Program hits the right notes at cancer center
Live music used to relieve stress, lift spirits of patients
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

Patients at the Central Jersey Oncology Center in East Brunswick are getting some extra treatment that does not come from medicine.

Every few weeks, patients at the center are treated to live musical performances in the waiting room and offices from a variety of local artists. The live music has a soothing power and helps to relieve stress, according to Dr. Michael Nissenblatt, founder of the private practice on Brier Hill Court.

"It inserts enthusiasm, resilience and a sense of happiness and joy, and diverts their attention away from being ill," Nissenblatt said.

The music, involving a solo singer/guitarist or keyboardist or a two-man band, lifts the spirits of patients, especially those going through the grueling process of chemotherapy, according to Dorothy Rigley, executive secretary at the oncology center.

The performances are funded by the Chancy Memorial Foundation, which was established in 1953.

Based in Marlboro, the organization has throughout the years provided the pleasures of music, dance, art therapy and performance to a variety of recipients through creative community outreach programs.

The foundation's founder and longtime president, Herb Solomon, was a patient at the Central Jersey Oncology Center. When Solomon lost a battle with cancer in 2006, the Chancy foundation, now run by Herb's wife, Phyllis, was rededicated to include the Herb Solomon Memorial Fund.

Nissenblatt said the live music at his practice represents a gift from Phyllis Solomon and the foundation's contributors, and is "an expression of gratitude for the care that we provided to Herb."

Nissenblatt knew Herb Solomon personally for many years before Herb became ill. In the 1990s, the doctor recalled, Herb went to visit a friend who had been hospitalized for months due to lymphoma.

Seeing an absence of anything to periodically take patients' minds off their illness, Solomon, through his foundation, funded several personal entertainment systems, complete with televisions, VCRs and tapes for hospital patients, including his friend.

Later, when Solomon himself became sick, he discovered how live music could have an uplifting effect on hospital patients and arranged to have college-age musicians come to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, for a couple hours every Friday to walk the floors and perform.

"He realized the positive impact that the entertainment centers had on his friend and on other patients, and that music had on patients who have been hospitalized," Nissenblatt said.

Solomon fought esophageal and stomach cancer for four or five years, Nissenblatt said, noting that the patient was the victor for most of that time.

Today, Solomon's legacy continues for patients at the East Brunswick oncology practice thanks to the Chancy foundation's Herb Solomon Memorial Fund, which is committed to the cause of helping patients as well as supporting local entertainers who do not have a large income.

The live music program kicked off last fall at the Central Jersey Oncology Center, Rigley said, noting that the office did not inform patients beforehand. The surprised patients did not just enjoy the music, but many of them have joined in by singing, clapping and dancing. The dates are now posted in the waiting room for those interested in making appointments at those times, and Nissenblatt noted those days are now in demand.

The musicians, who also perform in the treatment rooms, have an affect on the workers too, Nissenblatt said. Concentration, speed and accuracy on the part of nurses tends to increase simply by virtue of not being stressed, he said.

"There is a sense of harmony, of unification, peace and resilience," Nissenblatt said.

Rigley said she has heard renditions of Billy Joel songs and the music of other middle-of-the-road artists that are widely recognizable.

"I think if people request it," Rigley said, "they would sing anything."