Another Day

Today there were three cancellations at the last minute. There were two patients who had appointments but weren't on the schedule. We give them an appointment, but we don't put it into the computer. So I ended up net minus one. It's a good reminder that the schedule can't tell you what's going to happen today. Sometimes I want the schedule to tell me who is coming and when. It's important to avoid that sort of desire. There is no order that we can impose on the universe. It does its own thing. We just have to be there when it happens.

I saw a new patient today who has been treated very aggressively for several years for nerve problems. She says "I have sciatica". This, in my opinion, is the greatest problem. It has really confused the doctors. They have imaged her spine and they have treated her with spinal injections. She came to me before surgery, which is her next step. The thing is, people are reacting to the term "sciatica" which is a term that we use. It's a medical DIAGNOSIS. People (several of them) have just accepted this as the diagnosis. I don't know how carefully she's been examined. I think she has a hip problem. That's because when I touch her hip, she jumps off the table. This is not a sign of a problem in the spine. It's a sign of a problem in the hip. This is nothing fancy. It's third year medical school simple stuff. I'm just glad she came in here. I told her not to have surgery on her spine. It's not a good idea.

I saw a patient today who has had horrible life-long migraines. She started accupunture recently and it has been very helpful. I love when that happens. It doesn't always work, but I love when it works. I use so many herbs and vitamins, and I'd like to use more accupuncture too. The only thing is that a lot of people are scared about the needle part of it. We have a chinese doctor in town who is very good.