chinese secrets

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I first met Dr. Lim a year ago. I am so very fond of him and his smiling Asian face with Howardesque eyebrows. I look forward to Saturday mornings with him – yes, frightened me, who develops a telltale nervous rash and wants to vomit or bolt at the western doctors. From herbs, to manners, to common sense, he has taught me many things.

“Come in Mrs. Martin. How you feel? Any better?”

Dr. Lim is so delightfully caring. He genuinely gets excited when I’m doing well, and concerned and sad when I’m not. I have no fear in telling him how I’m going because he won’t shrug off anything that I say lightly. He deals with the whole of me, from muscles to mind, and respects my feelings and emotions in a way I rarely come across.

Many doctors sit there coldly and then declare there is nothing they can do for my condition. Then they smirk when I mention that I’m seeing a Chinese Medicine doctor. They bemoan the use of my money on something that obviously won’t work if they have declared my condition is untreatable. I wish for open minds and love in the western profession.

“Drink warm water, is good for you.”

For a couple of winters my immune system was a nightmare, permitting me 5 day breaks between colds. Dr. Lim suggested that I drink warm water. He told me that when cold water goes into the body, it naturally cools it down and the energy required to warm it back up takes away from its ability to fight off viruses.

Since switching to warm water and boiling the jug a trillion times a day, I've only had two mild colds in a whole winter. It’s an incredible change. Sometimes you don’t need a pill or potion, just some smart body sense.

“On sunny days, go for walk outside.”

To keep myself from fainting, I've had to exercise very often for the last few years. I diligently go to the gym because I've been told to, but, eww. After I moved to Geelong and felt the low mood cloud descend on me, I opted out of trying more antidepressants {after a hellish experience coming off them last time} and instead took Chinese Herbs and sunshine. The choice is unshowered dripping males and fluorescent lighting, or fragrant spring flowers and sunshine. I'm still amazed at how joyful I feel in the sun, smelling flowers - it's a merry combination.

“Eat yoghurt for this problem, you feel better.”

Recently I had a bout of tummy bloating, severe heartburn, and other unmentionable bowel dilemmas...I expected him to give me another bottle of herbs for this issue, but instead he said to try yogurt first. As I can't tolerate dairy, we decided on a probiotic. His intuition was right on, as it immediately settled things down. I do love a simple pharmacy or food solution and avoiding a trip to the white coats.

“I have something make it go away. Be all better.”

I came to Lim after two trips to the physio which hadn't solved my neck pain and headaches. He came back from his store room with patches to put on my neck and back, containing strong herbs like Menthol and Camphor. I wanted to believe this would help, but after an unsuccessful week of treatment at the physio, I was fearful of ongoing pain. I skeptically put the patches on, and in 3 days I was pain free.

We can't underestimate the importance of easing another's burden, even if we can't take it away. I was dancing around the house over joyed to have one less pain on my plate.

Smile often

Dr. Lim and his son who helps him smile continually. They absolutely beam. I've never met such smiley people in my entire life. From the dozens of 'you feel better soon's' to the 'we find something just right for you's' I feel a warmth which is delightfully refreshing for a jaded appointment attendee. After my appointments they usually chat to Ben and I for quite some time like we are their friends - about our lives and their lives, and always with lots of laughter. I've never left without the smile they gave to me in the room.

They don't worry about being 'professional', a word which has come to feel so clinical and cold to me. I feel they embody what doctors really should be - caring, affirmative, and eager to reduce pain.

"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution."

 Kahlil Gibran

on the merits of chucking our deodorant in the bin

Life is good in the era of minty toothpaste, anti-perspirint deodorant, and soap. I just do not know how they put up with the odours of the body in ages past. I worked in a library with a, well how shall we put it? eeeeextremely obese person, and it was such a dry retching experience I am still working through it. It was beyond bad. Give me clean, fresh, and civilized. 

As for other cosmetics, I could stand in the chemist all day long just looking at them. I LOVE being a woman, so much so that I sometimes feel sorry for men having to be men. But we won’t go into that here. I am a feminine creature who has a certain love for glossy locks, tantalising perfume, painted toe nails and did I mention lip balm? (But save me from cake-faced peroxide blonde specimens sporting oompa loompa orange skintone. Please.)

Anyway, the slight issue with all of these sparkling clean delights is that they are mostly made of toxic chemicals. And our skin absorbs these deathly substances. They don’t just sit on the outside, nope, they go right on in. Take a look at this frightening diagram, from ecomom.

My body actually took a stand on all of this last year. It is a very forthright body at times. It said in no uncertain terms that if I used any more soap on it, it would boil my hands into painful red eczema. It told me that it would certainly give me a headache if I sprayed any more toxic perfume onto my wrists and a sore throat if I used one more synthetic lip balm. I stopped committing these crimes against it because the punishment was so severe, so consistent...at first I was upset that it wasn’t going to tolerate any more chemicals, but I’m actually incredibly grateful for a lesson I’ve learnt for life. I started to search for alternatives, and was surprised and amazed.

Why do people wait till they are chronically ill to start caring about what goes in and on the body? We need to care even if we are well, and so I never intend to revert to normal ways of society, not even when I can tolerate it all. 

Let’s begin with a male and female staple – Deodorant.

My brother sent me the newsletter of Chinese Medicine doctor Christopher Booth who writes:

Day in day out we massage those aluminium salts and synthetic scents (not to mention all the rest for it) under our arms - into that soft, sensitive, porous, highly vascular skin.

So is there an alternative? Yes there is! This is so ridiculously simple, and it works well.

Here's the list of ingredients:

Baking soda

That's it!

How does it work? The alkaline nature of the baking soda prevents the odour-causing bacteria from flourishing in the warm damp environment of the arm pit. Dust it on after the shower, and keep your clothes clean.

So I decided to road test it.

Day 1

I showered, and then powdered it onto my armpits. Pleased to see that it rubs in well and don’t leave a trace. Particularly excited that I don’t have to walk around with that wet roll-on clamminess! Took a closet sniff or two during the day and was relieved to find that I was scent-less, genuinely body odour free. At night, my top could do with a wash, but if I wanted to stretch it one more day I probably could.

Day 2 + intense exercise

Showered, and this time I shave. There is a sting as I apply the soda, but it’s fleeting and mild. It could be avoided I am sure by applying it a little later?

I’m apprehensive about waltzing into my intense group fitness class, nearly ‘au natural’. I just don’t want to be that putrid person who forces everyone else to exercise with their nose blocked. It’s just so vile, and cruel...and argh, will baking soda really keep me civilly scentless as I drench my clothes? I’m feeling desperately close to getting out my Rexona Mens (I don’t like the ladies), but I resist. 

End result: I smell fresher than a daisy at the end of class. I actually think I smell better than when I wear my anti persperint. Chucking my deodorant in the bin, this works.

Coconut Oil needs to be sitting in the bathroom because it is the joker of cosmetics – use as:

-          moisturiser

-          sunlotion, google it

-          anti-dandruff or anti-split ends  

Burt’s Bee’s lip balm is just edible. I doesn’t just smell better than the chemical cosmetics, all the ingredients are so natural that you could eat it for lunch. After all, most of what we put on our lips gets ingested so you better be happy for it to end in the stomach. That’s why I said goodbye to my Blistex . It’s $6 well spent in my opinion, find it here.

Hope’s Relief Hydrating Lotion, found in most chemists and pharmacies is completely natural, and heals dry skin and eczema beautifully. 

An alternative to tampons I have recently invested in...This is an Eco friendly, woman friendly invention which will pay for itself in just a few months: menstrual cup, read here.

Ecomom -  sells it all, click here. Think natural shampoo, toothpaste, soap, nail polish, make up. It’s just a matter of choosing to buy the natural, clean alternative next time the shampoo runs out. 

So, we don't have to stink and look disheveled to treat our bodies well. We just have to stop walking through the supermarket with our brains switched off. We have to take some initiative, break the mold and find the better way.

pessimism & hope

I would love to begin a post one day by writing something like this:

Feeling well, and coping with life at the moment.

Apparently it is possible to feel that you are coping with life, I’ve heard of people who do, but I don’t think I’ve felt like that for a solid three years. And certainly not in the last few weeks, as life in our little flat has been the ‘almost-falling-over-the-edge’ kind. The ‘if-one-more-thing-happens, we-might-explode’ type. It’s uni work piled up to the ceiling for poor Ben, and uncertainty about where we will live next year, and our gorgeous puppy who has poodle anxiety and can’t be left home alone for howling (we live in an apartment), and me feeling disheartened about my stagnant health situation...and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few more things that my foggy brain has quite forgotten. I just think of myself as a Sally Pearson with a sprained ankle. I sort of launch up for the hurdle but come crashing down before I’ve cleared it, and then unlike an athlete, I sit there in a heap for a while before trying again.

As in most dim times, various things happen to encourage us. Providence.

One night last week, I was crying about something. Someone came to the door, a courier, and dropped off a package for us. It was a CD of beautiful music focussed on hope in the vale of tears, from someone who knows what it is to suffer. We were amazed, touched, spurred on. We haven't stopped listening to it.

Then a few days later I read that some old friends were expecting a baby. This news was so incredibly joyful for the fact that they had been unable to have a baby for 10 years – a decade of praying and being joyful in their current life situation, and now finally a baby for them. I felt like their life was a mirror of mine: the baby they so longed for is the health I long for. They had managed to find the balance between hoping and praying for a baby, but also living contentedly in their present situation. That inspired me. I feel that I am always hopping off one side: I’m hoping for an end to my pain, and miserable about my present life, or I’m happy with life, but not even thinking or believing that getting better is an option. 

It gave me so much hope! Firstly, it is possible to be peaceable towards my lot now, and at the same time hopeful for recovery. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Mostly though, I thought: if after 10 years they were given a baby, then God hears us. There is hope for recovery – it’s not too much to ask for, too unlikely to believe as a possibility, too unrealistic to hope for.

That day I called up a Chinese Medicine doctor we had decided upon. Previously I’d felt no real joy about trying another new treatment option – I didn’t want to have my hopes disappointed again, and loose more money in another failed attempt. Now I’m glad that in less than 2 weeks I will begin my foray into the world of eastern medicine and put myself under the care of a man who has helped other CFS sufferers recover.

the next experiment

My pessimism has lifted. I know there is hope, this could help me recover. I also believe that if it doesn’t change anything, God has a very good reason for making me wait and I shall not give up or lose heart.

turn up the wellness

You don’t have to be scientific or studious to be thrilled by Epigenetics.You just have to love the possibility of change.

This nine minute clip explains it far better than I ever could, its exciting news:

Epigenetics 

If you’re more of a reader, the article below is great too:

Epigenetics, Time Magazine

So I was trying to understand the implications- for my own life. There are genes in my body which are speaking too loudly, the genes responsible for my illness. They must have been switched on or turned up at some stage, which means that they can also be turned down. If what I do, and my perceptions can make the epigenes control the ‘volume’ of my genes, that means my actions now, in this stage of my illness can lead to recovery. 

One scientist said that when someone goes into remission from cancer it is often from a great change in perspective on life and diet, resulting in the epigene turning up the disease preventing genes, and turning down the disease promoting genes.

It means that medicine doesn’t necessarily have to discover a cure for me to recover, my body could recover on its own! 
  
 I wonder if this is why CFS seems to mysteriously leave after 5 or 20 years, without reference to the latest treatment option tried – it goes because what the patient has been doing in making life manageable and holistic has caused the epigenes to turn up the health promoting genes?

I’m seriously keen to turn on the disease preventing genes.

So when Chinese Medicine herbalists talk about positive energy flowing through the body, maybe they are onto something absolutely critical, the stuff which changes the ‘volume’ of certain genes. Maybe diet, and exercise, and keeping the brain active, and loving others and all those factors of a healthy life are turning up the good genes through epigenetics. Lying around in bed, feeling rottenly depressed and bitter at life’s ‘cruel blow’ and eating processed rubbish seems to be the ultimate strategy to ensure illness remains, while learning positivity and changing your lifestyle might be the catalyst for the illness to go. Even if the illness remains, you’re going to be a far better influence on the world if you’re spreading positivity.

In western medicine we have separated the mind from the body for too long – we have mental illness, and physical illness, and we don’t talk very much about the union between mind and body. But they are intrinsically linked. What we do in our lives affects which genes are most prominent and what we believe affects what we do.  

This is a huge inspiration to make healthy mind body choices – not just for us, but for our kids because they will be influenced by our choices.

I can choose to eat healthily, drink purified water, enjoy the sunshine, exercise often, be spontaneous, rest when I feel tired, laugh with friends, stimulate my brain everyday with new learning, and fight off stress.  I’d never have learnt about how rich life can be if I’d never become very sick, and I probably wouldn’t undo this if I could go back in time – what a chance to take time out and learn to live!

' you have hot liver '

Today I saw Dr. Heng Seng Lim for the first time, the Chinese herbalist. 

We knocked on the door of the dark brick home, and I was instantly glad that I had Ben with me because it had a dingy, smoky and foreign feel inside. Depsite his gracious welcome, I felt decidedly outside my comfort zone. In his office, we took a seat and filled in my details at the top of a card. Lower down he began to write notes about me – in chinese characters. Unfortunately I have a terrible time with foreign accents, and I could barely understand one word he uttered.

“Peewud?” He asked first.

“Ah, what do you mean?” I replied, bamboozled.

“Peewud. Every month.”

Ben clicked and said ,’period’.

It was like that for most of the appointment, as I regularly said ‘pardon’ and looked at Ben for some aid.

He took hold of my wrist and held it in his gnarly hands for a very long time, while his loud clock ticked in my ears. I took the time to observe his certificates and awards and reconvince myself that he was not a quack. It wasn’t the pulse he had his finger on, but further over. Sometimes it felt like he was touching a nerve, but really I had not the faintest idea of what he was ascertaining from this examination. Next he moved to my back and seemed to magically palpate my many knots. My tongue and eyes were also examined, and I was grateful that he didn’t want to do anything else as I have never been a fan of physical examinations.

He noted down my tome of symptoms – well I think he did, except I didn’t know what he was writing. Finally with a big grin on his face he said,

source

“You have hot liver. I give you pills. You take everyday for ten days, and then you be better. If no be help, I give you stronger.”

That said, he went to get the concoctions and instructed me to seven of the little round tablets three times a day. I clarified that he really did mean 21 pills per day, as my western mind was slightly surprised at so much pill popping. I had understood him correctly. We booked my return visit for 10 days, and he bowed us out the door. 

On the drive home we threw around terms like, ‘simplistic’, ‘different to western’, ‘interesting’, ‘an experiment’ and ‘we’ll see’.  We understood nothing from either the visit or the explanation he gave of my illness, but we have been to enough doctors who seem to explain it well but really don’t know how to help, that we are open to anything, any culture, any suggested cure. So long as he has some idea of what he’s doing, I’m happy. I am not holding my breath for the expected recovery in three months, but Dr. Lim, I will be over the moon if you prove me wrong.