TAMPA, Fla. — Hospital stays are rarely fun.

For those dealing with cancer, those stays are at times unavoidable. The Arts in Medicine Program has been at Moffitt for almost 25 years. 

The Arts In Medicine Program has been specially designed to offer patients and their caregivers a variety of opportunities to experience the therapeutic benefits of the arts during a challenging time.

It's one of the reasons at times, music can be heard reverberating through the halls of Moffitt Cancer Center

Lloyd Goldstein runs a bow over his violin base, playing Amazing Grace. He is an artist in residence. 


What You Need To Know

  • Arts in Medicine Program has been at Moffitt for almost 25 years

  • Designed to offer patients and their caregivers a variety of opportunities to experience the therapeutic benefits

Walking by, pushing a cart full of art supplies, is Kaley Rransbottom. Another artist in residence. She is on her way to Patricia Gomez's room. 

“So we are going to be getting a tray ready for a patient that is in an isolation room," said Ransbottom. "Instead of bringing the entire cart into the room, we have our trays that we are going to get all of our materials ready so we don’t have to de-gown every time we need to grab something off the cart.”

Gomez is at Moffitt Cancer Center because she needed a bone marrow transplant. She has myelodyplastic syndrome. 

But with Ransbottom here, she takes a break from thinking about cancer, and instead focuses on the intricate folding of origami hearts. 

“I am going to go with this," said Gomez, selecting a colorful piece of paper. 

Before the folding begins, Gomez writes the word 'patience' on her paper. She says patience is her constant battle right now. 

“Being in the hospital more than three days is a lot," said Gomez through her mask. 

She's been at Moffitt since August 5, almost a month. 

Art is her escape now, and has been for the last decade. She laughs when asked why art appeals to her. 

“Why wouldn’t it?" she said with a chuckle. "It is, it is a source of relaxation, it takes my mind away from pain, from nausea, from tiredness. I can go hours and hours sometimes.”

She surrounds herself with art. She is a professional artist outside of Moffitt. Paintings hanging in her hospital room, she painted over the past 25 days. 

“I have all the freedom in the world. I paint what I feel like painting," she says when talking about her work. 

The art, in her opinion, helps her recover. 

“It is healing, it is healing," said Gomez. 

It helps her find patience too.

“There is that patience again, you can tell that I struggle," said Gomez. 

With Ransbottom with her and while she creates, Gomez finds her strength and true self.