Chinese Medicine

My radiation burn is back to just about normal, BTW. I saw the doc Tuesday and he was happy about that. It's still itchy, but those bumps I wanted the doc to look at were gone -- which he said is good; when the cancer returns the bumps stay. Mine were itchy.... There is still some itchiness -- got to find where I put that calendula ointment Janet gave me.....

When I was in Ithaca with the 3 day viral thing, I went to see Lenny's CHinese doctor -- because of the viral thing which I wasn't sure was viral. And I learned something interesting. She took my pulses and said she felt a liver imbalance. I thought at first that it was from all the chemo, but she said, actually she's worked with a number of breast cancer survivors, and we tend to have liver imbalances -- and SHE says that this type of imbalance predisposes you to breast cancer, and her thought is that we've always had it, or had it for a long time.

She said I need to protect my liver, and recommended I quit drinking and eating fatty heavy foods. I said okay, but I don't really eat those foods, and I wasn't drinking more than one drink a few days a week (okay maybe every day when I was in New Mexico, but usually it's a max of 2 days a week -- and often none.) So I said, sure I'll stop, but that's a little change; I don't think it will fix any imbalances. She said, yes, that's a little change; the big change is emotional balancing. She asked me about emotional traumas in my life. I couldn't think of any.

However, I have been paying attention since then -- and i do have a hard time not taking it in when the kids throw their emotions at me. I have to learn to protect myself from that. I have learned not to take it in when Alan throws his emotions around, and that took a long time, since it happens so seldom it can be quite scary. But the kids.....

She recommended meditation and yoga, and qigung, which Janet started teaching me. But I wanted something more directed, so I don't fall off the wagon. It's too important; she thinks this is the way to prevent recurrence -- and Western Medicine has nothing to offer for that except tamoxifen, and maybe bisphosphinates. The balancing thing comes at it from a different angle too. SO she said acupuncture. I would totally go to her if we lived there -- because it was so clear that she knows her stuff! So I asked if she knew anyone here, and she gave me the name of a Chinese doctor who contracts for NIH. I have my first appointment with him on Monday. We will see......

We'll see if he has the experience she has with breast cancer survivors -- I'm a little worried that breast cancer survivors may gravitate more towards a woman, and so he wouldn't have much experience with them ........ Also I know he will cost more, for starters because of the cost of living here vs Ithaca...... I hope insurance will offer something -- but I'm going to do it regardless. I will know if it works, I think. I had acupuncture once before, for energy balancing (which I imagine is very similar) and I sure felt that! Anyway my appt is Monday, and it's in Bethesda, a nice ride (yeah just what I need, one more doctor on the Capital Crescent trail!) It's just 4 miles beyond the trail.

It makes sense to me that Chinese medicine might have something to offer with preventing recurrence, where Western Med really specializes in sending the big guns when there is obvious cancer present. It really resonated for me when the doctor said "Chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery is the easy part. The hard part is preventing reccurrence." I know not everyone will agree that going through those treatments is easy from the patient's point of view -- though does express to a large extent how I felt/feel. HOwever -- she may have meant from the point of view of looking at what there is that can be done, what there is to choose from. I think that's largely why going through it was easy for me (well that and the biking.) It's important to me to do what needs to be done to fix a problem, and the solution was so clear. Now....... like she said, this is the hard part. I just hope he gets it (the bethesda doc) like she seemed to. Maybe I can see her once a year too.....