Jose Rosado didn’t know he had diabetes until he arrived at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital this past August. He knew from his emergency medical services (EMS) team that his blood sugar levels were high. What he didn’t know is that they were high enough to threaten his life.

Later his medical team said a blood clot may have cut circulation to his leg, especially since his blood sugar levels had tested as normal during appointments at other health systems. Asked to decide between amputation and risking the spread of gangrene, he chose to lose his failing leg. After his surgery, Rosado says, “I woke up, and it was lifechanging. I had to learn how to walk. I had to learn how to cope.”

One person who helped him cope was Victoria “Tori” Davenport, Eskenazi Health music therapist, who works with patients to assist them with managing pain, stress and hospitalization. Rosado’s medical team referred him to music therapy to help him manage his pain and come to terms with his amputation.

“I love Tori,” says Rosado. “She used to come see me at least once a week, sometimes twice. It was just very relaxing. I think the music does relax you; it does let you go to a separate place.” “She played the guitar,” adds Rosado, “And all we did was just sit there and meditate. We’d just talk about where the music took me, what did it mean to me.”

Gradually, those visits led to something more crucial than relaxation. “We shared about the quiet that I found in myself,” says Rosado, “the peacefulness that I found in some of the music. Just accepting, acceptance basically.” The music, he says, “put me at peace with myself and my situation, and it let me know that the future wasn’t bleak.”

Rosado has always been a problem solver. Even as a kid, he “used to tear stuff apart, break it and put it back together.” Used to assisting others with issues, first in the heating industry and then as a manager of a Home Depot, he was soon ready to face his own mobility challenges.

Virginia, his wife of nearly 40 years, was alarmed by the pace at which Rosado transitioned from a wheelchair to a walker to a prosthetic leg and cane, he says. He had a pressing goal, however: to complete his culinary arts degree from Ivy Tech Community College, which would involve standing for considerable periods.

“That’s why I’m pushing myself,” says Rosado. “I want to get that associate degree in culinary science and … walk down that aisle and get my diploma … ”

Cade Hall, outpatient physical therapist, has been working with Rosado weekly to help him achieve the mobility he’ll need to return to school. “He’s awesome,” says Rosado. “He actually cares about my progress.” A self-starter, Rosado appreciates that Hall includes him in decision making, asking him what he wants to tackle next.

Just eight months after his procedure, Rosado can go a mile and a half on the stationary bike; he’s preparing for increasing distances on the Monon Trail. A few weeks ago, he walked from Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital parking lot, through the hospital and back again, he says. He is proud of how quickly he’s begun walking, just months after getting his prosthetic leg.

Meanwhile, at home he’s been “overhauling my entire life.” This aspiring chef says, “I had to change the way I cooked everything.” Thanks to extensive nutritional and other lifestyle changes, Rosado has lost more than 30 pounds and dropped his blood sugar levels enough to stop taking insulin.

Thinking back on the first steps he took to remaster mobility early this fall, Rosado says, “I just refused to stay down.”

Eskenazi Health Center for Spiritual Care & Education offers music therapy to all patients, families and staff. Board-certified music therapists work with patients to provide supportive and holistic care. Outside of the clinical setting, Eskenazi Health provides performing arts experiences for patients, staff and visitors through weekly live performances hosted by the Marianne Tobias Music Program at Eskenazi Health. All performances take place in the Eli Lilly & Company Foundation Concourse at the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and are free, open to the public and live streamed to every television on the downtown campus.