HYDERABAD: In an attempt to alleviate excruciating pain and discomfort experienced during chemotherapy and other forms of cancer treatment, music therapy sessions were inaugurated at MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre at Red Hills here on Wednesday. Ashwin Maharaj Foundation, which is conducting these sessions at eight hospitals in the country, has introduced it at MNJ cancer hospital in Hyderabad.
The sessions will be conducted on Tuesdays and Fridays. Besides, supplementary nutrition will be provided to out-patients undergoing chemotherapy. It contains a powder made from almonds, flax seeds and horse gram. Foundation’s managing trustees R Manonmani and Dr D Ramasubramanian lost their son Ashwin Maharaj R to acute myeloid leukemia in October 2015. While undergoing treatment in the US, music therapy helped him get relief from pain.“Ashwin wanted to come back and organise music therapy sessions for cancer patients in India. As per his vision, we had started it at Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, and AIIMS in 2016,” Manonmani said, adding that students would sing during the sessions.