After my first appointment with Dr. Chen I started to feel really good. The pain in my right side went away and I was having less problem with reflux. I was confident that Dr. Chen had cured my reflux. Amazing! For the next week or so i got progressively better, then something changed. The pain in my right side slowly came back and my reflux issues came back. It was very distressing. I sent an email to Dr. Chen and asked to go see her. I made an appointment and went to see her that Friday.
After Dr. Chen checked my tongue and took my pulse, she was very unhappy with me and she told me so. She said that I should have gone to see her sooner, my treatment was not complete and now I had relapsed. She gave me a stern lecture about how Western people do not understand how Chinese medicine works. There are no magic bullets or drugs that seemingly make people instantly better. In fact, these things do not exist in Western medicine either but for some strange reason, Western people do believe that these things exists. In Chinese Medicine, you have to stay the course and go through as many acupuncture treatments and take as much herbal medicine as necessary. I listened to her lecture without protest because she was absolutely right. I should have known better because I did know enough about Chinese Medicine to be aware of all of the things that she said. The truth was, I was busy and I felt that the treatments and herbs that she gave were sufficient. One week slipped into two weeks and then three. In truth, the only reason I called her after three weeks was because I could not stand the pain on my right side.
Dr. Chen kept me for almost two hours that evening, by the time I left her office it was past 9:30 PM and she still had another patient after I left. Now that is true dedication! In addition to a thorough acupuncture treatment, she thoroughly questioned me on every aspect of my health and bodily function that anyone could possibly think of. She also did a complete physical examination of my abdominal area. Dr. Chen discovered the scars of my gall bladder operation and realized that I had by gall bladder removed. She seemed to feel that this was significant information and asked why I did not tell her before. I said that it did not occur to me that this was important information. I could clearly see that she was exasperated with me.
She gave me several different medicines to take and gave me explicit directions on how to take them. In Chinese Medicine there is no such thing as off the shelf medicine. Every prescription of herbal medicine is individually tailored to the patients specific illness and condition, so what Dr. Chen gave me and her instructions that she gave me might be completely different for someone else who had a similar ailment.
I felt good after I left her office, it was the effect of the acupuncture. Even without the beneficial effect of the herbal medicine, the acupuncture had a positive effect on my condition. I went home and slept very well that night which was unusual because I was getting up at least one a night to deal with the effects of nocturnal reflux which usually meant going to the bathroom to vomit.
The next morning, I drank Kombucha before I went to practice Qigong. Afterwards I ate a small bowl of congee then I ate breakfast with my wife. Before break fast I drank my herbal medicine in a glass of warm water. I went on to drink my herbal medicine three times a day, before every meal. Dr. Chen also gave me goji berries to eat with my congee in the morning. since the goji berries are dried I soaked them in water before I added them to my congee. I only added to them after I heated up the congee because I didn't want to do anything to diminish the beneficial effects of the goji berries.I followed Dr. Chen's directions explicitly and took the medicine exactly as she prescribed it.
The next day the pain in my side improved but still did not disappear. I was feeling better but all my symptoms had not disappeared. I was looking forward to my appointment with Dr. Chen on the following Tuesday.
Showing posts with label LPR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LPR. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Acupuncture, Acid Reflux and Steamed Chicken
The Monday after my procedures I went to see my family doctor. After describing the symptoms to him he told me that I had Atypical reflux otherwise called LPR (LaryngoPharyngeal Reflux)Laryngopharyngeal_reflux. He wrote out a prescription for me to take for the reflux. as it happened, I had a regular acupuncture appointment scheduled right after my Western doctor's appointment. i told my acupuncturist what had happened and what my symptoms were. She told me that she could treat it. another-acupuncture-study-on-heartburn She put eight acupuncture needles in my stomach an needle in the web between my thumb and forefinger, a needles in the location called stomach 36 why-are-you-doing-that-point-st36 and liver 8liver-8 in each foot. When she was satisfied that she had all of the needles in place she heated all of the needles with a stone that she had heated somehow. I immediately started to feel better. When I went home to eat dinner I had much less trouble to eat than before. I have another appointment on Wednesday, I am looking forward to it.
On Wednesday I had my second treatment. It was much the same as the first treatment with the placement of needles and the heating with a hot stone. I was really hoping that these two treatments would do the trick because I was really looking forward to sleeping again.
I had my third treatment on the following Monday. Over the weekend before I had my third treatment I started to feel stronger and my energy levels were higher. After my third treatment, I felt much better the following morning. I had one more session booked for that Friday. My condition improved, I could eat more normally and the effects of the phlegm are less. Still, I have to sleep with three pillows to prop me up or else the reflux rises into my throat in the middle of the night. The acupuncture made a big difference in my condition but it did not get rid of it completely.
Here is a recipe that my wife made for me during this time that was very easy for me to eat.
Steamed Chicken
1/2 pound of skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite size pieces
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 green onion, cut into 1" pieces
1 chinese sausage, sliced (optional)
2 teaspoons shredded ginger
2 teaspoons rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Place all the ingredient in a heat proof bowl, mix well.
Spread evenly. Place into a pot with a rack. Steam for 15 - 20 minutes until chicken is cooked
Eat with rice.
On Wednesday I had my second treatment. It was much the same as the first treatment with the placement of needles and the heating with a hot stone. I was really hoping that these two treatments would do the trick because I was really looking forward to sleeping again.
I had my third treatment on the following Monday. Over the weekend before I had my third treatment I started to feel stronger and my energy levels were higher. After my third treatment, I felt much better the following morning. I had one more session booked for that Friday. My condition improved, I could eat more normally and the effects of the phlegm are less. Still, I have to sleep with three pillows to prop me up or else the reflux rises into my throat in the middle of the night. The acupuncture made a big difference in my condition but it did not get rid of it completely.
Here is a recipe that my wife made for me during this time that was very easy for me to eat.
Steamed Chicken
1/2 pound of skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite size pieces
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 green onion, cut into 1" pieces
1 chinese sausage, sliced (optional)
2 teaspoons shredded ginger
2 teaspoons rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Place all the ingredient in a heat proof bowl, mix well.
Spread evenly. Place into a pot with a rack. Steam for 15 - 20 minutes until chicken is cooked
Eat with rice.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Colonoscopy and Endoscopy
At the best of times I have a strong dislike for hospitals.. The fact that I was going to go to the hospital and have not one but two invasive procedures done to me was not something that I was looking forward to. On the other hand I was really looking forward to finding out what was wrong with me.
Since I only had one day to prepare for the procedure and I was not feeling well I stayed home. Besides, I very well could not go to work when I needed to go to the bathroom every hour. Also, the effects on my stomach were not pleasant. Let's say that the laxative that was prescribed to me was more than effective.
I was not allowed to eat any solid food while I was preparing for my tests, only clear liquids. There is only so much water, and jello that you can eat. My wife made this delicious Beef Bone Broth that was not only tasty but it was nutritious as well. My wife also brought home some other things for me to try that she bought at a health food store, Goodness Me, goodnessme.ca, in Burlington. She bought Aloe water and something that I had heard about but never tried; Kombucha,Kombucha. I did not like the Aloe water but I drank it because,after all my wife bought it for me. I tried the Kombucha and found that it settled my stomach immediately. Kombucha has become a mainstay of my treatment. My wife bought quite a few bottles of Kombucha but it is not the cheapest beverage to buy so we figured out how to make it ourselves. It turned out to be a lot easier than we thought. We have included the recipe for Kombucha that we use along with the link to the website. As it turns out, my favorite flavor of Kombucha is ginger.
Since there was not a lot for me to do at home, I started researching my symptoms on the Internet. There is a lot of misleading information on the Internet. In this blog I am only going to share information that I know from my own experience. I am not a doctor and I do not have any kind of medical credentials behind my name so I can only tell you what I know from my own experience. Following the various symptoms for gastrointestinal diseases I came up with GERD, gerd. The thing is I did not and still do not have the traditional symptoms of GERD, mainly a burning sensation in my stomach. I have never felt that. Instead, I have phlegm in my throat, a constant cough, difficulty swallowing when I eat, hiccups when I eat and after meals and especially in the middle of the night, I have food and liquid rising back up into my throat. The only thing that I found that even came close to my symptoms was LPR (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux ) Disease, Laryngopharyngeal_reflux. Yet I was not sure because the doctors at the ER said that I did not have Reflux.
So Wednesday came, my wife drove me to the hospital for my procedures. I was admitted to the surgical ward and then I waited. I had anticipated the wait so I brought a small paperback with me to read, something that I could slip into my coat pocket when it was time to go in for my procedures. It was a book that I had read many times, Chinese Folk Medicine, by Heinrich Wallnofer and Anna Von Rottauscher. Chinese-medicine-acupuncture. After a long wait I was given a bed and instructed to get undressed and put on a gown. After that, I sat in the bed and waited so more. Eventually, I was taken to the operating room where I met a cheerful Dr. Choi and his anesthesiologist who I remember that she was very personable and chatty. Of course, It did not take long before she had me out like a light. The next thing that I remember was that I was waking up in my bed in the same spot where I was before the procedure. My nurse came by and told me that everything went well and that Dr. Choi would come and see me. Dr. Choi came by shortly to see me. He told that they did not find anything in my colon, or in my esophagus or larynx. He did find something irregular in my stomach that he took a biopsy an sent it for analysis.
So after all that, I still did not know what was wrong with me. Afterwards, I made an appointment with my family doctor to find out the results of the tests. I had to know what was wrong with me so that I could do something about it.
Beef Bone Broth
1-2 lbs beef bones
1 carrot, cut up
1 stalk celery, cut up
1 onion, cut in half
Place all the cut up vegetables in a roasting pan. Put the bones on top.
Roast for an hour, or until the bones are brown. It they look dried up, that's ok, it will have better flavour.
Take everything from the roasting pan and put it into a big soup pot or the crock pot. Pour hot water into the roasting pan. Let it soak for 10 minutes. Then try to remove all the bits stuck to it. Pour the liquid into the pot. Add water to cover all the bones and vegetables. Bring to a boil and cover, simmer for 2-3 hours. In the crock pot, cover the bones with water, place cover on the crockpot and set the timer on high for 5 hours.
When the soup is done, pour the soup liquid through a sieve and throw the bones and vegetables away. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. If the soup is fatty, skim off the fat, or let it cool and remove the hardened fat.
Kambucha.
3 1/2 quarts of water
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of green or black tea.
Follow the instruction on the following web site http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-173858. It is not hard to make, it takes a little practice.You will need to make the recipe for a scoby(this will ferment your tea) You will need some clean jars for your finished tea. You can have a fresh batch every 2-3 weeks. It is much cheaper than the bottles for sale in the Health Food stores
I was not allowed to eat any solid food while I was preparing for my tests, only clear liquids. There is only so much water, and jello that you can eat. My wife made this delicious Beef Bone Broth that was not only tasty but it was nutritious as well. My wife also brought home some other things for me to try that she bought at a health food store, Goodness Me, goodnessme.ca, in Burlington. She bought Aloe water and something that I had heard about but never tried; Kombucha,Kombucha. I did not like the Aloe water but I drank it because,after all my wife bought it for me. I tried the Kombucha and found that it settled my stomach immediately. Kombucha has become a mainstay of my treatment. My wife bought quite a few bottles of Kombucha but it is not the cheapest beverage to buy so we figured out how to make it ourselves. It turned out to be a lot easier than we thought. We have included the recipe for Kombucha that we use along with the link to the website. As it turns out, my favorite flavor of Kombucha is ginger.
Since there was not a lot for me to do at home, I started researching my symptoms on the Internet. There is a lot of misleading information on the Internet. In this blog I am only going to share information that I know from my own experience. I am not a doctor and I do not have any kind of medical credentials behind my name so I can only tell you what I know from my own experience. Following the various symptoms for gastrointestinal diseases I came up with GERD, gerd. The thing is I did not and still do not have the traditional symptoms of GERD, mainly a burning sensation in my stomach. I have never felt that. Instead, I have phlegm in my throat, a constant cough, difficulty swallowing when I eat, hiccups when I eat and after meals and especially in the middle of the night, I have food and liquid rising back up into my throat. The only thing that I found that even came close to my symptoms was LPR (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux ) Disease, Laryngopharyngeal_reflux. Yet I was not sure because the doctors at the ER said that I did not have Reflux.
So Wednesday came, my wife drove me to the hospital for my procedures. I was admitted to the surgical ward and then I waited. I had anticipated the wait so I brought a small paperback with me to read, something that I could slip into my coat pocket when it was time to go in for my procedures. It was a book that I had read many times, Chinese Folk Medicine, by Heinrich Wallnofer and Anna Von Rottauscher. Chinese-medicine-acupuncture. After a long wait I was given a bed and instructed to get undressed and put on a gown. After that, I sat in the bed and waited so more. Eventually, I was taken to the operating room where I met a cheerful Dr. Choi and his anesthesiologist who I remember that she was very personable and chatty. Of course, It did not take long before she had me out like a light. The next thing that I remember was that I was waking up in my bed in the same spot where I was before the procedure. My nurse came by and told me that everything went well and that Dr. Choi would come and see me. Dr. Choi came by shortly to see me. He told that they did not find anything in my colon, or in my esophagus or larynx. He did find something irregular in my stomach that he took a biopsy an sent it for analysis.
So after all that, I still did not know what was wrong with me. Afterwards, I made an appointment with my family doctor to find out the results of the tests. I had to know what was wrong with me so that I could do something about it.
Beef Bone Broth
1-2 lbs beef bones
1 carrot, cut up
1 stalk celery, cut up
1 onion, cut in half
Place all the cut up vegetables in a roasting pan. Put the bones on top.
Roast for an hour, or until the bones are brown. It they look dried up, that's ok, it will have better flavour.
Take everything from the roasting pan and put it into a big soup pot or the crock pot. Pour hot water into the roasting pan. Let it soak for 10 minutes. Then try to remove all the bits stuck to it. Pour the liquid into the pot. Add water to cover all the bones and vegetables. Bring to a boil and cover, simmer for 2-3 hours. In the crock pot, cover the bones with water, place cover on the crockpot and set the timer on high for 5 hours.
When the soup is done, pour the soup liquid through a sieve and throw the bones and vegetables away. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. If the soup is fatty, skim off the fat, or let it cool and remove the hardened fat.
Kambucha.
3 1/2 quarts of water
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of green or black tea.
Follow the instruction on the following web site http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-173858. It is not hard to make, it takes a little practice.You will need to make the recipe for a scoby(this will ferment your tea) You will need some clean jars for your finished tea. You can have a fresh batch every 2-3 weeks. It is much cheaper than the bottles for sale in the Health Food stores
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