Today is September 9, 2020, and I wanted to do a blog about my experiences these past few months in regard to how our patients are doing with the quarantine and how we are slowly returning to some degree of ‘normalcy’. In the past months as Virginia has gone into the next stage of release from quarantine, more and more of our patients are showing up and telling me that the only reason they left their house was to come see me and my team and they felt quite safe doing it. Actually, the truth is more likely that they needed their appliances adjusted and felt it was necessary to come in. I was, however, quite honored at their comments. ?
In the past few weeks, a handful of people have come in and told me that they have gone stir crazy and all they have been doing for months is watch TV and eat. One nice woman came in one day and said “Doctor Brown, all I do is sit in front of the TV and eat all day” “Last week I ate a whole baguette that was this long (and she reached arms out wide)” The baguette was apparently about 4 feet long. My first comment was that she must have been hungry, yet she
responded she was not- she was just bored. She said she was too afraid to go to the mall, afraid to go to yoga class, and simply refused to return to the gym. My best advice was to get out on the trails and walk as much as possible. She then told me the trails were so busy with all the other totally bored people that she was afraid of doing that too! Now, I have known this woman for several years and when she says she is ‘afraid’ she really did not mean to the extreme, more like she was concerned. And now that she has put on over 20 pounds these past six months, I can see why so many people are packing on the kilos. They have nothing better to do than sit around and eat. Yikes!
Personally, I make it my mission to walk at least 2-3 miles every day- rain, sun, snow, sleet, or whatever those mail people do. I actually find it fun to get out there at 05:00 and walk the neighborhood around the office before I hit the shower. It helps me to clear my head and get ready for what is most always a busy and challenging day. And that is the other thing- as restrictions have lifted, our office is being slammed with all these new people seeking help for their pain. I have done this work for a long time and these past few months have seen a major uptick in pain cases. As it turns out, many of them were referred here some time ago and now that they have the time, they are coming in. The other side of the coin, I believe, is that the covid crisis has these people more stressed than ever and this has exacerbated their pain. Either way, it seems more people than ever are needing our help.
So if you are one of those people out there who are eating their way through the quarantine and the covid situation, do not feel bad. There are many folks in the same boat. Now that you know you are not alone, get out there and walk as much as you can. Enjoy the beautiful fall weather and let’s see you drop a few kilos! Be safe and be kind to others on your journey.