January 25, 2018, 8:15 a.m. I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. to make sure I could wake up to be coherent by 8:15a for my phone appointment with Dr. Kalra, Medical Director of the Pain Clinic. I was actually out at my desk, waiting by the phone from 7:30a until 9:30a, when he finally…
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Day 3 Pain Management
January 24, 2018 Today’s session started out with Lisa, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She continued with the concept of the “Biopsychosocial Model of Pain” to show the relationship of physical pain to emotional responses. She also facilitated the meditation exercise and relaxation breathing. She wasn’t nearly as soft-spoken as Dr. Whitehead, so I had…
Day 2 Pain Management
January 22, 2018 First “real” session (no more paperwork to fill out!). Francis is gone for 10 days on some kind of “mission trip” so Dr. Whitehead was the primary presenter. She showed a video of a TED talk by a woman who had had massive body injuries and accompanying pain and told her story…
Day 1 Pain Management Orientation
Friday, January 19, 2018 Francis and Dr. Whitehead facilitated this orientation session. There was a little more paperwork to fill out, but the “samples” of relaxation strategies with the breathing and mediation were longer. There was a lot of emphasis on the importance of attending every session (unless you are ill and contagious!), and required…
Group Acupuncture #3
Jan 17, 2018 Another two weeks have passed, and this is my third group acupuncture session. Today I reported a pain level of 6. I took this picture inside the group room, showing what I had to look at during this acupuncture session. All the other patients were behind me. This week, the acupuncturist was…
Phone appointment with Dr. Whitehead
January 17, 2018, 1:45 p.m. I was on my way to the third of my three group acupuncture sessions that Dr. Sumetanon had ordered when my cell phone rang just as Linda pulled up to the front door of Building B. It was Dr. Whitehead, calling right on time as Parisa had said she would….
Pain Management Program at Union City
At my last physical therapy session (December 7) in Oakland, my therapist recommended the Kaiser Pain Management program. She sent her recommendation to Dr. Chan and I requested Dr. Chan, as well, for a referral to Pain Management. Instead, she referred me to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. So I saw Dr. Sumetanon in Union City…
Group Acupuncture #2
Jan 5, 2018 This is my second group acupuncture session, miraculously scheduled for two weeks after the first one. Again, the girl behind the screen asked me for my current pain level. This time, I said 7. She gave me the two alcohol swabs and I knew what to do with them this time. I…
Arthritis Flare Left Hand & Wrist
December 31, 2017 I was awakened early this morning with sharp pains in my left wrist and radiating down through my left hand to my fingertips. I couldn’t move any parts of my left hand and wrist without severe pain. In addition, my hand appeared to be swollen. Now this is what I would identify…
Refilling the “cookie jar”
Life is giving me hard stuff to deal with today. It would be easier with less pain, I think. 11/25/17 Day #5 without a migraine (just a regular headache). Happy Sabbath! 🙂 I had a migraine from Oct 7 to 23. December 1, 2017 Second visit for plant-based medicine. The cookie jar is full again. For…