Harmonicas are the best medicine Music program at MVH helps those with COPD strengthen lungs
Kathleen Alessio of Belle Vernon plays the harmonica during a “Harmonics for Health” program at a meeting of the Better Breathers Club at Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Kathy Amos of Warner, near Charleroi, plays “When the Saints Go Marching In” during a “Harmonics for Health” program at Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Kathy Amos helps Mary Olexa of Monessen during a “Harmonics for Health” program at Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Rich Pantaleo of Monongahela, a retired music teacher in the Ringgold School District, explains to a member of the Better Breathers Club how to read the sheet music.
MONONGAHELA – For Kathy Amos, learning to play the harmonica was a matter of life or death.
And even though her audience is primarily her husband, Clarence, and the animals who roam the countryside near her home in the village of Warner, just outside of Charleroi, she is perfectly OK with that. It means she is regaining control of her life – and her health – after kicking a 40-year cigarette habit two years ago.
“I spent a lot of time on the porch smoking,” Amos said. “I still wanted to go on the porch, but I needed to do something with my hands.”
To the rescue came Harmonics for Health, offered by the Better Breathers Club at Monongahela Valley Hospital.
The class is based on a program developed by the COPD Foundation that helps people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and other chronic lung diseases feel better and breathe better.
“Of all the musical instruments, the harmonica is the only one that deals with COPD,” said Rich Pantaleo of Monongahela, a retired music teacher from Ringgold who was recruited by Carol Frye, a neighbor who works as a nurse at Mon Valley Hospital, to conduct the harmonica program at the hospital.
“A harmonica is a good way to get air in and a good way to get air out of the lungs. The more air you get out with COPD, the more you can get in.”
The idea behind Harmonics for Health is to encourage people to practice either the Pursed Lip Breathing technique or diaphragmatic breathing while playing the harmonica to exercise – and strengthen – their breathing muscles. Playing the harmonica requires deep inhales and exhales, and all that breathing in and out allows patients to breathe deeper.
When PLB is done regularly, it helps to remove carbon dioxide from the lungs and create more space in the lung for bigger, fuller breaths. Reported benefits include a more effective cough, a decrease in shortness of breath, increased sputum mobilization and increased quality of life.
“Basically, diaphramatic breathing is taking a breath from your belly, especially with a harmonica in hard,” Pantaleo said. “You can think of that as the best way breathe. And by making music, you don’t think of it as work.”
Another appealing aspect of the program is that it does not require patients to read music. Pantaleo noted that sheet music with arrows pointing upward means patients should exhale; arrows that point downward means it’s time to inhale.
“I like playing the harmonica,” said Amos, who tries to pracitice a couple times a week and hopes to play the instrument in her church’s talent show
“It’s amazing. I can feel the difference,” she said. “And you don’t ever have to be embarrassed by what you sound like because breathing is the most important thing. “
Pantaleo reinforced that point in a rather lighthearted manner when he handed each member of the class a piece of paper, which, when signed, is a license that permits a spouse “to play wrong notes on the harmonica free of guilt and criticism.”
“You could have a spouse at home who is reluctant to hear you play your harmonica,” Pantaleo said. “Show the license, too, to anyone who says you don’t sound too good.”
Twelve members of the Better Breathers Club attended the class, with five using oxygen. Among them was Mary Olexa of Monessen, who has COPD and has been on oxygen for nearly two years. She quit smoking five years ago. Her husband also was a smoker and is deceased.
Olexa enjoys playing the harmonica, and was grateful for some helpful advice she received from Amos.
Virginia Saunders of Belle Vernon, who will turn 80 in October, is a retired registered nurse who started smoking in nursing school. She smoked for 50 years before quiting May 12, 2015, when doctors found a tumor in her lungs. She had her upper lung and a rib removed, but required no chemotherapy or radiation, although she did have pulmonary rehabilitation.
Later, Saunders developed pneumonia and aspirated on corn on the cob, resulting in a 10-day hospital stay at Jefferson Hospital.
She also had her thyroid gland removed, causing her to temporarily lose her voice.
Despite all of her health issues, Saunders said, “I could pick up a cigarette right now.”
Instead, she keeps her hands busy by crocheting. She started to crochet for her church 19 months ago, and, so far, has crocheted 111 blankets, which have been donated to cancer patients at Mon Valley Hospital and nursing homes.
Pantaleo said he realizes that people who are on oxygen must restrict their activities, noting that, “We don’t know what your challenges are.”
But he does encourage them to at least play the harmonica.
“Find a song on TV or a jingle and play it,” Pantaleo said. “Even if you practice just two minutes every day, I’d be very happy.”
For more information about the Better Breathers Club and Harmonics for Health, call Monongahela Valley Hospital at 724-258-1932.