few years on the sax is like nothing I have felt or experienced in all prior years.
So thanks for sharing your positive report Michael. It’s a testament to your resolve to persevere and make the most with what circumstances come your way.
If I’m ever in your area to “get away from the rat race” perhaps there’s a brown trout that I can pursue with the aid of a good ex-guide…

Best Wishes

[Michael]

I’m reading Kevin’s experience…wow. It’s amazing to read of so many experiences that everyone had gone through, that’s really encouraging for me to say the least–I’m certainly not the only one whose ever had to deal with my new circumstances by a long shot; although I am very happy about the reduction in hours, which means more free time.
KEVIN: I would be interested in headed up to your neck of the woods too. Do you live in Michigan? I have some friends up there who fish some pretty incredible places up that way. Fall would be the best time to get come down to this neck of the woods–summertime is way too hot here and in the spring water levels are very high plus weather is unpredictable–we live in Tornado Alley–in the spring the water flows are managed by dam releases from the lakes above. The good news is that the lakes are usually fantastic in the spring, beautiful scenery. That would be cool to say the least…just don’t forget to bring your Sax with you 🙂

[Kevin]

Michael, I live in south/central Michigan at the crossroads of I94/I69. Haven’t fished much in this area, and the better places are likely in the northern end of the state. My most memorable trips were to the boundary waters (northern Minnesota) canoeing, portaging lake to lake, camping and eating freshly caught walleye. Canoed 55 miles the last trip into some wilderness areas- no cell towers up there…
Used to vacation in New Mexico growing up- Tres Ritos Valley, Taos, Red River. Caught my share of trout, a few using a fly line but haven’t had a fly rod in my hands in 35+ years.
Will keep that thought for my bucket list…

[Author]

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