A middle-aged Caucasian woman came to the clinic complaining that she had broken a bone, the M.D. had set and applied a cast to it, but she could not sleep well because the pain woke her up at night. She asked if I could help her sleep better. My answer was, “With my help and your medical doctor’s treatment, certainly you will benefit. I will send a message to your kidney using acupuncture. Then the kidney will pay special attention to fixing your bone. I will also prescribe some herbs which will work like glue to help you heal.” Certainly I had a TCM base to create the prescription. She accepted my help with hesitation and doubt, and that’s acceptable to me. I often have the burden of treating a new patient who shows up on their own without a referral or any background knowledge of TCM. After the first treatment, she said, “Maybe I am a little better or just psychologically better, I don’t know.” After a couple of more treatments, she was certain that her sleep had improved.
After a few more treatments, she regained even more sleep. She then asked, “How long will it take for me to heal completely?” I asked her, “How old are you?” She said, “About fifty years old.” I told her that she is going to take about fifty days to heal.” She added, “But I have already received treatments for many days.” I responded, “So you just minus how many days, and you will know how many days it will take to heal.” There is a Chinese saying which applied to her: “She believed half and she doubted half.”
One day she walked in and said, “Dr. Ng, I believe I can heal faster than you expect.” I replied, “I hope so.” She said, “Hope so means you believe me but if you say I wish, it means it’s not really possible.” I said, “My English is still not good enough even though I have been in the United States a long time. I always ask my patients to excuse me for this because I concentrate on improving my healing skills and not on improving my English.” I continued, “Even though your healing can take place in less than fifty days, you will experience that your bone is not quite fully healed, especially when you use force.” Again she believed half and doubted half.
After she received some more treatments, she asked, “Dr. Ng, if I come more often, can you make me well in less than fifty days?” I said, “I can make you feel easier and experience more comfort.” I wanted to explain to her using medical terms, but since I was unable to, I said that natural law dictates that the body’s power to heal itself slows down with the aging process. I told her to be patient, and she would be able to live normally. She said, “I still don’t understand.” I used the example of a wooden frame. If the frame collapses, you use nails to repair it. Then you have to sand the wood, polish it, and then you have to paint it. But until the paint is completely dry, you won’t feel comfortable to use it.” I also added, “and even though the frame may look dry, it won’t be completely dry until some days have passed.
Finally she understood because she worked her limb with force and did not feel pain. She said, “Oh! I see.” She asked me if she were 90 years old, would it then take 90 days for her to heal completely? I said: “I can’t say for sure, but when you reach 90 years old you can bring me a cup of expresso, then we can discuss it.” She laughed.
Finally, she asked, “How were you able to make me sleep better?” I responded, “I told you already.” She said, “I know, but why?” I said that in TCM, the kidney is in charge of the bone, so I ordered your kidney to repair your bone.” She said, “I know, but why did it take so long to heal it completely?” I said, “Your body needs a period of time to create something. If you are young, your body won’t take as long to create something. She responded: “I wish I knew the whole TCM story.”
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