Loma Linda doctor’s cello performance gives veteran patient hope before amputation surgery

LOMA LINDA, Calif. (KABC) -- A U.S. Army veteran preparing for surgery at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Loma Linda received an unexpected pre-op performance from his doctor, who played the cello to help ease his nerves.

“It was just fantastic,” patient Leon Allan Loyd said.

Loyd has a rare disease that required the amputation of both of his legs. His first operation took place a few years ago, and his most recent surgery was in August.

The day before the latest operation, Dr. Paul Kalmansson offered to play music for Loyd as a way to help put him in the right place mentally.

“It gave me more strength and more hope when I went through the surgery,” Loyd said. "So I had this strong confidence, and strong faith that this was going to actually be OK, and that losing my legs, I could still participate in life."

Loyd’s wife, Sheri, said he called her from the hospital after the performance.

“He actually called me from the hospital, and he was pretty emotional, and all he could say is, 'I just, I'm so grateful, I am so grateful for what he did,'” she said.

The couple’s granddaughter posted a video of the performance on social media, where it received an overwhelming response.

When asked how people were reacting, Sheri Loyd said, “Oh, just people will say they're crying. They're just amazed.”

Kalmansson, of Loma Linda University Health, earned a master’s degree in music before attending medical school. He said music allows him to communicate his care for patients in a way that words sometimes cannot.

“I just really want the patient to know that I care, and that I'm thinking about them, and I can do that better through music than I can through words,” Kalmansson said. "Music is this exploration of like, the meaning of existence, of putting into some sort of expression the way that I think, the way that I feel, the way that I go through life."

For Loyd, Kalmansson selected a particular piece of music from Johann Sebastian Bach’s because he believes it inspires hope.

“This piece that I played for him, the prelude to the G major suite by Bach... I think is specifically about hope,” Kalmansson said.

For Loyd, the performance transformed the atmosphere before his surgery.

“The whole atmosphere was just supercharged with love and gratitude, and it was an amazing experience,” he said.