Five-year-old, Joshua (Josh) is the rebel out of his two brothers. He loves alligators, Metallica and playing the drums with his dad. His mother Katie shares how difficult it was trying to manage a family of five when Josh was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2017.

“The cancer diagnosis came as a complete shock. There was no reason for us to suspect Josh was sick, other than a fever. I remember very clearly getting the call from the GP. It was 8:50am in the morning and I was trying to get all three boys into the car to drop Ollie at school. Josh was going to preschool at the time and Albie was in the baby capsule ready to be strapped into the car. Pathology rang and the voice said, “I’m looking at Joshua’s blood results and I have some serious concerns. I think you should go straight to the local emergency department’.”

Doctors eventually gave Katie the diagnosis. “I remember just trying to process the words thinking, ‘Oh my god, he has leukaemia. Leukaemia. This is real. They are cutting into my child’s body tomorrow to make a hole that goes into his heart to fill him full of chemo because he has leukaemia.’ And it hit me hard later that night, once he was beeping away on the ward, with me next to him curled up in the hospital armchair bed, my fists balled into my mouth just trying not to choke with horror. Gasping for air at the shock of it. It was absolutely horrendous.”

During his treatment, Josh became physically unrecognisable.

“It was awful. The steroids made his face so puffy; he could hardly see out of his eyes. For Josh, the discomfort of that was just incredible. I don’t know how he tolerated it – I don’t know how he fell asleep, I don’t know how he walked around.”

‘’It’s a terrifying feeling as a parent. There’s no way around that. You live with fear for a sustained amount of time, months, years of treatment. But Redkite was absolutely incredible. They were there with us every step of the way.”

Redkite Music Box

Katie explored the Redkite Music Box and thought it would be helpful for families facing the cancer experience.

“It is absolutely amazing! Matt [Redkite Music Therapist] is great, easy to engage with and the videos themselves are as well, to both parents and children.”

The Redkite Music Box program offers a fun and helpful way for families and children to improve their wellbeing. Based in the practices of music therapy, the activities use music and movement to help children of different ages (0 to 18) and abilities to better cope with the effects of cancer. Parents and carers can also find practical tips on how to use music at home to enhance their family’s quality of life during a child’s cancer treatment and beyond.

The Redkite Music Box program can be accessed while staying in hospital, at home as an outpatient or after treatment is finished. If your child is receiving music therapy in hospital, this resource can be used alongside the therapeutic activities they are doing with their music therapist.

“It’s such a rich resource with so much depth in there. A huge congratulations to Redkite on creating this for families.”

How music can help children with cancer

“The program is fantastic. From my navigating around the Redkite Music Box, I think it is really helpful and will be so impactful for families.”

“I thought the choice of photography and the tone of the colours was also really good; it’s calm, fresh, invigorating, clean, accessible, neutral, friendly, reassuring somehow in that it feels professional but still accessible.”

If you would like to connect with a music therapist at your hospital, please ask your treating team.

Redkite Music Box

Based in the practices of music therapy, Redkite Music Box is a collection of resources for children and teenagers that can help them reflect on, process, and express their feelings through music. It also includes resources for parents and carers to improve their own emotional wellbeing and connect with their child.

Using creativity, movement, self-expression, and listening, children and teenagers will be able to explore how they’re feeling in a positive way that can help them better cope with the challenges that cancer is causing in their lives.

Music Box program is for:
Children and teenagers (aged 0-18) with cancer who are receiving treatment or are post treatment
Siblings of children with cancer
Parents and carers

For more information, click here.

We recommend listening to Episode 5: More Than a Melody: The Power of Music Therapy. This episode features one family’s music therapy experience and how music helped their child manage fear, along with insights from one of Redkite’s expert music therapists. Kids Cancer Conversations, a podcast that sheds light on the hidden side of childhood cancer. This series delves into the non-medical challenges families face and highlights the emotional, financial, and practical impacts that go hand-in-hand with a diagnosis.

[1] Mitchell, L. A., MacDonald, R. A. R., & Knussen, C. (2008). An investigation of the effects of music and art on pain perception. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2(3), 162–170.