A Diagnosis of Cancer at the Time of Retirement

A highly accomplished designer found out he had cancer just as he was about to begin his retirement.  He was very upset, even terrified, I encouraged him and said “Don’t worry!  With the M.D.’s help and my treatment, you will be o.k.”  He replied, “I hope so, but I have two kinds of cancer, and I feel awful.”  I comforted him by saying, “You have to accept the fact.”  He replied with sadness, “I know.”
 

While undergoing chemotherapy, his mouth felt very dry and his energy was very low. I treated him with acupuncture that enabled him to have more defensive power and enabled him to get more nutrition from the food he ate.  Also, I let him drink an herb mixture that helped provide energy and promote the creation of more fluid in his body.  So basically, he did not suffer much from the chemothera and the other operation, and his mouth did not really feel as dry.  He said, “I can live normally.”

As time passed, he suffered some pain in his back.  He said that according to the M.D., after his operation (he had two kinds of treatments) some muscles were not able to recover completely so that when the weather changed, the muscles did not get enough blood circulation.  By treating him according to TCM principles, i.e., reinforcing the local muscles and tonifying his body, I was able to reduce his back pain to a minimum.

A year or more after the above-mentioned treatment he returned for more treatments stating that his back pain returned when weather was very cold.  After I conducted the TCM examination for him, I told him, “This time, I really have to suppress your blood pressure and cleanse your blood vessel; probably you eat too much rich food.  He knew what I meant: that his present condition could cause a stroke. (He had been educated by me.)  He said, “I should cut down on the rich food.”  I added, “I don’t want you suffer.”  He responded,  “I know; thank you.”  I provided him with more treatments, and he got better again.

It is a burden for me to have to tell a patient that excessive food can cause a health problem or even a stroke.  They might understand or not understand.  They might understand but not do anything about it, or they might understand but not want to admit it.  I usually say, “Your pulse indicates that still you eat too much good food.”  Then they begin to change…but how much time do I have? 

When I took the pulse for this patient I realized it was more important to calm the liver and suppress the yang in order to remove the possibility of a stroke; after that I could treat his back pain.

Treatment Principles:

• Sometimes it takes a while for the patient to realize what the doctor is trying to convey.

• In this case, the doctor needed to (a) create more fluid to deal with the yin deficiency (b)  increase the energy of the patient, and (c) expel the excessive _______________.