Come see me!

I've been practicing for nearly 3 months on unsuspecting strangers. Now I'm ready to invite people I know to come to the school clinic for acupuncture treatments!

Treatments are $37 with supervised interns. Tell anyone and everyone you know. I just sent out a mass email to all of my Houston contacts but had old email addresses for some I haven't seen in a while. Plus, there are others here that I only know how to contact through twitter and facebook.

The clinic is open Mon-Sat so come in even if my schedule doesn't work for you and see another intern. I'm there Weds 9am-130pm and Thurs 1pm-530pm until Sept 1st.

As of Sept 7th I will be there Mon 9am-130pm and Weds 9am-130pm until Christmas.

So, if you live here or happen to be in the area, come see me for a treatment!

School/Exam Update

I had originally worked out in my mind that I would take the Intern Entrance Exams (3 of them) this coming Spring semester (2011). Somewhere along the line, I pushed that goal up one semester after speaking with my classmates, many of whom were planning on taking them this semester. So, I tried to follow suit and got lost in everything I was trying to do.

I had over loaded on classes this semester with the original idea of finishing as many classes as possible before my internship hoping to keep the whole thing less stressful. So, when I decided on a whim last semester to take the bio med exam after studying for about 2 1/2 days and I passed with an 82%, I honestly thought I could pull it all off. I set out to study for the remaining 2 exams (acupuncture and herbs) while maintaining my 7 classes (15 credit hours).

Needless to say, it hasn't been easy. While I passed my acupuncture exam with no problem, the herbs got me. They are my weak point. And, oddly enough, the area I really want to learn and become good at in my career.

So, while having an herb tutoring session with a student who knows the herbs really, really well, it dawned on me that there is no advantage to killing myself to learn something in such a half-assed fashion just to accomplish something that really wasn't in my original plan.

I've made the decision to NOT retake the herb exam next Friday. Instead, I will sign up for the herb review class (which didn't work into my schedule before because of other class conflicts) and focus on actually LEARNING the herbs instead of trying to outsmart the exam just so I can pass it.

The down side is that I will have to take the bio med exam again! We have 2 semesters to pass the 3 exams before we become interns. Since I took the bio med exam at the end of the summer semester, I would have to go into the clinic next semester for it to count. I guess it won't kill me to take it over again!

So, now I can focus on the 4 finals I have left to take between now and next Tuesday (14th) then be finished with the semester, relax and enjoy my holiday break and get back on it in Jan.

Thanks for listening and for all of your support. I WILL get this done and I WILL do it well. But I'm still a bit sad about the time I wasted and the things I missed with my family this semester because I was doing too much. I'll make up for it next week!

It Is Cram Time

Just over a week left until my first and most difficult exam I've taken thus far in school. I am finding time to study and I'm trying every different method I can: practice exams and rote memorization leading the pack. Who knows if it will be enough. But I have to work with what I have available to me. While I think positively, I am fully prepared to have to retake the exam. Some tell me not to think that way. But I need the balance. I need to know that I'll pass but it may take 2 times so that I'm ok with it. Otherwise, the devastation of not passing the first time would be too much.

I think I would stress and obsess over it more except, after losing my Grandpa this past weekend and having a school friend lose her son in an accident, I know it isn't the end of the world. I can prepare as well as I know how to and see what happens. I must not let the process take over and negatively affect my entire life.

Ok, back to work.

Business Plan

I've been taking this Ethic and Clinic Management class this semester. It is a really great class. The instructor is very motivating when it comes to building a business and we have a great book that we use called "Points for Profit". The instructor keeps asking, "are you just making yourself a job or are you making yourself a business that will pay you even when you aren't working?" In class I am all, "hell yes, I want a business!"

For our final in the class, we have to create a business plan. The more I work on it, the more I'm thinking, "I just want a job. This is all too overwhelming." But, maybe I just want a job for a couple of years until I get my feet wet. Then I will revisit my business plan and work that angle.

Right now I'm happy to give 30% of what I make for the rest of my life to Valeo PT just so I don't have to deal with the business stuff.

Ramblings about Schedules

I LOVE to plan and to know my schedule.  HOWEVER, I often hate to follow it.  I often feel rebellious towards it.  Enslaved by it.  

I have friends who cannot function unless they are following their strict schedule.  I look at them and think, "How sad that you cannot be more spontaneous and flexible.  You are missing out on so much!"  But I envy their stability and the comfort they have that comes with knowing what comes next.

I have friends who rarely follow a schedule.  I look at them and think, "How sad that you cannot be more organized and focused so that you can achieve more.  You have so much potential that you are wasting."  But I envy their creativity and their free spirit lifestyle.  They always have amazing experiences that were never planned.

So, here I am.  Caught in the middle of the two.  Sometimes desperately wanting a solid schedule so I can maintain a better flow of expectations for both myself and my family.  Sometimes wanting more flexibility so I can enjoy something that the schedule wouldn't allow.  Oh what to do, what to do.

My school just came out with a class schedule for each of the next three semesters.  That is an entire year of my school life!  Usually the schedule is released one semester at a time.  I was ecstatic to lay out my classes, know what is coming, understand what will be demanded from me for the next year.  Then I began to feel overwhelmed by it.  The pressure of having to make sure I take the correct class at the correct time to cover all of the prerequisites.  The decision to cram in as many hours as I can on the fewest number of days vs. take as many hours as I can to get through the program more quickly.  Getting it all figured out then having the anxiety bubble up when I realize, what if something doesn't go as planned and my schedule gets all messed up?!

C is in the same boat as I am.  He is always talking about how "we need to get on a better/normal schedule."  Yet he cannot control his own work schedule.  Never has been able to do that.  So we both feel like we are constantly working against time.  Unable to fit everything in.  Always disappointed in what we don't/can't accomplish.  It is maddening.

We are now in discussions about sending M to preschool this fall.  We never did that with O.  Never needed to.  I was always around and we worked a lot on his basic Kindergarten skills.  By the age of 4 he could recognize his numbers and letters on top of his colors and shapes.  We were both confident that he was more than prepared to enter public school when he turned 5.  M has not gotten the same attention.  She is nowhere near where O was at this age on her numbers and letters.  Yet she seems so much more advanced socially.  I say we need to get her focused by people who have the skills to do so so she is ready to go to Kindergarten in Fall 2010.  I don't have the time nor the patience to do that over the next year.  C doesn't have the time but he is so much more patient than I when it comes to working on those things.  I feel the need to have a better schedule once school starts to help the kids cope with our busy lives.  C isn't so sure we need to spend the money.  I understand that and agree but, dang it, something has got to give here.  We need an anchor.  O's school schedule helps keep us in some sort of a routine.  A sometimes inconvenient routine!  But, a routine none-the-less.  M needs that same sort of routine in her young life to give her some focus.  And I need some focus time to study. 

So, as I'm sure most people do, we are constantly struggling to keep our lives going the direction we intended.  We try very hard to enjoy the detours along the way but our path could use a bit more focus.  I hope we figure it all out by the end of August.   

WHEW! I passed!

I'm doing the happy dance.  I passed the two classes that I was worried about after I took finals before Christmas!  Physiology=C  and Herbology 2=B!!!!  They must have REALLY had to curve it for me to get those grades!  That's all I have to say.  Acu 2 was an A like I expected.  Thank the gods of multiple choice finals.

Classes started back up for me this past Weds. (1/7).  Unfortunately they canceled one of my classes (Herbology 3) because only 4 people signed up for it.  But they added a class that I need to take in order to continue on with the Western Medicine part of my degree.  Histology.  Wow.  My least favorite part of physiology (cells and tissue) and now I get to take a class that focuses entirely on cells and tissues.  Someone shoot me now.  But, it is a prerequisite for pathology and microbiology and on up so I needed to take it now.  And I thought I was a big grouch LAST semester!  But, I do get a break from the herbs which should give me plenty of time to review (yeah, right!  Like THAT will happen).

To make a long story short, my schedule went from going 3 nights a week to classes to just 2 nights a week:  Tuesdays 5-9p and Wednesdays 230-1010pm.  Wednesdays are going to kill me so I still plan on taking Thursdays to recuperate.  Tuesdays are my acupuncture classes:  Acu 3=learning point locations beyond the 14 channels and Scalp Acupuncture=just what it sounds like) while Wednesdays are Western Medicine focused (Counseling and Patient Communication, Psychology and Histology).  I have hope I will make it through this semester without too much pain.  15 weeks and counting...

Lack of Motivation

I really should be studying.  I have 2 finals next week and one the following week.  I have lots to do.  Yet I sit here obsessively checking email, blogs, cnn, local news websites...just so I don't miss anything.

Instead of studying I'm sitting here trying to analyze WHY I'm not studying.  I have the time.  I have the resources.  I have no motivation.  Where does that come from?  All my life I cannot do anything to benefit myself except at the last minute when I have no choice but to do it or fail.  But let me tell ya, I can do things for other people.  Why is that?  I've made study sheets and emailed them to my fellow classmates.  Maybe it is the teacher in me?  Maybe that is how I need to learn--by doing and teaching.  Hmmmmmmm.  

Ok, it is cold (very cold:  36 degrees with 83% humidity; even colder than my home town of Cheyenne, WY at 44 degrees and 40% humidity.  I know because I just checked the weather) and dark and dreary and all I want to do is eat and sit.  Eat and watch tv.  Eat and waste time.  However, were it 80 degrees and sunny outside, I'll bet I'd still want to just sit and waste time.

I have class tonight from 7-9.  One class.  It takes me 45 minutes to drive to school and 45 minutes to drive back.  Note to self:  don't ever sign up for one class alone unless it is at least 3 hours long to make it worth the drive!  Do I really need to make that drive tonight in the wet and possibly slick conditions that are forecast to exist around driving time?  I mean, we are talking about the Urinary System.  We started it last night in class and it was quite painful mentally for me to sit and focus.  The teacher said something about how we generally think of the urinary system as blood in and urine out but it is more complicated than that.  After class a fellow student commented, "I still prefer the blood in and urine out idea of understanding!"  I couldn't agree more.  

I should be studying herbs.  That teacher requested last class that we know all the herbs from memory in each category so we could do a good review for our last class tomorrow evening.  There are 104 herbs and 7 categories for this class (one of three we have to take to learn all of the 300+ individual chinese herbs).  I'm a bit more worried about remembering those than I am about understanding the intricacies of the urinary system.  But it doesn't motivate me to study them right now.

And what about my acupuncture class?  In 2 semesters I've (supposedly) mastered the locations of 361 points on the body.  All I can think about is, will I ever be able to insert a needle into someone's throat to stop their cough?  Before I do that, will I be able to convince people to let me insert needles into their throats??  Oh, and can I get paid to do it too?  

Too much anxiety.  Everyone says that this is normal.  The first 2 years or so you are learning the foundation but have nothing really to relate it to.  Once you get to year 3-3.5 then everything starts to come together.  I have faith that that will happen but that doesn't comfort me much right now.  I should be studying.  But I'm not.

So I just keep trucking along.  Making my way through each day, each week, each class with the hope that some day it will all be crystal clear.  Ok, not necessarily crystal clear because there will always be that patient who will stump me.  No one ever knows everything there is to know.  But I want to at least feel like I am getting a handle on it all.  Perhaps that would motivate me to learn more, to study more, to want to go to class.  Because right now, today, it isn't there.

I think I'll skip class tonight and spend the evening with the kids.  Focus on them.  Make pizza with them and play games.  Maybe that is what I'm missing--some balance.  I get pulled in so many directions and my mind is never really where my body is.  I need to practice living in the now and enjoying it.  

Now I have my homework for tonight.  Those herbs will have to wait until tomorrow.  

 

Weekly Recap

Whew!  Another whirl-wind week.  However, I was forced to slow down and have a fight with a bug.  It seems everyone around me has been sick yet I had been very lucky to not catch anything.  Mostly people have had the cough/congestion thing but I had a couple of clients this week with a stomach virus.  As you can see, just a little bit of everything.  My bug seems to have manifested itself into chills, body aches and general exhaustion.  It is frustrating because I have no outward signs that anything is wrong---no runny nose, no coughing, no stomach upset, no fever etc.  However, when I sit quietly on the couch or in bed, I'm pretty good.  Some low back ache but otherwise not too bad.  When I get up my whole body screams including joint and muscle ache--but not the same ache you have after a long workout.  I get up and accomplish some task for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and I am spent.  I have to sleep.  It is annoying.  

I try to make sure I walk the dog every morning so he spends some energy.  The past 3 mornings have been much shorter walks.  Today I pushed it a bit longer and by the time I got home I was a mess.  I had to crawl back into bed and ask C to take over.  He, of course, was happy to help out and got O up and out the door on time, got M up and going, fed the animals, played administrative assistant and took a few phone calls for me and got the kitchen cleaned up before he headed off to work.  Thank you, honey!  One phone call was a cancellation of an 11 am client.  While I was looking forward to the income, the chance to stay in bed longer was even better.  I slept until 10:45 am.  I now seem to have a bit more energy but am going to lay low today.  I have a client scheduled for 4 and I need to pick up some milk at the store but other than that, I'm sitting my butt on the couch for the day.

I've missed two days of classes including a quiz I'll need to make up.  I'll deal with that next week and get notes from someone.  I just need to get past this by tomorrow.  Saturday is a big 50th Anniversary celebration NASA event.  I have looked forward to it for months.  Originally it would have taken place in late September.  However, with the hurricane and all it was postponed to this weekend.  It is a dress-up, adults only event which is so fun for me to do every once in awhile!  I bought a new dress, shoes and the required undergarments, I've set up my client schedule so I can work, take a nap and then get myself ready to enjoy the evening.  The kids are set up at GAB.....Everything is done.  I just have to feel better!  There is food, drink and dancing.  There are people to see and fun to be had!  I cannot crash 2 hours into the evening!  While I've taken homeopathic meds for my bug (mostly the first day), I've saved the ibuprofen to help me get through Saturday.  I so want to be able to enjoy it!

Obviously that has been my focus for the past week but there are other things that happened too!  I passed all of my midterms getting strong Bs in all three classes.  We had a fun family event last Friday at O's school.  The PTA hosted a movie night in association with the new PTA movie store.  They have family friendly movies and are trying to promote it for the holidays I'm sure.  So, they offered a free public showing of Kungfu Panda.  It was a very cute movie and a great time.  We filled up the school cafeteria with blankets, pillows and snacks and had a great couple of hours enjoying the movie.  

Since we have plans for this weekend and I've been busier at work lately, I had a full day at work last Saturday.  All went well and I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be.  Sunday we met with a pet sitter who will take care of the pets for us over Christmas.  Then, just after he left, the dog started vomiting.  He suddenly could keep nothing down and by 4:45 Monday morning was vomiting on our bed and there was blood in it.  We were very worried and got him in to see the Vet on Monday morning.  They did a few tests and found he had not ingested anything toxic.  So, we are treating him for gastritis.  We came home with anti-nausea meds as well as antibiotics because his white blood cell count was slightly elevated.  He seems to be just fine now and never really lost his high energy so all is well there.  We are watching him just in case he relapses which might indicate a blockage in his GI tract.  That would involve x-rays etc.  So far so good.  

M enjoyed her weekly dance class on Tuesday and then the two of us headed out to shop.  I needed shoes and undergarments to go with my dress for this weekend.  I hate shopping and prefer to do it during quiet times so I figured Tuesday mid-day was the perfect time.  Ha!  The joke was on me.  We went to Macy's and hit the shoe department first.  It was chaos and I just figured that there was some sale going on plus, it was still the lunch hour so it should calm down.  It took a long time to get waited on but I had already dedicated this day for shopping and didn't want to leave.  I finally got what I needed, looked at the very long line for checkout and decided I'd take my shoes with me to Foundations and look for a bra.  That department is upstairs and I had already picked up my hose and bra before I realized how long that line was for checkout too.  What is going on?  I ask myself.  It is just a random Tuesday.  It is not a holiday week, is it?  What am I missing?  Well, Macy's is having a big one day sale.  Dammit!  I've already invested too much time and energy to leave my selections behind now.  Plus, I must have been working on fighting that bug because my head was fuzzy and I was tired.  I figured, I'm already here and I don't want to have to get back out and do this again this week.  My judgement was cloudy.  So, I decide to take advantage of the sale and find some jeans.  It took a bit of searching but I found a pair.  Then I took my place in line.  M was starting to melt down but was holding it together pretty well.  Then a sales associate came by to direct the line to a few other cashiers so we could get out of there faster.  I went over to the children's department happy that I had taken advantage of the price check computers to make sure all of my selections would ring up with the correct sale price.  To make a long story short (too late!) the cashier told me that she couldn't ring up the shoes because they work on commission in that department and she needed to give credit to one of the sales people there.  I about came over the counter at her.  I should have just given up at this point but, dammit, I had spent too much time and energy here and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!  I was going home with those shoes no matter what! 

So, I grab M who is in tears by now and haul everything back downstairs to the shoe department.  The long line was gone and I was able to finally purchase all of my items.  We practically ran out of the mall.  I really, really hate shopping like that.  But I am very glad I stuck it out and got it done while I had the chance.

Yesterday we had a quick conference with O's teacher.  We are so proud of him.  We all agree on his strong points and weak points.  He is doing very well and is at or above where he needs to be at this point in his education.  I really like his teacher and I really like the things they are doing in his classroom.  Today is his last day before Thanksgiving break--they have the entire week off next week.  We have things to work on with reading and math to keep him thinking.  He is having a little bit of trouble with odd and even numbers but he loves to write.  He has written notes to his teacher and his Kindergarten teacher from last year just this past week.  He is very sweet and loves to express his fondness for them.  He and his sister write notes to one another too.  It is very fun to watch them.

Anyway, this post is long enough and I need another nap to help me get through the afternoon.  M is watching Star Wars for the second time today so I should have some quiet time available.  I'll try to get pictures over the weekend from the NASA Gala.  Next week, O is on vacation, I'll need to catch up on school stuff, there is Thanksgiving and decorating for Christmas.  We plan to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving at the Texas Renaissance Festival which has become our tradition.  So, lots going on and lots to look forward to.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

As I was saying...

Oddly enough after I posted my last entry I picked up my current issue of Consumer Reports On Health.  Right there on page 3 the title reads:  "Hospitals embrace complementary medicine."  And the first two sentences say:  "Nearly 40% of hospitals now offer acupuncture, massage and other complementary therapies, compared with just 27% two years ago, according to a recent survey by the American Hospital Association.  Growing research shows that those therapies can help many patients when added to standard care."

ConsumerReportsHealth.org provides unbiased information about health including complementary therapies. 

Please give it a try

I just wanted to send out an appeal for help with my future career.  Please utilize your local complementary medical professional.  Many practitioners of complementary medicine are trained to work with western medical professionals but approach the body from a different angle than those trained in western medicine.  That is why it is called complementary medicine.  It works well together with traditional western medicine.

Check out this site for high quality practitioners in acupuncture and oriental medicine: 

National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine  

If you are a more research based person, here is a link to the government agency that explains, monitors and promotes research in complementary medicine:

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine  

The more the public demands complementary options as part of their health insurance plans and the more patients educate their western medical practitioners about other options they want to utilize in their own treatment, the more acceptable and mainstream these practices will become.  Many of them are more cost efficient, less invasive and equally helpful for so many illnesses when compared to western medicine.  The goal is NOT to turn our backs on western medicine but to enhance it.  The goal is for all practitioners to work together for the benefit of the patient.

So, again, I encourage you to utilize your local complementary medicine practitioners.  Use them yourself, use them for your children's illnesses, use them for your aging relatives and use them for your pets.  The success these practitioners have now will help to pave the way for my future career.  It is a perfectly selfish request!  But, I also strongly believe in alternative forms of medicine regardless of whether or not I plan on making that my career.

Thanks for trying and I hope we all reap the rewards of having choices in health care.