The Surgery Was A Success But The Patient Died...

I consider myself a pretty good business woman. My background is corporate America and I was really good at it so I figure I'll be pretty competent at building an acupuncture practice, so I had to laugh at myself when I saw a new patient this past Monday night.

That evening I saw one of my first new assigned female patients. A very pretty 54 year old woman with beautiful blue eyes and a very quiet demeanor. She had only one previous acupuncture treatment and really did not know to much about the whole thing.

Her chief compliant that evening was foot pain or otherwise known as Plantar Fasciitis which is a condition which causes constant and annoying pain while walking.

My supervisor who is this (as my friend describes him) high functioning austic type of guy, sits and speaks with her and then lets her know that the treatment can be very successful, but it can be a little painful.

Obviously he did not read that she was a bit timid and would go along with anything. I unfortunately missed the cues and figured this out later during the next couple of days.....

What he didn't tell her is that the needles were to go into the feet about 2 inches;

Yup DEEP needling of the bottom of feet. OUCH right?

We of course asked her if she wanted to try this treatment, as my supervisor explained to her it would be "a little" painful but very effective;

Hello Holly Wake-Up, since when is putting needles in the BOTTOM of the foot, just a little painful?

Like what in the hell was I thinking anyway.

How funny.

This is a woman that has had only one previous acupuncture treatment and she is very soft spoken, and on heavy anti depressants as well...She would must likely go along with anything.

So we did the deep needling and I think it hurt her more when the needles were coming out as opposed to when they were being put in. Imagine this, six long needles stuck in the softest part of the bottom of your foot.

Once we got the needles out of her, she sat up, she looked quite disheveled, but she appeared okay. I asked her to stand up and see if the pain had diminished to any degree....

With a wispy voice she said " yes, I think so"....

Okay, I'm thinking how really good I am at this, and that I had a new patient for life.

I told her we would see her next week, and that I would be in touch via e-mail to help her with her food choices....never thinking that she did not appreciate my accomplishments of ridding her feet of pain.

Soa couple of days later, I said to myself that I should check to make sure that she rescheduled with me again before I make up her menu...

Guess what I found?

She did not make another appointment.

The surgery was a success but the patient had died...

Lesson learned!

Featuring Daisy and Chico

Its been awhile since I posted pictures of my dogs...Daisy is just about all grown up, and she has become quite a character.

She does this very weird thing with Chico, which is whenever they play or they get excited together, she puts her entire head in Chico's mouth, and then she starts licking his gums....it's very strange.

I try to get video of the interaction, but Orbit always sticks his big head right in front of me.

Here is the clip and I call it "Symbiosis"

Like A Larva

So I'm at the gym minding my own business....and I'm sitting there just kinda staring off into space:

When this drop dead very good looking 40 something hot to trot guy started talking to me.

I wrote a post at the beginning of the week that I needed to come out of my cocoon.

Ahhhh....I came out of it okay; but just like a struggling little larva.....

Picture this, he's about 5'11', very long hair, big brown eyes, hot physique...in a word, beautiful. He's from some island near Hawaii. Getting the picture?

I was so flustered that this drop dead gorgeous guy was talking to me that it left me speechless and feeling like a fish out of the water....

Damn....I use to be so good at this type of thing.

Afterwards I gave this entire situation some thought.

Its hard to be 50 somethin' and play that game....I don't know, its like I'v have lost something along the way and I can't get it back...like ahhhhh;

My self confidence....

I wonder how I can get my "MOJO" back on?...or just maybe;

It's gone forever?

Hearing Again..

I...who am an almost acupuncturist, finally went to see, for the very first time a REAL acupuncturist, not a student acupuncturist...Big difference.

This was a big deal for me to do, because I have doctor phobia. Haven't been in years.

I went because of my ears....and I'm happy to say that today, I can hear more normally, everything is not as muffled. I knew the treatment was going to work because right afterwards, as I was driving home, I could feel my ears begin to drain down the back of my throat. Yuck

He also performed something called Moxa on the exterior of my ears, which is a method that actually warms the channel. Basically, the heat from the Moxa stick "melts" any accumulation throughout the ear canal and helps starts the transformation of the phlegm and damp that has been lodged in my head causing this extreme hearing loss.

Seriously this has been bad...people will call my name, and I just go on about my business, not acknowledging them what so ever. The other night someone was calling my name and of course I couldn't hear, and another student said "she can't hear you",with the tone as if I was a senior citizen and forgive her indiscretion.

. This situation has not been good for the ego, because now those youngsters look at you with pity..

Awww poor thing, she can't hear....you know, like I'm really old something...wait,,,this is not old age earing loss you idiots!

Big difference between a 25 year practitioner and a teaching school. That's why I went. When he inserted the needles I couldn't feel a thing..whereas the students at the clinic feel like they are drilling into your skin when they do a treatment.

Geez, now I know why my friends I practice on never want to come back for more of a FREE treatment.

Interning and and out of the Cocoon

I took a week off simply because it seems as if I don't have much to say that is very interesting. This feeling started right after I got that very bad cold. When my ears plugged up, so did everything else.

I'm just now starting to feel back to normal...or maybe I think the problem is this;

Now I'm an Intern....that's a good thing. I'm almost done with my studies, I almost have a masters degree and that's with only two and a half semesters to go...so why do I feel so glum?

Because my stay in the cocoon is almost at an end..and that makes me a bit sad.

Three and half years ago I was in pretty bad shape, mending a broken heart and spirit, without a clue as to how I was going to pull my life together.

It was at that time I decided to take a four year time out, slow down, and figure out what I wanted to do with the second half of my life.

So here I am...on the other side of the decision, and my cocoon like life it coming to an end.

Soon I return back to work...

No more midday walks with the dogs, the end of surfing the net at noon, and the loss of the sense of freedom, which is that I don't have to do anything other than sit in a classroom for three hours a day or worry about anything except for the next exam....cake walk life to be sure.

I see the real world looming up ahead again...sometimes I want to embrace it and other times I want to run from it just to to return to my quiet life and continue to be wrapped up in the safety and comfort of my self created cocoon.....

I hope the journey of the Spiritual Dog is not almost over, I've loved and cherished this time...

I Told Her So...Remember This?

"
Remember this? This was the blog about my friend Michele and her whirlwind romance she found on the island of Hawaii...she told me that this time, "it was different"...okay I said....and kept my big mouth shut...

She was making the big move to Hawaii because she found her true love.

Fast forward three weeks later...the guy comes out for a visit....NOT GOOD.

The first problem was that she found out he was a hard core Scientologist..I asked her what all that stuff was about...LOL...her explanation was something like...

"To interact you must get on the third parallel plane"...I said what? She said she didn't have a clue...and that it was totally "different" and "weird"...My young friend is not at all cerebral...and that is being kind.

How funny is that anyway...

Next they both got sick from either bad Sushi or the stomach flu...whatever, they both barfed up their guts for 12 hours straight and this was followed by 2 days of the runs....Nice

I guess he was a BIG BABY because she was pretty disgusted with his sickly behavior.

I think many of us are familiar with the guy that is a total baby when they get just a smidgen sick.

I think its so funny...I know, I know...I'm cynical, but hey we've all been there..ya gotta laugh, or you just might cry....

My poor young friend....life's realities can be brutal.

I Was There

I was there when it happened....I worked harder than any man in the company, but I was paid less.

I performed the job of COO for one of the largest independent telecommunications during the late 90's and early 2000's....but I never got the official title.

I was called a bitch, I was said to be hard to get along with, I was told I had a reputation....and I was the "go to guy" for every important project that came along....

I was just reading an article about two yahoo's who were chanting "Iron My Shirt" during one of Hillary Clinton's rallies...

Sadly, sexism is alive and well....

From two fellow woman bloggers, I read that they wanted a woman for president but not THAT woman.

Trust me when I tell you, know matter WHAT woman it is, she will come along with the reputation of being a Bitch....

That's what men and the establishment do....and that's a fact.

I think this blogger says it better than me; read Erica Jong Tears-Fears.

Still Sick....

This is pathetic, still sick with this cold. It has gone to my ears and I can't hear...It is really quite embarrassing, because when I do go out in public I have to say Huh? to anyone who asks me a question.

I now know what its like to be deaf.

It is also quite pathetic of me, that I have more to post on my Pawhealing With Herbs blog than on my personal blog.

On that note, I have been doing some work on trying not hold grudges;

I called my Aunt Patty because I know that she is very sick, and I figured, okay she hung up on me...I can be bigger than that, and called her....twice.

She never called me back....so;

LOL, I guess she REALLY HUNG UP ON ME!

Meaning; she doesn't care to ever speak with me again.

I can live with that, I feel better that I at least attempted to do the right thing, and by not holding in a grudge; lets go of toxic junk that circulates through my mind.

I honestly feel better that I did the right thing, and I now feel like I can let go of the relationship, because I really really tried.

It takes two people to make a healthily relationship.

Glued To the TV...

I'm somewhat memorized by what is happening tonight. For three days I have heard Hillary bashing, and done with such enthusiasm, it was quite a spectacle. She was projected to "to have the stink of looser" on her....

So the race is close. I think no matter if your not a Hillary fan, you must still admire her for staying strong after what she has been through during the past few days. She has been bashed unlike anything I have ever witnessed....incredibly vicious and uncalled for.

For that matter, you have to appreciate all of them. Each one of them wants this so dearly, and they are all putting their hearts and souls into the process.

UPDATE; Hillary Wins.....Hurray!

I'm so excited, the prospect of our first woman president...in my lifetime!

On The Mend....

I'm back...so my herbs did work. I had a severe attack of wind-cold-damp attacking the exterior and the Yang Ming (stomach).

And my ex-whatever, did NOT show up to bring me support. What a rat...

The herbal formula that I took that has done the trick, one of the formulas is called "gan mou ling. This is a very interesting formula, because of an an ingredient called of ban lan gen, which is an herb that China has used successfully to treat epidemics.

I have a touch of a headache, but I warded off probably the worse flu I could of had in a very, very long time. Wow.....it was bad.

By the way, this herbal formula, ban mou ling, is very common, and everyone should have it as a staple item in their medicine chest to be ready for an onset of a bad winter cold.

The other formula I'm taking, because I felt like I was also getting the stomach flu, is something called "huo xiang zheng qi wan". Again, another staple item of the medicine cabinet for any onset of the stomach flu, diarrhea etc.

I'm gonna send my supervisor a note of thanks, letting him know I appreciated the opportunity to test all these herbal formulas on myself!

Baby Got Back....and Smart to Boot

NOW I understand why I have such big hips because I'm so smart!

Click here to feel vindicated.....

MY HERBS ARE NOT WORKING...

either is aspirin.

OMG....I have a terrible case of the flu. Got it from my supervisor on my clinic shift.

I can't understand WHY he came to the shift in that kind of shape, and now I feel as if a MAC TRUCK has hit me.

I'm taking three different herbal formulas and aspirin....

I'm in bed with my dog pack cuddling with me. I called my old .......what do you call someone at my age who has a...boyfriend...bootie call, ummmmm, partner?

Anyway, he is going to come over for moral support and to bring me whatever I need.

He was always good about that....to bad he would never let me know where he lived....yeah that was weird. I have known him six years, and he still will not take me to his house. I'm dead serious!

But he was the nicest guy, but he had to many weird things like the above.

Obviously he was hiding something.....since I didn't want to marry him, or anything of that sort, I let him get away with that kind of crap....until it bothered me so much, I said forget it....MoveOn. org


Its raining cats and dogs here today, so staying in bed is not a bad thing. Time to go and crawl into the pack again.....

Tah Dahhhh.....

I so proudly present to you....Dr. Pink Pinkerton and his new blog;

PawHealing with Dr. Pink Pinkerton; Herbalist Extraordinarie