At its core, music is medicine — and no one knows that better than our JoyRx Music Specialists. They witness a positive impact on the sick children they serve every day — drawing on the universal power of music to lift and energize spirits.

When six-year-old Oliver first started having health problems, his parents, Tyson and Vanessa, believed it was asthma. When Oliver started snoring in his sleep or wheezing wearing a mask, his parents thought it was just sleep apnea or because of their son’s growing anxiety.

Helping children feel Joy in challenging moments has been Allison Moore’s focus even before becoming JoyRx’s Director of Programs, South. Before joining JoyRx, Allison was a child life specialist at Dell Children’s Comprehensive Care (CCC), where she helped children understand the process of their treatment at the clinic.

It was a Joyful day on Monday, October 3 as JoyRx Music Specialist Christy Medley arrived at Dell Children’s Comprehensive Care in Austin, Texas, to launch live, in-person music services.

On Thursday, September 22, JoyRx expanded its digital-live concert offering for sick children as part of the JoyRx Music program, broadcasting music medicine to four partnered hospitals around the nation.

Hospital visits and overnight stays for seriously ill children and teens at three new locations are about to get a little more Joyful! We’re excited to announce new additions to our JoyRx Music national hospital partners: University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMCSN), East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and Medical City Children’s Hospital. These three new additions bring our national hospital partners to a total of 31.  

A recent independent literature review by Karyl Askew Consulting proved what we’ve known all along at JoyRx: that music makes sick kids feel better. And not just emotionally — in addition to benefits for mood and mental well-being, music also decreases pain and anxiety. The impact is all-encompassing, benefiting the emotional, physical, psychosocial and developmental wellness of kids in treatment and improving the overall quality of life and hospital experience for patients, their families and even the hospital community itself.  

Despite being a charming teenager who loves to crack jokes for his family, Julio, who lives with Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, struggled to connect socially with others, an issue that was exacerbated during the pandemic. He had been working on this with Child Life Specialist Allison Moore at Dell Children’s Hospital for two years before COVID-19 forced Julio into isolation.

JoyRx Music began serving Austin hospitals in 2018 and, to date, has transformed through joy the treatment experience for nearly 1,500 kids in seven Texas pediatric hospitals. After years of progress and partnership with local hospitals and the business community, JoyRx Music is amplifying service outreach and impact in the Lonestar state.

Early in the COVID-19 crisis, pediatric hospitalsfaced staffing shortages and programming cuts due to the global pandemic andwere struggling to find engaging and meaningful activities for young patients. CCA staff knew that JoyRx Music was uniquely positioned to meet that critical need, and, together with families and hospital partners, we created a new branch of music medicine programming. We now call this Digital-Live, which complements our On-Demand music offerings, available to kids and families 24/7 at JoyRxMusic.org.

David is an active, bright 13-year-old with a passion for science. Even from a very young age, he always wanted to know the answers to everything. And so when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in February of 2021, the first thing he did was ask the doctor a question: “What are the chances that I’m going to die from this?”

Macky is a bubbly 12-year-old who loves animals (especially monkeys!) and studying math. In late 2017, his mom, Sarah, noticed that her normally stocky son was losing weight — a lot of weight.

“Mom, it feels like there’s a chainsaw running through my leg.”

When 12-year-old Izzy spoke those words in the fall of 2020, her mom Erika realized that her daughter’s recent discomfort was far more then growing pains. A scan at the doctor’s office revealed a fracture running through the middle of the left side of Izzy’s pelvis, but it also revealed something worse: a fuzzy mass that turned out Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of cancer that forms in the bones and soft tissues of the body.

When Bertha first found out her son, Emet, had leukemia, she was speechless. She didn’t know how to break the news to Emet, who was only 10 years old at the time, without scaring him. But then, she found the perfect words.

Madelynn is a sweet, friendly five-year-old who loves arts and crafts, Legos, and playing outside. But in summer 2019, Madelynn’s parents, Bridgette and Alex, noticed a worrying change. Madelynn no longer had the energy to do her favorite activities, and her parents had to carry her everywhere—she wouldn’t even walk into a store with her mom to pick out a toy. 

Imagine being nine years old and having more medical diagnoses than you can count. Spending months of your life in a hospital bed, instead of playing outside. My son, Xay, has been in and out of the hospital since the day he was born. He has epilepsy, chronic lung disease, spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy, ADHD, an autoimmune disorder…but despite everything, Xay always finds a reason to smile. 

In December 2019, just before the holidays, Wesley was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a type of blood cancer.  

Meet Kira, a bright and musical 15-year-old who has recently completed three years of treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).  

Tucked among other islands of Micronesia, Kosrae is a remote speck in the middle of the Pacific. Eight-year-old David Kihleng and his family called this tiny island paradise home — at least, they did until they learned that David had T-cell leukemia in 2018.

When Janalyn’s son, Spencer, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma just before his 13th birthday, she saw firsthand how powerful and healing Joy can be. During his first prolonged hospital stay, Spencer shut down. He refused every comfort, interaction, and activity offered—until CCA’s trained MyMusicRx^® musicians, Cameron and Jean, walked through the door.