Happy Spring everyone! Honestly, it feels like it’s been spring for over a month or so already, but it became official on March 19th. Happy Spring equinox! 

Things at the clinic continue to keep us busy between treating our amazing patients and working hard behind the scenes. One of the things we have been working towards is a major website overhaul. Some of you may already have noticed some of our new pictures. Keep an eye out for more changes to our website’s look and feel coming soon. Our goal is to make the website more user friendly to new and return patients. The end result should be a simpler, more accessible lay out.

One thing to note is that we have decided that we will no longer accept walk-ins. Same day appointments can be made online or by calling the clinic directly. Thank you for understanding!

• Introducing Jennifer Jackson •

In other news, I am so excited to announce that we have a new practitioner at the clinic! Welcome Jennifer Jackson! Jennifer has impressed me with her warmth and professionalism. I truly think she will be a great fit at the clinic. She will be working Thursdays and Saturdays starting in April which means the clinic will be back to being open 7 days a week!

I am also excited to announce that Jennifer will be taking over for me on Thursdays. I have decided to take my schedule down a day in order to accommodate more time for my role as clinical director. Starting April 11th, I will no longer be seeing patients on Thursdays. I know everyone will be in good hands.

Originally from Rhode Island, Jennifer moved to Asheville to pursue her Chinese medicine education at Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts, where she earned a dual Masters and Doctorate degree.

Jennifer found her way to Chinese medicine and to community Acupuncture through her own journey healing chronic neck and back pain following several car accidents. Since then, Chinese medicine has become an integral part of her life, supporting her and her loved ones in a multitude of ways. She is passionate about the mind-body-spirit connection and is dedicated to creating a safe space for her patients’ healing, meeting them wherever they are in the process.

Her experience as a weekly patient at a community acupuncture clinic in Providence, RI was instrumental in her decision to become a Chinese medicine doctor and she is committed to providing quality accessible healthcare to the people of Asheville and surrounding communities.

Outside the clinic, Jennifer enjoys learning new healing modalities, discovering the mountains, rivers, and lakes of Western NC, dancing, singing, and exploring other forms of creative expression.

• Pandemic Story •

It’s been four years since the clinic temporarily had to shut down for the pandemic. I’ve seen a lot of stories in the news of other local businesses sharing their pandemic story on this 4-year anniversary so I thought I would share mine as well. I know I have written about this before but here it is again…

Starting December 2019, we began to hear about COVID becoming a major concern in parts of the world. Most figured it was already in the US and we would start to see cases of it soon. I remember being cautious to over react since we had never seen anything like this before and so many things in the news are sensationalized. I stayed calm and watchful to see where this thing was going.

In early February 2020 my mom, who lives in Chicago, became very ill. She developed some unusual health symptoms after being sick with strep throat. At the time there were hardly any COVID tests in circulation and her symptoms were not the typical picture that was being presented in the news. To this day we still are not sure what was wrong. She has since mounted a full recovery.

In late February, before the pandemic really hit, I made the decision to fly to Chicago to assist in the care of my mom who at the time was rapidly declining. We ended up admitting her to the hospital a week after my arrival.

While in Chicago, as the pandemic was rapidly spreading but before the shut down, my days became filled with visiting my mom in the hospital, trying to figure out her after care while facilities were closing their doors due to increasing COVID break outs, and trying to manage things long distance back in Asheville at the clinic. It was a stressful time, to say the least.

I remember going out for tacos with my niece and nephew, who at the time were 6 and 7, and all the TV screens at the restaurant were blaring news of the increasing number of COVID cases and casualties throughout the world. We tried to distract the kids so they wouldn’t get worried. Meanwhile, us adults were masking our growing panic.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a plan for the clinic as the pandemic spread. Asheville was a bit behind Chicago in COVID cases. I remember researching the new public safety recommendations and writing up a clinic public announcement saying we would be staying open but doing extra sanitizing to keep everyone safe. A few hours after I wrote that, before we even released it, I scrapped that one and wrote a different public announcement saying that we would be temporarily closing our doors. That day was March 16th 2020. As a business owner, it felt like the weight of the pandemic was on my shoulders. I did not want to risk spreading this new virus to any patient under my care.

The clinic was closed, the future was in limbo. It was a horribly apocalyptic time for me to be away from my home and community, with my mom in the hospital, and my clinic shut down.

The kids’ school was cancelled around the same time and my days additionally became filled with helping with childcare. The city of Chicago, a roaring beast, came to a grinding halt. Schools, playgrounds, shops, and restaurants were closed everywhere. The city blocks became the playgrounds for the kids as it was all we had. We took them on urban hikes and they played jumping off stairs and concrete walls. It was eerily quiet for Chicago. I remember noticing how there were so many people out walking their dogs since most people could no longer go to work. There were a lot of happy dogs those days. I missed my own dog back home.

I tried to maintain visiting my mom in the hospital. One day there were new hospital requirements of supervised hand sanitizing before visiting patients, the next they were asking all visitors if they had been out of the state or the country recently, and the next they stopped allowing visitors all together. I was cut off from visiting my mom.

With the clinic shut down, my mom inaccessible at the hospital, the kids out of school, and all flights grounded, I made the decision to stay in Chicago a bit longer. What was originally a 5-day trip turned out to be over a months stay. We were at a loss for my mom’s after care once she would be released from the hospital. Every day was busy and unsettling.

Meanwhile, my oldest brother and sister-in-law, who at the time lived in Jersey City, were more and more finding themselves confined to their tiny apartment with their 2-year-old, my nephew. They decided to drive to Chicago to temporarily live in my mom’s house. This solved the question of my moms after care and got them out of the New York area which was at the time an erupting hot bed for COVID cases. They arrived in Chicago and shortly after my mom was released from the hospital. I stuck around a few more days to help with her transition and then I rented a car and did the 12-hour drive back to Asheville in one day. I was terrified to stop anywhere for the night or even for gas along the way and risk exposure.

It was definitely an emotional return back to Asheville and I was so glad to finally be home. With the clinic closed, like many other business owners, I tried to make the most of that time. I cleaned all the closets, touched up paint, and scrubbed the floors. I also invested days to creating this newsletter platform to stay in touch with everyone. We researched how we could make things safe to re-open. We invested in air filters, sanitizer products, masks, and removed a few recliners so that everyone could be at least 6 feet from each other at all times.

We ended up being closed for 3 months. Our landlords graciously worked with us on our rent, we got a ppp loan, and our patients incredibly donated thousands of dollars to support the clinic. I remain forever grateful for that out-pour of life-saving love and support. We would not be here today without it!

At home, like many others, I started cooking more, took up reading in my hammock in the afternoons, and tackled my 5-year plan. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you don’t go to work.

It was a very scary time of uncertainty when we reopened the clinic in June 2020. We required everyone to mask up. We remained concerned and diligent not to endanger any of our patients and also to protect ourselves. I think of those early pandemic days as a time of many pivots. As a business owner everything was constantly changing and we had to pivot again and again, quickly making big decisions in order to stay in business and keep everyone safe. It was a relentlessly trying time.

Somehow we made it through and here we are four years later. The clinic is back to thriving, growing and moving forward. Thank you all for your years of support!!

• New Hire •

I have brought on a new practitioner as a substitute! Welcome Mary Theus. Mary will be covering shifts here and there when we need some help filling in. Mary is an experienced Acupuncturist who has been in practice for many years. We are excited to have her join us!

• Farewell to Kat •

This February we will be saying good bye to one of our skilled practitioners, Kat Harrod. We have loved working with you, Kat, and we will all miss you! Kats last day at the clinic will be Saturday February 10th. Come get treatments from her before she moves on to her next adventure.

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