Dr. Park recommended some radical approaches. He wanted me to started a gluten-free and nearly dairy-free diet (yogurt ok). I was to avoid sugar, alcohol, soda, and coffee too. My first thought was, "What about pie?!?" with Thanksgiving lurking in the coming months. His response was, "If you want pie, have pie, but just one bite." Yeah right.I followed the diet pretty strictly for awhile and also started taking some supplements he prescribed. These days, I limit all of the don'ts as best I can but definitely indulge - I just really monitor the intake.
But the other thing Dr. Park wanted to do was cupping. This is old skool medicine, kind of like bloodletting. Basically, to reduce the inflammation in problem areas, Dr. Park pricks me in areas like my upper back with a lancet about 20 times, then he uses a suction technique with these special glass cups and draws blood from the inflamed area. He did it once on my knee and has never had to do it again.
Admittedly, it kind of hurts and it looks nasty for a few days. But hey, its the in thing to do - I'm so like Gwenyth.
I went back for a follow-up with Dr. Batt and he stuck his nose up at Dr. Park's strategies and after a few more (expensive) tests he suggested that the pain was all in my head. So I dropped him like a bad habit.
Since Dr. Park's techniques only treat the symptoms of my disease. I needed a new rheumatologist and found a good one in Dr. Elizabeth Le. She was attentive, did a thorough exam, ran more tests, etc. She also diagnosed my condition as psoriatic arthritis and stepped things up by having me try a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) called methotrexate with folic acid to prevent side effects. This treatment took effect within a few weeks and combined with Dr. Park's tactics and getting back to regular exercise (especially swimming), I feel pretty normal.
Sorry if I alarmed any of you. This has been a major deal for me over the past year and I'm happy to report that things are pretty stabilized. I haven't been able to fill all of you in on this, so I thought this blog would be a good way to share my story.
I'll still be able to play bocce ball, but I'll be limited in what I can do from time to time. I passed a big test a few weeks ago when I helped move the swingset/fort for the Cesljarevs.
At the prime age of 35, it really stinks to have a form of arthritis. It can make you feel old and cricked. If anything changes, you'll hear about it on The Lot. Thanks for reading.
2 comments:
J-Lo, I am so glad to hear things are going OK and that you can once more enjoy Cuppy's goods. I'm telling ya, the Asians have all the answers, although don't ask me how Fonz hurt his calf doing a hoppity hop.
Ya know, a very good family friend of ours is an ophthalmologist and has practised Western medicine for many years. But because of bending over for extended hours performing surgery, he recently developed a very bad back which neither physiotherapy could resolve, nor meds ease the pain and discomfort. He heard of this doctor in Kunming, China, who supposedly cures just about everything that is curable -- all natural, using herbs he grows himself and that he puts together through his own experiments. Sounds iffy, right? However, the person who recommended the doctor is our Buddhist master in Thailand, so his word is rarely, rarely wrong.
Within two weeks of consultation and consuming the brewed herbs from this doctor, Dr. Winh's back problems went away. Just. Like. That. So my mom went, and within a month, the arthritis in her neck which would wake her up in the middle of the neck went away (Western doctors had said that there was no cure, since the area of her spine by the neck had degenerated and she could only rely on physiotherapy to relieve the pain). Her migraine, as a result of the arthritis, was gone. Her sleeplessness was gone. An unrelated issue, a hyperactive thyroid, was gone. Even her doctor here was surprised -- how did her thyroid activity go back to normal without her starting on the course of meds he needed her to?
All, this doctor diagnoses without stethoscope or any modern tools. He places his hands on each of his patient's wrists, feels and listens to the pulse and circulation, and knows what's wrong. He had no idea what my mom's ailments were. As soon as she sat down, he took her wrists, and then rattled off every medical ailment she had.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is truly amazing, and I whole-heartedly endorse and believe in it.
Let's get Fonzie some herbs!
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