Introducing, Pointella!

The past two days have been hard for me. I've had to get up early, yesterday for my Hep B vaccine and TB test, and today for a dental appointment. It's been difficult to stay alert in class. I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and regaining my optimism.

I have multiple sclerosis. The worst symptoms for me are fatigue and chronic muscle spasms/pain. When I don't get enough sleep and when I have a lot of new information to process, my symptoms flare up.

Tonight, I'm curling up with my "Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion" book for a couple of hours, then treating myself with the season premier of "Big Bang Theory." A little Sheldon and Leonard will cheer me up.

Yesterday, I had my first points class. In this class we learn where all those points are on the body that access qi. In other words, it's where the needles go!

On break yesterday, I went to the bookstore and picked up my point location figure. I've named her Pointella. What do you think?

Pointella is living outside for now. She smells of cheap plastic and mothballs. So my dotted doll is off-gassing before she can come into the house.

I spent some time today with other first year students, Uma and Celia. They're organizing a "Movement Club" for all the students.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we're going to get together to do yoga, Qi Gong, and any other movement meditation that inspires you. Everyone is invited!

We're still waiting to hear what campus locations will be available for the club. Stay tuned here or look on the campus bulletin boards for more information about the Movement Club.

Yesterday, when I was at the doctor's office and then at the nurse's clinic getting my shots, everyone wanted to talk about acupuncture. It was nice to talk to people in Western medicine about Chinese medicine.

Today, my dentist had some comments to make about the anatomy flashcards sitting on my lap. I've learned to not talk to him about acupuncture. He's not interested. As he was giving me a shot to numb my gums, I desperately wished for acupuncture instead.

As he inserted the needle and shook my cheek around a bit, he told me a gruesome story about having to saw off a leg while in his anatomy class. I'm not usually squeamish, but the combination of the shot and the story made me feel faint.

I thought about our Respectful Touch class and how we'd talked about the kinds of casual conversations you might have with your patients. The older I get, the more I believe in the simple adage, "Discretion is the better part of valour."

I don't know that I'll be going back to that dentist. I'll take it as a lesson learned for my future patients...