Group Acupuncture 2020, Session 1

Monday, February 3, 2:00 p.m.

I’m glad to be in group acupuncture again, although I would have preferred closer to mid-February since I don’t see Sophie again until March 5. But, oh, well. At least it wasn’t for January 30!

Today was a full and busy day, starting with Linda’s rheumatology appointment and lab blood draw this morning. There wasn’t time to go home afterwards, so we drove directly to Union City, even though we got there an hour early. But we just chilled in the van, sipping our coffee, and listening to KDFC Classical Music station for a half hour.

After checking in with the receptionist, I had time enough to wait near the group room until the Medical Assistant came to check us in. And I got chair #3! I wondered who this group’s acupuncturist would be—and then I was delighted to see Sophie come in! She is SO calm, so professional, and she gives a running narration of everything she is doing and everything she expects us to do (turn off our phones and put them away, get a foot stool if we want one, an extra pillow if we need one, and just get comfortable). So I cleaned my ears with the alcohol swab and settled in.

She clearly set our expectations. After all the needles were in, she was going to dim the room lights and turn on the music, and we would have 30 minutes to relax. Sophie’s touch was gentle but firm, placing the needles in so I just knew they wouldn’t fall out.

I practiced mindful breathing as usual, and I’m afraid I dozed off once or twice. I didn’t clear my mind as well as I wanted to, though, as I kept thinking about what I wanted to post in Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics when I got home. Still, it wasn’t something I was stressing about. The 30 minutes passed quickly.

As Sophie started around to take out the needles, I heard her counting aloud as she removed them. I felt fairly confident that none of my needles had fallen out this time. When she got to me, Sophie counted. One-two-three-four-five on the right side. One-two-three-four-five on the left side.

“Oh, I didn’t drop any needles today,” I grinned. “That means you did a good job of putting them in,” I told Sophie.

“No,” she smiled back, “it just means I found the right angle to counteract gravity!”

I grabbed one of the mini Ricola cough drops on my way out as my throat was feeling a little scratchy.

Emily saw me when I got out to the van and began wagging her tail vigorously! Linda had been hoping for a call from Batra Optical (which didn’t come) so she had not been sleeping as Emily had. But we conversed pleasantly on the way home, even though Linda was very tired.

Later that evening:

My throat is feeling VERY scratchy now, and I got a bag of Throat Coat to make hot tea before supper. It was soothing but didn’t really help my body feel better. I should not have had that thin slice of cake after supper (which was 2 eggs and 5 slices of bacon). I really feel like I’m coming down with Lisa’s cold! I turned up the thermostat long enough to get warm. I snuggled under my blanket in my desk chair and watched my soaps and colored until 11:30 and then went to bed.

The next day:

We got up at o’dark thirty to take the van to the Honda dealer for a routine oil change before going to our usual Alameda shopping day. But what was supposed to be a $99 oil change became a $700+ major van repair! So we’ll be eating out of the freezer and pantry for a few weeks. And drinking water. This means we missed this month’s 20% senior discount day at Walgreen’s as well as no eggs at the farmers’ market. Van needed a new oil pan. I guess that happens when a vehicle is 14 years old! Thank God it’s lasted this long! To top off everything, I’m sick (sore throat, cough, upset digestive tract, etc.). The van is spending the night at the Honda dealer. Don’t know exactly when it will be able to come home. But we are definitely not going out to Tracy this week!