It was exactly 4 months after this cleaning was originally scheduled (May 21) that Golden State Smiles was able to reschedule the appointment. I arrived 10 minutes early because I didn’t know exactly what to expect, other than being instructed to wear a mask. There were 6 chairs in the waiting room that normally held…
Category: mindful breathing
Kaiser Pain Management Group online, Session 8
Linda had her first Zoom meeting with her rheumatologist yesterday. Apparently, he isn’t seeing any patients in his office. I think it went well. We went to Alameda today, first to the post office (outside mailbox), then Walgreen’s and Safeway. Everything went well. We didn’t get home until 3 o’clock, so there wasn’t time to…
Kaiser Pain Management Group online, Session 7
Today was a busy day! It started at 0’dark-thirty when we got up early to get to Trader Joe’s by 8 o’clock for the seniors line, which actually went pretty fast today. Safeway took longer, only because I was looking at low-carb ice cream and verified that all three brands—Rebel, Halo Top, and Enlightened—have monkfruit…
Golden Gate Smiles, Winter 2020
Monday, January 6, 2020, 11:30 a.m. I have been stressing out about this dental appointment for weeks! But the holidays are past and I have no more excuses for not getting these fillings done. So I set the alarm for this morning and did exactly as planned before leaving. I signed in when I got…
Golden Gate Smiles, Winter 2020
Monday, January 6, 2020, 11:30 a.m. I have been stressing out about this dental appointment for weeks! But the holidays are past and I have no more excuses for not getting these fillings done. So I set the alarm for this morning and did exactly as planned before leaving.
Individual Acupuncture Therapy #4
August 9, 2018, 1:30 p.m. It has been more than a month since my last acupuncture appointment. Paul confirmed that today is session #4. We talked while he got the treatment chair ready. I reminded him that we had gone on a 28-day cross-country road trip. He asked what was the most fun part of…
Individual Acupuncture Therapy #2
May 17, 2018, 2:50 p.m. Everything is very familiar now in Building B of the Union City Kaiser, where I first went for my appointment with Dr. Sumetanon to begin my Pain Management journey. I am ushered into Paul Simon’s treatment room by an assistant. She asked if I used the table or the massage…
Individual Acupuncture Therapy #1
April 23, 2018, 10:10 a.m. Today is the long-awaited appointment with an individual acupuncturist (not a group of a dozen or more patients!). The assistant took me into a regular doctor’s office, small, with chairs and a patient table. Paul Simon had already looked at my medical records so he already knew everything I told…
Level 3 Pain Group Follow up
April 11, 2018 It felt like six weeks passed pretty quickly. The commute was easy and uncomplicated. Checking in and sitting in the waiting room felt very familiar although a bit strange since there was only one person I saw from our original group. After we had assembled in our group meeting room, there were…
Pain Management: My Review
March 17, 2018 I have completed the 3-day-a-week 5-week outpatient Pain Management program at Kaiser. The facilitators all made it clear from Day 1 that this is not a pain relief program but a pain management! And they were right. We were not allowed to talk specifically about our pain nor about medications. I posted…