PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
and would have been in pain right up to the last minute. But
she was able to be comfortable, surrounded by her family on
neutral ground.”
The Little Treasures team works together to bring comfort to
children in great pain. Sturgeon will play guitar while Felter,
who is a registered pediatric nurse, tends to an anxious child.
“The mom told us that because her daughter doesn’t understand
what’s happening, it usually takes two people holding
her to change the dressing,” Felter says. “Jessica’s musical
distraction calms her, allowing me to administer medication
or perform a procedure that would normally bring a great
deal of resistance and stress. The mom was amazed at how
relaxed she was.”
She went on to say, “Each member of our team has an area
of expertise to make things better for the families. Jessica not
only has the education for this job but also the heart. She does
things totally unrelated to music therapy, like putting on a
gala surprise 18th birthday party and graduation for ailing
twins on our program. There is always sadness, but us being
there makes things much better.”
Amy Manko, a licensed clinical social worker, also has high
praise for her co-worker.
“Jessica is a spirited, talented and gentle soul,” she says.
“She works with the kids on our program in a way that puts
them at ease, using her therapeutic approaches through
music to help kids and families meet their goals. When we do
visits together, we complement each other and only support
the children and families further. She’s always positive and a
joy to work with.”
Music therapy can be used from womb to tomb. Many
women choose prenatal and neonatal music therapy for a
child they know may not live long after birth or may not
make it to term. It creates positive memories for everyone
involved. Treasure Coast Hospice provides this service from
birth to age 21.
“Jessica helps children write and record goodbye songs,”
Felter says. “One girl was losing the ability to talk, but could
sing quietly so Jessica played chords and voiced familiar
things the girl had said before about loving her daddy. The
family has that recording.”
Sturgeon visits a young man weekly to help him write
songs to every member of his family.
“He’s leaving a legacy, but also processing his emotions
for saying goodbye,” Sturgeon says. “They’re all being recorded
and you can hear his machine in the background and
us talking sometimes. Those are things his family is going to
keep forever.
“When we suggest to parents their child go to hospice, we
aren’t telling them to give up hope, or they can no longer do
things for their child,” Sturgeon says. “When health-care reform
came through it enacted Concurrent Care for Children,
which means you can elect the hospice benefit and simultaneously
receive other curative measures. With regular hospice
you’re giving up life-sustaining treatments, letting the body
go naturally. But you can’t tell parents they can no longer
try everything possible for their child. I love it when a child
graduates from hospice and goes home with their parents.
And it does happen.
“You need hope,” she says. “You can’t live without hope.
We are instilled with hope, that’s what makes humans so
wonderful, because we are constantly hopeful. We should
never give up on that.” E
62 Port St. Lucie Magazine
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