This is a shortened version of a message I sent to a bunch of the Muddies whom I have run across on Facebook.

Friday I performed at the Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center in Berkeley--where I am being radiated to get rid of the alien inhabiting my prostate--one of my nurses before I started my treatments five weeks ago learned that I did some performances at a variety of health care facilities and told me that the center is always happy to have volunteer performers. He gave me the name and phone number of the director of volunteer services at the center and I called her. She invited me to perform at a "survivorship celebration" Friday (June 5) at 3:00. So that afternoon at 2:30 I went to the center, found Irene,the director of volunteers, who found me a room to warm up in, then came back at 3:00 to accompany me to the reception area/waiting room for the center and for the chemo treatment area.   I started with "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone," a banjo lead followed by a harmonica lead and once through the lyric, then again through the banjo part but changing it slightly and turning it into "Has Anybody Seen My Gal"--followed by vocal of same, and another harmonica run'through, and when I finished I got a nice hand from the couple of dozen patients and medical staff there. Some of the other songs I chose to perform weren't quite as warmly received, mainly because I did things I like to do rather than things they might like to hear and sing along to, but "Beware, Oh Take Care" and the Seeger/Hays version of "Alberta" I learned from a Doc Watson CD both got good response.

After my performance there, Irene told me that some people in the chemo treatment area would like me to come back there and play, and this was a whole different story.
There I was close to the nursing station, and there were patient rooms around me, their doors open, and I could see the faces of the patients and their family members, and I started with "This Little Light of Mine," and Irene and one of the staff nurses stayed close by and sang along. There was fine response from the patient rooms and from the nursing station. Then I sang "Study War No More" to similar response, and the nurse standing by asked if I could sing "The Banks of the Ohio," and when I questioned its appropriateness for the audience, she suggested "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," and when I told her I was uncomfortable doing death and dying songs in the setting, she pooh-poohed my discomfort, so we did it, again to fine response. I later did "Simple Gifts," which wasn't a big hit, but the whole performance was, and they invited me back. I told them I had another month of five days a week of radiation in the late mornings, so if they could schedule me for early afternoon, I could come in as much as they liked during that time. When I was getting ready to leave, I got a nice hand from the patient rooms, plus many verbal messages of appreciation.

I think I will make copies of the song folders I have assembled for the brain injury center (my weekly gig), and bring them along when I next go there. And my own nuclear oncologist, upon hearing about my upstairs gig, invited me to bring the music to the radiology waiting room.