Fwd: [discusschineseherbs] Medical Emergency, handled Chinese-style

[Guest guest]

>Colleen DeLaney <herbdocs

>discusschineseherbs

>learnchineseherbs , discusschineseherbs

>[discusschineseherbs] Medical Emergency, handled Chinese-style

>Mon, 30 Oct 2000 12:26:37 -0800

>

>Hi, Listers--

>

>I wanted to share a story with you, outside of the monthly Herbs &

>Things newsletter.

>

>Last month Dawn, the Massage Therapist who works in our office, had the

>opportunity to travel to China. Dawn was in the first group of students

>to take my Learn Chinese Herbs course (I tested it on a live group of

>people first before going online with it), and she was going to China

>for a month to do further studies in acupressure and Qi Gong healing

>techniques.

>

>On her second day in China, Dawn fell quite ill with a fever and intense

>abdominal pains. She went to an acupuncturist who read her tongue and

>pulse, palpated her abdomen, and told her she was acutely ill and needed

>to be hospitalized. Dawn checked into the Foreigner's Ward of a

>Shanghai hospital, and after an afternoon of tests was told that she had

>a small bowel obstruction and needed immediate surgery.

>

>A small bowel obstruction can be caused in any number of ways-- in

>Dawn's case, it was felt that due to exhaustion and " sinking Qi " a

>portion of the small bowel had prolapsed and was unable to transport

>nutrients. This can be a life-threatening condition, as the person can

>quickly become septic.

>

>Dawn told the Chinese surgeon that she didn't want surgery if it could

>be avoided and wanted to try Chinese herbs instead. His face lit up --

> " You know Chinese herbs? " he said. It was agreed that herbal therapy

>would be tried in lieu of surgery for a few days.

>

>Had this happened to Dawn in the U.S., surgery, with all its risks,

>would have been the only option!

>

>For the next five days Dawn was kept in the hospital, watched closely,

>given intravenous antibiotics, and given a cooked Chinese herbal formula

>based on Shu Gan Wan twice a day. The formula was decocted in the

>hospital's pharmacy, immediately sealed up in a " Seal-A-Meal " bag, and

>delivered to her bed, where she then broke the seal and drank the

>still-warm tea.

>

>After five days Dawn's intestines had resumed functioning normally and

>she was released from the hospital, where she continued to see an

>acupuncturist and take herbs daily for the remainder of her trip.

>

>I was very impressed by Dawn's courage-- alone in a foreign hospital

>where no one spoke English (the one doctor was able to communicate only

>on a very basic level with her), she stuck to her guns and her belief in

>Chinese medicine. In the best of both worlds, she also received the

>western medicine she needed while herbal medicine was used to help her

>body heal naturally.

>

>Dawn showed me her medical bills upon her return. For five days in the

>hospital, including X-rays, lab work, and medicines, her entire bill

>totalled about $500.

>

>I can't help but look forward to the day when this combination of

>medicines-- the diagnostic and emergency capacities of western medicine

>along with the healing arts of Chinese medicine-- might be one day used

>together in this country.

>

>Way to go, Dawn!

>

>---->Colleen

>

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