With this historical perspective, he already trusted that I would be able to treat him. Though I was joyful, I also felt the pressure of expectation, and I had to rub my chest to relieve the tightness. He explained his situation to me, and said that his ten fingers and toes were numb, and his heel and ankle were also numb. He blamed the doctor in Turkey for this problem, saying that he had prescribed excessive drugs for him, but later he added, “Maybe before having this problem, I already had several strokes.”
He also mentioned that he had gone to Chicago for a major medical check up, but received no specific finding. The fact that the major medical check up showed no medical finding saved me a great deal of energy. I didn’t have to think about whether the problem was rooted in the spine or brain or other part of the body, although I would still need to be careful.
The patient’s face was really red. To use an example, if an automobile does not have enough coolant, the engine will overheat. In the language of TCM, if the body fluid is less and unable to control the fire, the heat will increase. As the nerves also affected by the heat, the person will talk excessively and in a loud voice. Conversely, when a patient is weak and cold, they usually feel lazy to talk, and talk in low voice.
As I took the pulse for him, I noted that it was floating, wiry, and slippery. When I told him that his was a case belonging to the “over-active,” category he suddenly asked me, “Do you need to take a look at my tongue?” I said, “I already did.” He said, “Not yet.” I said, “When you were talking to me, I saw your tongue, but now, please let me take a close and a careful look.” He extended his tongue, and it looked old and red with a yellowish, greasy coating indicating his internal organs were excessively jammed up with heat and dampness. Furthermore, mucus already occupied his body’s orifices and his blood vessels (in TCM, mucus is divided into two different kinds: seen or unseen), and that is why his pulse was slippery. Thinking the examination was over he asked me if I could treat him. I said, “Yes, I should be able to make you better.” His eyes were also affected by the blood and energy that were jammed up in his body, and he looked at me like a tiger.
I let him lay down and helped him take off his socks. I inserted the first needle in order to guide his blood and energy down from the upper part of his body and his brain where it was jammed up. (Imagine, if two persons want to play on a see-saw, their weight should be about the same, otherwise the heavier one will be on the ground, and the lighter one will be in the air.)
I inserted a second needle to create more body fluid for him, and a third needle to drain the old, toxic material out of his body. During the treatment, he began feeling better but was unable to express it. While drinking my herbal tea, he told me that he already felt better and his head felt lighter. He laughed, and his family smiled.
When he came for a second treatment, he asked, “Did you find anything wrong with me, brother?” I said, “Old brother, yes!” He said, “How you going to treat me today?” I said, “I am going to use a stone-aged method to help you!” He said, “Really! Can you explain my problem to me or give me some example?” I told him, “You eat too much rich food including meat which your body cannot digest and which it does not need so much of. It becomes garbage in your system, and the garbage blocks your blood vessels, meridians, and orifices. Since most of the channels (or you could call them meridians) become blocked, it causes heat. That’s why your face is so red, because the nature of heat is to rise, and the nature of cold is to stay low. The heat also brings the blood up into the upper part of your body and your brain, where it stagnates and becomes unable to go down. That’s why you feel dizzy, and your fingers, toes and ankle feel numb.” After listening, the old brother sighed, “Oh, big brother, I see.”
I quoted to old brother an original sentence from the ancient medical text, “If ill in the upper part, then choose a point in the lower part.” Old brother asked, “What does it mean?” I said, “In your case, your blood and energy are stuck in your brain. I used one needle on your foot to guide it down to your feet and hands.” He said, “Oh, brother!” “I also put a second needle so that you could urinate better and clear up the toxins in your system, and a third needle to create more fresh body fluid to replace the toxic fluid that was eliminated.”
He asked me a question, “Since my blood vessels are no good, are you able to change them? If I have blood clots in my brain, can you help me to get rid of them?” I responded, “Yes, I can help you improve your blood vessels, and if you have blood clots in your brain, I can use some herbs to guide other herbs which will dissolve the blood clots for you.”
As the old Turk came for more treatments, his appearance improved, his face color was only a little red, his talking was no longer too loud, and he admitted that the numbness had largely disappeared. Sometimes he would even take a short trip instead of coming in for treatment. Finally he said he was more than 70% better. If I had said, “Brother, you are 79% better!” he would not disagree, but that kind of talk was not important anymore because he was overjoyed, and he needed to fly back to Turkey. I reminded him not to eat too much rich food, and he promised with a smile and said, “Thank you, two thousand year-old brother.”
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