A Human Pin Cushion

After the doctor appointment when I was told to "figure out how to get myself better" I decided I had nothing to lose and was going to try acupuncture. It helped me years before with migraines following a car accident. So I found someone who offered a reduced rate through my insurance and set up an appointment. I was a hot mess in those days. Like a really hot mess. Running my requisite ten minutes late I was thrilled to find a parking spot right across the street, no easy feat in the crowded bay area. Shuffling in to said appointment swaddled in sweats and slippers, hair in a bun with no makeup on, I looked about as good as I ever did those days. The office was serene and peaceful. The acupuncturist pleasant, her eyes dancing with light. She greeted me warmly and quizzed me on the state of my health. I laid down and she probed her thin, wand-like fingers over my body, immediately zeroing in on all my "hot spots" of pain and tension. And then she went to work. Poking needles in my ears, feet, shoulders, back, legs, arms, neck, head, you name it, I was a human pin cushion! She left me for a good 30 minutes to marinate in that state. When she came back in she flipped me over and did the same thing on the front of my body. Each needle poke was profound. As they probed and slipped into every painful, tension filled, toxic oozing bundle in my body I felt things bound so tight for so long start to release.

At one point during this trance like doze I heard a car alarm wailing repetitively outside and thought to myself, That kinda sounds like my car, but ignored the hunch because the 20 needles in my body certainly took precedent at the moment. What was I gonna do, pop up and race outside half dressed, pins protruding from my body like some voodoo doll gone wrong? When she came back it was to remove the needles and give me an intense massage, pulling tension and stress out of my now loosened up bundles of nerves. I left feeling amazing, better than I had in years. But as I walked up and down the street I could not find my car. Clicking my key fob I did not hear my horn, and it slowly dawned on me maybe it was indeed my car wailing the alarm while I was passed out in pin cushion heaven. I called the police station and was informed I'd parked blocking the driveway of an apartment complex and was towed. I did what? Talk about Fibro fog! I could have swore that was a parking space, not a driveway. No wonder I found parking so easily. I had to walk to the tow place and pay a kings ransom to get my car back. Oh not good!

I kept seeing the acupuncturist, each appointment walking in feeling like I had been smacked around in a boxing ring and leaving feeling partially human. This woman was amazing, and as we got to know each other she dared to venture places she had never gone with any other Fibromyalgia patient. One afternoon she tapped into a "cord" that started in my upper right neck, through my shoulder blade, snaked diagonally across my mid-back and down into bad sciatica pain on my lower left side. As she popped in the needles like a trail of bread crumbs following this cord of tension I could barely take in a shallow breath, the pain and constriction went so deep. But after a half hour of shallow breathing it turned into full, deep breaths as the cord slowly began to relax. I felt amazing! That was a big turning point in my recovery. 

But certainly the most far out experience happened one afternoon when I struggled in through quicksand, my female cycle leveling me to the ground like it always did. I complained about my adrenals. They felt so slow, sluggish, blocked. She probed her fingers around the inner part of my knee and popped a needle into my adrenal zone. A flaming ball of fire shot up my leg to my hip, back down and out my toes! My leg involuntarily kicked her. She looked at me with wide eyes and told me she felt the electricity shoot through the needle, something which never happened to her before. "Told you my adrenals were blocked," I said. That was a huge turning point for my health. She helped me so incredibly much. I walked into her office that first day a completely different person than I was when we moved to Arizona a year later. I've been to a few other acupuncturists since then and have been sorely disappointed, didn't even bother going back, actually. Once you have had the best its hard to settle for less. God guided me to this amazing woman at the distinct time in my life when I needed her touch and healing hands the most. I will forever be grateful. She helped me recover in ways I never even knew were possible. 

Thanks for joining,

Leah  

This blog was originally published on 9/17/10. Still miss her and have never found anyone like her. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area her name is Brielle Kelly. She is sure worth a visit!