A Patient

I started seeing patients in our school clinic just over two months ago and I have had the good fortune of seeing quite a few people so far. There is one patient in particular that I want to tell you guys about because she is so remarkable.

She is almost sixty years old and had her left kidney removed due to cancer about 6 years ago. Almost immediately after her kidney was removed she felt like the bottoms of her feet were dipped in ice cold water, followed in a few weeks by a hot pain and eventual numbness and pain. She was diagnosed with neuropathy and had two surgeries to try and end the constant pain.

When I met her, she was emotional when she told me her story, but as soon as she was done, I met one of the most upbeat personalities that I had ever encountered. That is the personality that I have encountered every day since then in the time I have been treating her. I really look forward to seeing her every week, even though I am treating her, just spending some time around her is uplifting for me.

I have often thought about how it might change me or if I would be able to maintain such a positive outlook on life dealing with the pain that she has. I hope that I would, but I can't be sure. She always talks about her family and the things that make her happy and I think that is a key. She deals with the pain, but relishes in the positive and loving aspects of her life.

At first she was getting acupuncture two times a week, and seeing steady but slow progress, but after a month the cost became prohibitive for her, even in a student clinic. She had to cut back to once a week. The cost in out clinic is $35 for a treatment once a week, and the second treatment is $25.

I started to seek out potential treatments that might help her to heal faster in the interest of her finances, but I found out that probably was a mistake. I tried a treatment suggested by a friend and she reported back to me that it had actually made her worse. That night I talked it over with a friend and her advice was heartening. She suggested that although the alternate treatment made sense, it did not really come from me, and whatever synergy my patient and I had created, was based on that connection. I am not sure if that was the case, but I returned to my previous treatments and she continued to slowly get better.

Essentially what I got out of that situation was that her condition, a condition that took 6 years to create, would take some real time to heal. It is a shame that I cannot see her two times a week because I think that she would heal faster, but until I am working in a CAP, I'll have to adjust, I guess.

The good news is just yesterday, it was her 12th treatment and she felt Ki 1 for the first time. She also felt some of the Ba Feng points that I did and felt a ticklish sensation all over both feet when I touched them. These were all firsts and I feel so happy that I am learning from this patient and she is getting better.

Blythe