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First Hand: Hand-Picked Music for Kids
A TOUCH OF HUMANITY
First Hand: Hand-Picked Music for Kids Barry J. Gainor, MD My father was a pediatrician and musician, so performing musical benefits for the Children’s Hospital at the University of Missouri is a natural connection for me. As a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and Bluegrass band leader, I have been performing for the kids since 1995. Every Sunday afternoon, my band, “Gainor & Friends,” plays at a local microbrewery and all tips are donated to the Children’s Miracle Network. We collect about $1,000 a year in donations from generous patrons who post our songs on You Tube. Since 2004, I have written, produced, and solo-performed 3 compact discs of original music that have netted more than $12,000 in sales for the hospital. The women in my band join me as the “G&F Trio” to sing on the pediatric ward quarterly, especially around holidays. A threesome of operating room nurses sew festive surgeon caps as gifts for the patients and siblings during these songfests. It is easy and fulfilling work, which has not passed unnoticed by the media.1,2 My patients love to ask me about my music and upcoming performances. Children sing refrains to me in the clinic from the tunes that I have written and recorded. For years, my band has enjoyed stable membership because the musicians cherish this fun opportunity of community service. Remaining proficient on multiple instruments requires daily practice, even if for just a scant few minutes in a too-busy surgeon’s schedule. My electric bass is outfitted with nylon strings, which give the instrument a mellow acoustic tone but minimize the cyclic microtrauma to my fingertips that would be imparted by conventional heavy steel wound strings. For the same reason, the doubled strings on my mandolin are light-medium gauge, and the strings on my guitar are a pliable silk and steel design. The From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. Received for publication September 16, 2013; accepted in revised form October 21, 2013. No benefits in any form have been received or will be received related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. Corresponding author: Barry J. Gainor, MD, Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, 1100 Virginia Ave., Columbia, MO 65212; e-mail: [email protected]. 0363-5023/14/3903-0022$36.00/0 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2013.10.015
542
r
Ó 2014 ASSH
r
Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 1: To the amazement of the clinic staff and the waiting room, Dr. Barry Gainor (mandolin) auditions a rehabilitated fiddler who retrained his 4-finger hand to play the violin again.
5-string banjo, my principal instrument, bears lightgauge strings. The stratification of various gauges among manufacturers is very unstandardized and requires close study of individual string diameter specifications. In the clinic, I was consulted by a cellist who pursued such an unrelenting practice schedule to recapture skills lost from a career hiatus that she sustained from permanent microvascular damage to her fingertips. In my younger days, I could punish my hands happily playing music long and hard for hours with near impunity. With my newly acquired senior citizen status, I am obliged to husband my intensity and duration of performance to avoid irksome tendonopathies that are slow to dissipate. Youthful music majors from the nearby college campus come to my clinic with sagas of endlessly practicing on their beloved instrument day and night. In their off hours, they play video games, texts friends for hours, and type term papers. It is challenging to counsel these budding artists to select and pace their hand activities to safeguard their chosen vocation in which digital kinetics must be honed to perfection. I offer the analogy to them that fingers are like the legs of a ballet dancer and can suffer sprains and injury just like the limbs of any athlete. Seasoned professional musicians have learned to apply their
A TOUCH OF HUMANITY
543
Five years ago, a prominent southern Missouri fiddler demolished his hand in a power saw accident and came to me for acute care. Reconstruction of his hand required deletion of a mangled digit, which provided a filet flap for soft tissue coverage. The musician grieved the loss of his precious finger, so I promised to audition him for membership in “Gainor & Friends” if he rehabilitated himself to play the violin again. After extensive hand therapy, the fiddler successfully auditioned in my clinic and joined the band in 2008 (Figs. 1 and 2). FIGURE 2: At a street festival in front of the Children’s Hospital, a curious child strums Dr. Gainor’s banjo while the smiling fiddler with the rehabilitated hand pauses to look on.
REFERENCES 1. Danielson A. The other healing arts: arts/life. Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, MO: October 25, 2009:1C, Available at: http://www. voxmagazine.com/stories/2007/01/25/behold-miracle-live/. Accessed Sept. 13, 2013. 2. Hueting J. Behold the miracle of live: Check out our sweet guide to top music acts in town. In Vox from the Missourian. Columbia, MO: January 25, 2007:5. Available at: http://www.columbiatribune.com/ arts_life/ovation/the-other-healing-arts/article_17edad58-0578-5c4d-98ed5bb2063f084a.html. Accessed Sept. 13, 2013.
digits to their instrument with complete economy of motion and muscular force. It is a joy for me to observe these self-preserving strategies in a master’s performance and to somehow aspire to them in my own musicianship.
The Hand in Art: Mountmellick Embroidery Work of the Areas Reached by the First Dorsal Metacarpal Artery Flap Anne M. Collins, MD, Michael J. Earley, MD Figure 1 is a photograph of a Mountmellick embroidery piece, featuring the areas reached by the first dorsal metacarpal artery flap. My mentor, Professor Michael J. Earley, provided the pattern, from a drawing he published in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery in 1987. My mother, an exceptionally talented embroiderer, who also made many of my Irish Dancing costumes, taught the intricacies of the needlework to me. The piece took 14 hours to From the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St. Vincent’s University; the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Children’s University Hospital; and University College, Dublin, Ireland. Received for publication December 3, 2013; accepted in revised form December 18, 2013.
FIGURE 1: Mountmellick embroidery featuring the areas reached by the first dorsal metacarpal artery flap.
No benefits in any form have been received or will be received related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. Corresponding author: Anne M. Collins, MD, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St. Vincent’s University, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland; e-mail: annecollins7@gmail. com.
complete. The embroidery featured was invented circa 1825 by Johanna Carter and is named after a small town in Ireland where it originated. It is a
0363-5023/14/3903-0023$36.00/0 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2013.12.023
J Hand Surg Am.
r
Vol. 39, March 2014
First Hand: Hand-Picked Music for Kids Barry J. Gainor, MD My father was a pediatrician and musician, so performing musical benefits for the Children’s Hospital at the University of Missouri is a natural connection for me. As a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and Bluegrass band leader, I have been performing for the kids since 1995. Every Sunday afternoon, my band, “Gainor & Friends,” plays at a local microbrewery and all tips are donated to the Children’s Miracle Network. We collect about $1,000 a year in donations from generous patrons who post our songs on You Tube. Since 2004, I have written, produced, and solo-performed 3 compact discs of original music that have netted more than $12,000 in sales for the hospital. The women in my band join me as the “G&F Trio” to sing on the pediatric ward quarterly, especially around holidays. A threesome of operating room nurses sew festive surgeon caps as gifts for the patients and siblings during these songfests. It is easy and fulfilling work, which has not passed unnoticed by the media.1,2 My patients love to ask me about my music and upcoming performances. Children sing refrains to me in the clinic from the tunes that I have written and recorded. For years, my band has enjoyed stable membership because the musicians cherish this fun opportunity of community service. Remaining proficient on multiple instruments requires daily practice, even if for just a scant few minutes in a too-busy surgeon’s schedule. My electric bass is outfitted with nylon strings, which give the instrument a mellow acoustic tone but minimize the cyclic microtrauma to my fingertips that would be imparted by conventional heavy steel wound strings. For the same reason, the doubled strings on my mandolin are light-medium gauge, and the strings on my guitar are a pliable silk and steel design. The From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. Received for publication September 16, 2013; accepted in revised form October 21, 2013. No benefits in any form have been received or will be received related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. Corresponding author: Barry J. Gainor, MD, Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, 1100 Virginia Ave., Columbia, MO 65212; e-mail: [email protected]. 0363-5023/14/3903-0022$36.00/0 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2013.10.015
542
r
Ó 2014 ASSH
r
Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 1: To the amazement of the clinic staff and the waiting room, Dr. Barry Gainor (mandolin) auditions a rehabilitated fiddler who retrained his 4-finger hand to play the violin again.
5-string banjo, my principal instrument, bears lightgauge strings. The stratification of various gauges among manufacturers is very unstandardized and requires close study of individual string diameter specifications. In the clinic, I was consulted by a cellist who pursued such an unrelenting practice schedule to recapture skills lost from a career hiatus that she sustained from permanent microvascular damage to her fingertips. In my younger days, I could punish my hands happily playing music long and hard for hours with near impunity. With my newly acquired senior citizen status, I am obliged to husband my intensity and duration of performance to avoid irksome tendonopathies that are slow to dissipate. Youthful music majors from the nearby college campus come to my clinic with sagas of endlessly practicing on their beloved instrument day and night. In their off hours, they play video games, texts friends for hours, and type term papers. It is challenging to counsel these budding artists to select and pace their hand activities to safeguard their chosen vocation in which digital kinetics must be honed to perfection. I offer the analogy to them that fingers are like the legs of a ballet dancer and can suffer sprains and injury just like the limbs of any athlete. Seasoned professional musicians have learned to apply their
A TOUCH OF HUMANITY
543
Five years ago, a prominent southern Missouri fiddler demolished his hand in a power saw accident and came to me for acute care. Reconstruction of his hand required deletion of a mangled digit, which provided a filet flap for soft tissue coverage. The musician grieved the loss of his precious finger, so I promised to audition him for membership in “Gainor & Friends” if he rehabilitated himself to play the violin again. After extensive hand therapy, the fiddler successfully auditioned in my clinic and joined the band in 2008 (Figs. 1 and 2). FIGURE 2: At a street festival in front of the Children’s Hospital, a curious child strums Dr. Gainor’s banjo while the smiling fiddler with the rehabilitated hand pauses to look on.
REFERENCES 1. Danielson A. The other healing arts: arts/life. Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, MO: October 25, 2009:1C, Available at: http://www. voxmagazine.com/stories/2007/01/25/behold-miracle-live/. Accessed Sept. 13, 2013. 2. Hueting J. Behold the miracle of live: Check out our sweet guide to top music acts in town. In Vox from the Missourian. Columbia, MO: January 25, 2007:5. Available at: http://www.columbiatribune.com/ arts_life/ovation/the-other-healing-arts/article_17edad58-0578-5c4d-98ed5bb2063f084a.html. Accessed Sept. 13, 2013.
digits to their instrument with complete economy of motion and muscular force. It is a joy for me to observe these self-preserving strategies in a master’s performance and to somehow aspire to them in my own musicianship.
The Hand in Art: Mountmellick Embroidery Work of the Areas Reached by the First Dorsal Metacarpal Artery Flap Anne M. Collins, MD, Michael J. Earley, MD Figure 1 is a photograph of a Mountmellick embroidery piece, featuring the areas reached by the first dorsal metacarpal artery flap. My mentor, Professor Michael J. Earley, provided the pattern, from a drawing he published in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery in 1987. My mother, an exceptionally talented embroiderer, who also made many of my Irish Dancing costumes, taught the intricacies of the needlework to me. The piece took 14 hours to From the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St. Vincent’s University; the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Children’s University Hospital; and University College, Dublin, Ireland. Received for publication December 3, 2013; accepted in revised form December 18, 2013.
FIGURE 1: Mountmellick embroidery featuring the areas reached by the first dorsal metacarpal artery flap.
No benefits in any form have been received or will be received related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. Corresponding author: Anne M. Collins, MD, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St. Vincent’s University, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland; e-mail: annecollins7@gmail. com.
complete. The embroidery featured was invented circa 1825 by Johanna Carter and is named after a small town in Ireland where it originated. It is a
0363-5023/14/3903-0023$36.00/0 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2013.12.023
J Hand Surg Am.
r
Vol. 39, March 2014