A revealed miracle

Wow. Just when things seemed their darkest. Last week I wrote about beginning to lose hope.

Rabbi Nachman from Breslov says one must go down to be able to go up...

The light is cautiously glowing at the end of the tunnel... glowing a promising but cautious sunny light.

I saw a doctor of Chinese medicine yesterday in Jerusalem. He's not an MD, but learned many years as a Chinese medicine doctor. I heard of his talents through a friend who has a very sick child... this friend is someone I helped deliver one of her babies many years ago.

His medicine is also in line with Torah scholars' teachings. I went on-line and listened to his classes, learned his methods of diagnosing problems, and decided, with my friend's encouraging, to make an appointment with him to see if he can see anything that all the doctors until now were missing. I told myself this is the last "alternative" practitioner I'm going to see. If it doesn't work out, I'm going to the Mayo clinic.

I sent ahead of our meeting my medical documentation since September, since this pain crisis began. I also wrote a sort of CV of my medical history, and sent that to him.I figured this would save time at our first appointment. The initial consult is scheduled for three hours.

Mine went for five. Five hours. It was so intense.

A large part of his diagnostics is with taking pulses. Each wrist corresponds with different organs in the body. Three types of pulses are taken from each wrist- superficial, then deeper with more pressure, then the deepest pulses. He recorded what he found for each organ. Interestingly enough, my liver was completely depleted- empty, he felt no pulse for it. He used words for his diagnostics like "slippery", "thready", "rapid", "slow getting slower". It's fascinating, really.

Half of that was intake interview, the other half an intensive treatment, followed by deciding which Chinese medicines would be good for my situation.

This doctor is also a chassidic religious man, interestingly enough. Quite a bit older than Dr. S.

It was just completely different, unbelievable. He started off with some of the ideas that Dr. S had; to break up the adhesions manually. But this doctor, he did it quite differently. Dr. S had the right idea, but he wasn't assertive enough with the adhesions. This doctor- Dr. F, really investigated and pressed quite deeply all around gapey and my whole abdomen with the heel of his hand. At one critical point, he felt a definite "ball" inside me. When he pressed on that, in a circular motion, I practically went through the roof. I was lying down, I don't have pain when I lie down, right? But he FOUND IT! When he pressed on it so deeply, and I yelped out in pain, I said "that's IT. That is exactly the pain I've been feeling!"

No doctor until now has been able to palpate me to elicit the pain. Nobody found it.

Dr. F found it.

It immediately brought me to tears right there, spilling down the sides of my temples, as he worked it. We spoke to the ball. I called it "fist", because it feels like a fist punching or impaling me.
It seems that it is an enclosed cyst of some sort, enclosing what is probably old infection. Most likely left over from the infection I had on my skin graft last spring/summer. Because it enclosed itself in a cyst, my blood tests look normal. Dr. F worked it and worked it, giving me breaks as well. He worked on a LOT of adhesions. Every time he felt one, he aggressively massaged it loose. This was hard work for both of us. I had to concentrate really hard on breathing and letting go, going to my "happy place" in my mind, anything to work through what is essentially external, bloodless, surgery with no anesthesia. He worked on my whole lymphatic system, also, such that my body actually let go of so much lymphatic fluid, I had to use the bathroom there 4 times in the 5 hours I was there. I have been retaining a lot of fluid. I've been gaining weight and couldn't figure out why. This is why. My whole lymphatic system was retaining fluid, and my whole abdomen is inflamed, retaining fluid.

It was such a powerful treatment. So. So. Powerful.

After the treatment, Dr. F needed to find out which Chinese medicines he should give me, and he did this by muscle testing. I'd hold the medicine in my left hand, and extend my right hand (holding a hand weight) out to the side and in the air, and he could tell which medicine made my muscles weak and which was strong. That was how he figured out which medicines to give me, and at what dosages. It is quite amazing.

He also is doing an interesting treatment on gapey... on the side where the infection was. There isn't visible infection there any more, but it is still sore on that side. It always is. He put a Chinese antibiotic thick cream in the pocket of the skin graft where the infection festered for so long, then covered it all with a clay-like poultice. When the clay dried on me, Dr. F's wife expertly bandaged it so it would stay in place. I have to repeat that cream/clay/bandage today after I shower. He gave me some of the poultice, and I bought the Chinese antibiotic cream.

Upshot? I went to sleep with such a HIGH, emotionally and physically. What exactly is in those herbs, anyway? ;)
This morning I woke with a headache, but a dull one. But my belly pain is MARKEDLY LESS. It is amazing, I honestly feel like something shifted, and today I have been in much less pain. It's not gone, we have more work to do, but I am quite convinced that I am going in the right direction with this doctor!!! I am seeing him again on Tuesday. We'll do this once a week for a while.

I'm downing all these Chinese medicines at the appointed times, and keeping up with my vitamins and supplements also. I showed Dr. F the list of what I am taking. He approved. He also said I could keep up with the homeopathy, but my homeopaths decided I should stop that for this time period that I am taking the Chinese medicines.

At this rate, I will hopefully be canceling the Mayo clinic dates!!!!!!!!!!

I have HOPE! I'm optimistic! I think we are on the right path, praise the Good Lord!
I know these treatments hurt, it has to be that way. It's better than surgery which could come with so many other dangers, and maybe could break up adhesions and remove inflamed tissue, but surgically, it will just grow back in a short period of time.

Why doesn't Western medicine give Chinese medicine any credit? It is really, really remarkable for the body! Dr. F asked me in the beginning of our meeting "You are obviously very intelligent, you're an orchestra musician, and obviously natural medicinal methods appeal to you, being a doula, so how is it that you got so caught up in Western medicine?" I had a simple answer: "I had Necrotizing Fasciitis". From that, I got on the gerbil wheel of surgeries and complications. Then I had PVNS, more surgeries. Such strong pain at times, I needed opiates. It's a vicious cycle once you get onto it."

I am truly blessed that this doctor and I found each other at this juncture of my life. I really really feel I can get off that gerbil wheel, and HEAL. HEAL. Just that word feels foreign to me to write about. I don't write a lot about healing, there hasn't been a lot of healing in my life these passed ten years. There have been many attempts, though, for sure.

I want to stay guarded and cautious, but this optimism is G-d given. I think this is it. The real thing. Proof in the pudding, I'm in less pain today. In fact today is the least amount of pain I've had since this whole crisis started in September.

I'm incorporating many dietary changes, too (at Dr. F's recommendations). That is not easy, but slowly slowly I'm getting it. His wife is very helpful in that department. I can be in contact with them any time I need. Such a blessing! Maybe I'll even lose the weight I haven't been able to loose for a year.

Oh, and my cellulitis hand is healed, thank G-d, it responded to the antibiotics.
We still have to work on my headache issues... but in the meantime, my neurologist renewed my medicinal cannabis licence. That helps.

Anyone who is interested in more information on Dr. F, go to his blog here. It's not been updated, but it gives an idea of who he is and how he works and thinks.