Currently This

My daughter saw an acupuncturist, today. I liked him. So many of the doctors we've seen have been so hesitant and uncertain, so obviously just stabbing at this in the dark. This guy, though, was extremely confident. He didn't hesitate, didn't um or uh. He asked questions, explained what acupuncture is, how it works and how he is going to target her symptoms. He really inspired faith and confidence, and most of all, hope that maybe - maybe.

He also explained to us why she may be still have pain. He said that she hurt for so long that her brain just got stuck in a pattern of firing off pain signals, even though nothing may be happening to cause pain. He says that the idea is to distract and rewire the brain so it can notice that hey, nothing is happening right now, I can relax.

Neato guy. The needles are tiny, thin things. Barely wider than hairs. And it did really relax her. She became very sleepy and he explained that as it messes with the brain chemistry one of the things it does is stimulate the release of beta endorphins and that makes ya feel good and sleepy.

She's been asleep all day.

He also told me I have to stop asking her how she feels, because I'm reminding her to think about it when she may not be. That's hard for me - I worry that she'll think I don't care. But it makes a lot of sense, and I had been thinking about it myself.

One other thing was that I worried that I have been so worried for so long, that I am so constantly either in a state of dealing with an emergency or waiting for the next one, that they may be picking up on my anxiety and responding to it physically. So we're going to see if acupuncture can help me with my anxiety.

Heh.