In 1991 my wife and I had just returned from our first cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. What a delightful experience for two retired teachers who were just finding their freedom after teaching some thirty years. As a person who always tried to manage my health in a positive controlled way, I followed the advice of some of my retired friends who suggested that I become part of a prostate screening study at a local St. Louis hospital. I knew that it could not be a problem as I have three older brothers and no one in my family had prostate cancer. Prior to this, in my tests, the response was always the same--you are fine. However, this time there was a question about the results, requiring me to have a biopsy.
The test was a simple one and I fully expected to hear that the reason I had to have the test was simply to confirm that I was in good health. However, on a Friday afternoon in the heat of the day as I was mowing the lawn, I came into the house to get a drink and the phone rang. This was the beginning of a my saga. The doctor told me on the phone that I had prostate cancer and it didn’t look good. He said that he would be in his office for twenty minutes, so I quickly showered and went to see him. As he looked at the test results, he kept shaking his head and his body language told me more than any words he could have said. This is where my wonderful daughter stepped into the picture.
My daughter, Amy, is a professional harpist and was then living and performing in Florida. She had made a recording several years ago for a friend of ours who was dying of ovarian cancer and this lady wanted to hear Amy play one more time. She did, and the seed was planted--the nurses remarked on how much her harp recording affected her as well as the patients around her. As Amy could not come home to be of assistance to my family at the time of my surgery, she made another recording for me. She thought this was one way she could show her love for me as I was the one who suggested she become a harpist.
What a beginning for her NEW career. As the good Lord blessed me in many other ways, I had a prostatectomy and came through the surgery operation and have been cancer free ever since. The recording was played during all of my recovery at the hospital and at home. The nurses and physicians would come into my room and say, “this music is so wonderful and has all our patents so relaxed.” My daughter took note of that and that started her on the road to helping others through her music.
Amy started with her first CD and that is when she joined Dr. Collins who used her CD in his private practice with clients suffering from a variety of stress-induced conditions. As of now, the music is being used in hospitals across the United States.
My wife and I are both Music Educators and find it hard to believe the direction in which Amy has taken her talent, and it far exceeds what we envisioned. The lives she has touched and continues to touch by her associations with hospice, hospitals, presentations, and now, with the founding of the Scientific Arts Foundation in St. Louis, MO, she will continue her quest of sharing her harp music with the world.
She truly is making a difference in the lives she touches.
To think, it all started because I had cancer and because she has chosen to share her talent and to follow her dream to help others through her harp music.
Ken Conrady
The CD recorded for my father is called "New Love - Awaken to Yourself"
