I have a love of acupuncture and have used it extensively during these 3 years of TTC. I fell in love several years ago and although I do not subscribe to some of the religious believes behind it, I have seen its impact on my health time and time again.
I am now facing very low energy, most probably to my low mood and to anemia, and have decided to go back to it.
I can barely think about a normal work day nor about putting my house in order and this cannot go much longer. I know that my grief over my miscarriage will continue and that it will be healthy that it is this way, but I need to go back to some sort of normal. I have been mostly away from work almost 4 weeks now and my DH needs me.
I suspended acupuncture during my brief pregnancy and in the last weeks, but I want to get back on my feet and I think this can help me heal in a more natural way.
Due to my job I had the great fortune to be able to go to China. While there I took some days off and apart from visiting some sites I did a Chinese Medicine Tour part of it organized and part with my own guide book. I visited the pharmacies (they had the strangest ingredients!), a college, received Tuina massage (the best of my whole life), went to a foot spa for medical purposes (it hurt!!) and bought several packets of teas and foul smelling concoctions. It has been one of the greatest adventures of my life.
One of the most memorable parts of this is that I went to a real TCM consult (not a westernized version of it)
I went to this hotel and in the back there was a TCM clinic. The clinic was filled with Chinese people so I thought that this really could be very good.
I had a consult with a doctor that could only speak Chinese, very old and he seemed very wise. He smelled me, looked at my tongue and eyes and proceeded to take my pulse for the longest time. Asked just a few questions and proceeded to write down in Chinese my prescription. When I asked what this was the assistant took out a Chinese-English dictionary and proceeded to tell me that I had a hormonal problem and signaled my thyroid.
This was years before anybody found anything wrong with me and before I had been tested many times over by Western doctors never finding a problem. If only I could have followed his treatment plan.
Only this doctor via this consult and Dr. H via temperatures and some B/W were able to find this. Nobody else for years on end.
I have found that it takes some sort of vocation just like in Western medicine to we willing to truly help the patient in all aspects of her journey. I think that curing is an art and not just reading B/W and interpreting U/S. This is why I love Napro and also some (not all by any means) alternative medicine doctors.
In March of this year after a period of great trials and after my Lap with Dr. H I gave myself the gift of a TCM retreat with the author of "The in.fertility cure" Ran.dine Lewis. For several years i had been spending my money only on medicines and getting our lives is order and this was the first time I was able to do this.
I thought if she cannot help me it will be some days of spa. I will blog later what I learned there (most women doing IVF do not want to do it and are open to other options)and what this experience meant to me.
She gave me a diagnosis very, very similar to Dr. H, but in Chinese terms and asked me to observe my diet, exercise and relaxation techniques. I embarked in this wholeheartedly along with my Western medicines. I started to heal in a deep level.
I also read " Ma.king babies" a book about TCM and Western medicine. The author a Western doctor after doing the first IVF in NY decided to quit and now focuses on finding the issue and curing it with Western and TCM. It has been my constant companion.
My last TCM doctor in Mexico before I got pregnant is Chinese. He learned TCM along the way and does not have any certifications other than word of mouth and tens of years of experience. He has a strong desire to cure and his lack of "certificates" did not worry me.
As I live in Mexico here its still quite common to use herbs, massage and some other forms of medicine even instead of Western Medicine. I think both have a place and I am glad both exist and can contribute to each other. I will blog later about what this implies and how to face some of the lesser Catholic aspects of some therapies and would love to hear from you your thoughts.
This doctor did acupuncture, Kuasha (a scrapping of the skin that draws out toxins which sounds horrible, but is amazing), used heat and Tuina and foot massage. It hurt and it was not in any way relaxing, but I felt so much better days afterwards.
So today I will be back. I want to heal and I cannot stay prostate on a couch much longer for my own and my marriages health. I will blog later on how this goes.
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