A personal note from Dr. Welham - May 20, 2020

Two months in this different environment has given us time to reflect on what's important, what was working and what was not working. It has let us catch up on sleep and appreciate our spouse even more. It has given us a chance to complete yard work so our home looks like Buchart Gardens. And go through 25 years of course notes to be able to throw out most of it, and remember that one thing that was in the back of your brain. (Pasteurization brings milk up to 75 degrees Celsius for 3 minutes. Don't know why I needed to remember that except for a German professor who said that “to really consider yourself educated, you need to know the details of pasteurizing milk.”)

It has let us spend more time with our pets and appreciate their love for us. It has made us appreciate our parents even more, and intensify the need to see them because they are still alive. It has brought to our attention that our work is our social life, and maybe a better paradigm is to spend time with our friends who are not patients.

It has given us a chance to eat a LOT of junk food (licorice and O'Henry bars!) and remember why we don't eat this stuff. It has given us a reminder that our body IS our machine, and if the machine breaks down, the rest of life comes to a halt. Taking care of the machine must remain a priority at all costs. What needs to happen to take care of the machine?

I am learning.

These past two months have been one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. Two weeks is not enough to slow down. Three weeks still had me in panic mode. At six weeks my anxiety started to lift. At ten weeks, I am starting to relax.

I have been seeing patients for urgent care and emergencies only for a large part of this COVID-19 time and have had the opportunity to hear more and more how much patients appreciate me. What an unbelievable gift I have been given to find a career where people tell me that “the person they can least live without is me.” The Chiro care I provide is always channelled energy from Source, I am only the conduit. What a privilege it is to be the conduit to change lives.

This COVID-19 time has highlighted what an amazing life I have been given, and I am very thankful. Thank you, thank you, thank you! May we all return to “normal” with a new perspective of how blessed normal is.

~ Dr. Joanne Welham