| Hello Everyone! Just another day in the life of a pandemic. Thank you all for your outpouring of kindness through phone calls, notes and emails. It meant so much to me that you would reach out. Some people have called me during my Monday hours 10 am – 2 pm just to see how I’m doing and chat for a few minutes. It’s so nice to hear from you! Here is my most realistic plan for reopening the clinic: We will most likely reopen sometime between June 8 and June 15. This has changed to 6/23 I am busy putting together an office safety strategy that encompasses personal protective gear and methods of sanitizing that considers these ideas: safe for anyone who comes in; cost effective; considerate of personal contact with and between patients; waste reduction minded; and as easy to implement as possible. Like social distancing, I consider this something we can all do together. One thing glaringly obvious is that the clinic will have to cut down the numbers of patients being seen hourly. At first we will be opened for limited hours as it will take some folks time to feel comfortable going to an office. And it will take the office some time to get used to implementing this level of change in office policies. Today I started imagining the space and it was the first time I actually was feeling hopeful that I could safely make the change. As someone who wants to obey the rules even as i question them, I felt a little overwhelmed by all the masks and sanitizing. Is this what I want my life to be? But then I think of you and I realize that my time of feeling sorry for myself for not having a perfect life and a perfect situation is over. None of us (well most of us anyway) want to live this way but it is what we need to do for now. Many of us are either in a risk category that is unacceptable or, we are caring for someone at high risk or we work somewhere that is at high personal safety risk. We don’t know how long we will have to be extra careful as there are many unknowns but I hope to consider myself in the “part of the solution” camp. The solution for me for the near future is deferring to those who have expertise in communicable diseases and allowing them to keep as many people safe as possible given the number of people infected in Massachusetts and given the patient population in which I serve. For the moment I will rely upon the Governor’s office and Mass DPW to provide guidance on what the best course of action should be for when and how to safely re-open. I feel firsthand the financial effects of this pandemic and sympathize with those who are really struggling to keep from financial ruin and keep their businesses afloat. The statistics of loss in both cases is staggering. I also agree that the health effects of stress and poverty will create a strain on people’s patience and health with not being able to work. I do not envy policy makers and politicians who have to weigh one side of the coin against the other. Many of them will suffer the consequence of their decisions. It is humbling to watch this all unfold and to think about how opaque the path to righteousness can be. Unless you ask me something specifically I may not get back to you right away. But do know that I am thinking about all of you everyday and I hope that you are all doing okay. If any of you have experienced first hand the devastation of Corona virus via you, your friends or family, do not hesitate to reach out. Some of you may be experiencing non corona virus issues that are adversely affecting your life and if there is any way I can help, let me know. Love and Peace to all of you, Tess |
| Telehealth and other health ideas are coming to this acupuncture clinic so keep a watch out for my next newsletters. |
