If the pandemic had not hit, I would have had my routine appointment with Francis, my Pain Physical Therapist, on April 24. But, in the throes of the pandemic, that day came and passed and I thought about emailing Francis and asking him…well, I didn’t know exactly what I would ask in an email. So I stayed silent. Until last Sunday night. It was not quite two months, but maybe I’m meant to never again have my individual appointments with Francis. A very depressing thought.
On Sunday night, I had logged in to kp.org to send an email to my PCP (about lab tests), so I did that. Then, on impulse, I opened another message…to Francis. My “excuse” was to ask him if the Pain Management Program had developed any online groups, and I expressed an interest in what used to be the Tuesday morning “drop-in” groups. I had never been able to go to any because they were held at 10 a.m. to noon, the exact same time we always went to the Alameda Farmers’ Market. I actually did attend one that I knew was going to address the subject of acupressure, as I was very intent on learning more about acupressure. I think I may have just skipped the farmers’ market on that one Tuesday.
Francis responded quickly with a reply to my email on Monday afternoon. He told me that the Tuesday “drop-in” group met online on Tuesday afternoons at 4-5 p.m. That would be perfect! Since that time would not conflict with anything. So I replied to him and told him I was definitely interested. He acted quickly and I received an email from the Medical Assistant, giving me the information I would need to access the group session, which is being done with WebEx.
Calm Body Calm Mind was the title given to this session (or maybe all the sessions, I don’t know yet).
The host for the session was a woman named Angela, someone I didn’t know, who shared a slide of the agenda for the session and was very adamant that everything about the session was confidential and nothing was to be shared outside of the group. Got it. She actually started the session with a Self-Awareness exercise, something like guided meditation only much shorter. Then there was to be a time for discussion. Angela apparently was having some technical difficulties with her audio, so Dr. Julie Whitehead (the Pain Psychologist) took over. She looked very familiar, except that her hair was not as perfectly coiffed as it always had been in person! Julie facilitated the discussion. I put on my shy persona and stayed very quiet, just listening to everyone else.
Then it was Francis’ turn for a full half-hour of “gentle movement.” I was very interested to see how this was going to work online! When he began, I heard his familiar voice and the face was his; but he had a massive amount of totally white hair! Ah, no haircuts for 6 months! When I got past that, I paid attention to what he was doing: Tai Chi! Wow, I realized how much I have missed Tai Chi! I also realized that no one could see me (even though I had my video on) so then I was able to really get into the session. I could see myself (mirror image) in a small corner of the screen, but no one else could see me. Francis went through four exercises, as they were done seated. Then he told us to stand up and he stood up, and went through the same four standing.
The session ended on time at 5:00 p.m. I saw the others leaving the session one by one, so I did, too. But just as I was clicking the “X” in the upper right corner, I heard Francis call my name. “Thanks for coming today, Jackie.” (Yeah, that’s how he spells my name and he is one of the few people in the world who can get away with it!)
I’m sure I will be back again!
