Dr. Jill

A couple months ago, O had her third episode in three months of getting scared and then coming down with a fever and it was so confusing and scary for all of us.  I asked a couple practitioner friends of mine for recommendations or suggestions and I kept getting the name of a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctor named Jill Stevens in Emeryville.  I made an appointment and took O to see if Dr. Jill had any ideas about what was going on.

I was *totally* impressed with Dr. Jill. Health care providers have to do a lot to impress me, lol, but she is amazing and definitely lives up to her reputation.  She's an acupuncturist who specializes in treating kids and her demeanor is great. O warmed up to her immediately.  Plus, she has lots of cool toys and stuffed animals in her office.

Dr. Jill talked with me for a long time to take a history and then got down at O's level to talk with her. She asked permission to touch O (!!) and then waited for O to respond before she did.  At the end of our time together, Dr. Jill's sort of diagnosis was that O is a "highly sensitive child" and suggested we try Chinese herbs as well as some flower essences.  She also did a treatment where she rubbed a flat piece of bone against specific spots on O's body as a way to calm down her nervous system.

I think I haven't posted about our experience yet because I wanted to give it some time before knowing whether things were any better, but they are! O hasn't had any more fever episodes and with the herbs, life in general seems to be easier to handle.  The meltdowns and OCD hoarding are gone and she seems much more calm.  The true test was her birthday party, which I thought would overwhelm her, but she did great.

I accidentally tested things by not giving the herbs for a few days, and noticed a difference, so I'm now a true believer.  We're going to stick with the herbs until at least the beginning of preschool, which will be the next big stressor for O.  In the meantime, I'm doing a bunch of research about what it means to be highly sensitive.  Dr. Jill suggested I check out a book called The Highly Sensitive Child, which I just got from the library.  I'm just starting it but so far it totally sounds like O.  I'm hoping the book will give me some ideas about what I'm doing right and what I need to change.