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Vaccine time! I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine this week and I wanted to share some of my realizations and experiences with you. This decision was complex and unfolded over months for me but ultimately came down to a few realizations and thoughts which I'll share below.... *Disclaimer - this information does not constitute medical advice and you should always consult with your primary care provider before beginning or discontinuing any medical treatment or procedure. Vaccines are a kind of mind-trip because it plays this trick on us: We have to voluntarily and consciously choose to receive a medical intervention which may cause us side effects or a very slim chance of more significant issues versus the alternative which is that we could be potentially passively infected with COVID, in which case it's significantly more likely we will have a worse reaction and outcome. The differing player here is choice vs. effect. When we CHOOSE a vaccine we are also choosing to accept side effects and risks, in some way it's almost a guarantee, but by not actively choosing it we leave ourselves open to the risk of being affected by the actual virus passively - meaning we didn't CHOOSE it, it just happened to us, it's 'not our fault' we got it when we were doing everything right. The mind-trick is in this choosing something that will likely cause some discomfort and potential harm seems so counter-intuitive, while leaving the option of being passively infected (with a significantly more likely chance of a worse outcome) feels a little 'safer' in some strange way because we aren’t actively making the choice. 
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While my clinic is not seeing active COVID-19 patients in person, one demographic we’ve been seeing and having a lot of success with have been COVID long haulers. A ‘COVID long hauler’, ‘long COVID’ or ‘chronic COVID’ is when symptoms persist beyond the active infection time, these symptoms can persist for weeks to months and risk for long term permanent effects seems to be likely. This presentation has been likened to Lyme’s Disease in that the precipitating factor is a viral infection followed by a chronic presentation of symptoms that range in severity from mild to severely disabling. Long COVID patients are typically burdened with shortness of breath, difficulty with exertion, dizziness, fatigue that can be extreme, continuation of loss of smell and taste, brain fog and much more. It’s a disheartening condition to watch, because of so many unknown factors there isn’t a lot of help from modern medicine and many patients are simply told to wait it out. Patients go from active healthy individuals to barely being able to get out of bed, this type of condition takes its toll not only on the body but particularly the mind, emotions and spirit. Our work with Long Haulers is to help encourage healing in the body, benefit the Qi - the vital life force of the patient and help patients find their center again in the midst of sometimes devastating circumstances. By helping bring peace and hope back into the healing process we have seen many patients make great strides in their healing.  |
AuthorDr. Kim Peirano, DACM, LAc is the Owner and Acupuncturist at Lion's Heart Wellness, the San Francisco Bay Area and Marin's #1 Cosmetic Acupuncturist and #1 Holistic Healer. Archives
January 2021
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