In this month’s newsletter:
- Video: My Perspective on Good Pandemic News
- Return to Normal Office Hours Monday, May 4th
- Tom Cowan MD: The Benefits of Infection
- Mother’s Day Poem Read by Marty Brennamen
- Schedule for Therapists on the Second Floor
- Recipe: Healthy Salad Dressing Options
Video: My Perspective on Good Pandemic News
In this video I describe my perspective on recent news on the virus pandemic:
- COVID-19 tests and antibody tests are revealing more people have the virus, and/or have had the virus, than originally predicted. Fatality rates and rates of serious cases decrease with the news of more asymptomatic and mild cases. See the Iceland, Sweden, NY, CA, and OH prisons results for details.
- I believe most of us are going to encounter this virus sooner or later, if we have not already. While it would be nice to see a future where the virus is eradicated or totally eliminated like an enemy in a war, this sort of analogy historically is not descriptive of how respiratory viruses move through our population.
- I’m encouraging an attitude of being smart and strong. It’s not an ‘either/or’ approach but a ‘both/and’ approach. Let’s be smart about the power of our immune systems and have confidence and strength moving forward. Let’s be smart about the people who are more vulnerable to disease due to certain medical conditions and take the steps to protect and distance these folks.
- A special thank you to the nurses and doctors and nursing home workers and all the others who are working in places with increased virus concentrations and risk. Their jobs expose them to risks that are very different from the rest of us. Of course, kindness and compassion for those who are suffering or have lost loved ones to the virus.
- Remember, fear lowers your immune resistance. Taking action calms anxiety. Make a list for yourself of the simple health basics YOU CAN DO to be smart and strong and take action on at this time. You will FEEL better and physiologically you will BE better!
Tom Cowan MD: The Benefits on Infection
Thomas Cowan, MD practices medicine in California and has written a variety of books on health and healing over the years.
One of his books, The Fourfold Path to Healing, has a chapter on infectious disease that I find very helpful right now.
Years ago, I really would get frustrated when I got sick. I think some of this irritation came from a belief that if I was healthy and doing all the healthy things – why should I have to get sick? Even now sickness is uncomfortable, but my experience around a cold or illness is different and improved.
Dr. Cowan’s work helped me understand that there are actually benefits to infections A human experience without illness is not necessarily a good thing or a great goal. Certainly we don’t want frequent and persistent illness, but there is benefit to the occasional challenge to the immune system. We even know that fevers we encounter for simple infections help us to better check the growth of our cancerous cells in the body. ‘Bacteria did not kill tumors directly, but instead strengthened the activity of forces that are capable of restraining cancer (tumor necrosis factor)’.
Bacteria and viruses give humans a chance to ‘deep clean’ ourselves. “All of the major natural healing systems in the history of humanity have recognized that acute illness is the body’s main mechanism of cleaning itself,” Cowan writes.
Our bodies may respond to certain invaders with fever and inflammation.
The body’s innate response to hardening, or sclerosis, as we age is inflammation, warmth, and dissolution. Good health prevails when these opposite poles are balanced.
Return to Normal Office Hours
On Monday May 4th, we return to our normal office hours. Thanks for your patience and cooperation over the past few weeks when we worked more limited hours.
Monday: 8:30am–12:30pm & 2:30pm–6:00pm
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 8:30am–12:30pm & 2:30pm–6:00pm
Thursday: 2:30pm–6:00pm
Friday: 8:30am–12:30pm & 2:30pm–5:30pm
Please note the office will be closed for Memorial Day, on Monday May 27th.
The increased cleaning and safety precautions continue:
- Staff takes temperature before coming to work.
- Screening patients by phone before arrival to determine no fever in the past week, no other signs of illness in the past week, no recent travel and no exposure to a known COVID-19 patient.
- Staggering appointments to minimize the number of people in the office at the same time.
- Sanitizing the tables after every person and washing hands/sanitizing hands prior to every patient.
- Staff wearing masks.
- Disinfectant wipes on all sink handles, door handles and surfaces.
- Maintaining 6 feet distancing whenever possible.
- Removed most chairs in the reception area to promote proper distancing.
- Patients instructed to wash hands upon arrival to the office.
Mother’s Day Poem Read By Marty Brennaman
I have an audio recording on my iPhone from Mother’s Day in 2014. I was listening to the pregame show for the Reds and Marty Brennaman started reading a poem in honor of Mother’s Day. It truly brought a tear to my eye!
It turns out that reading a poem for Mother’s Day is a tradition Marty has done over his years broadcasting for the Reds. Of course we miss baseball now and we miss Marty’s voice since he has retired.
I am not sure who authored the poem that you can hear Marty reading, but it really made me pause to appreciate my mom and all the mothers out there! We love you.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Opening Schedule for Therapists Upstairs
Physical therapist Peter Dorsa is open and seeing patients. Look for an update in the June Newsletter describing more of his work and focus.
Please be in touch with massage therapists Lauren Wales, Chrisanthi Fekkos, and Nikki Barton for their details and availability.
Recipe of the Month: Salad Dressing Options
This month we are focusing on dressing for salads rather than the salads themselves. Why?
There is no easier way to screw up a healthy salad than to dump a dressing full of undesirable oils types, sugars and preservatives on your fresh greens.
So we have a few different salad dressing options; make your own, purchase locally (specifically the All-Natural Vinaigrette from The Organic Farm at Bear Creek is fantastic) or a few options from the grocery store (my favorite of this brand is the Thousand Island).
You will note these options use olive oil or avocado oil (healthier options) rather than the soybean oil or canola oil in common store-bought brands.