Last Tuesday I flew to Xi’an to meet with a Chinese doctor about my kidneys. (To know what’s up with them you can read the last post where I give an overview of what’s happening…) While we are here in China I wanted to see if Chinese medicine would be able to help me in a way that maybe I couldn’t be helped in the US. (Even though I am meeting with an amazing naturopath doctor in San Luis Obispo and also have a great nephrologist.)
So I didn’t tell the doctor why I was there to see him, I just sat down and he felt my pulse for about 2-3 minutes. Then what did he do? He asked me about my kidneys! Straight away! I know this is how many doctors in the east check your health but it still amazes me. He then looked at my tongue and pushed on a part of my thigh to see if it was tender. I about went through the roof it was so sore where he touched though I wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise. I’m not sure what that was related to.
So what I am doing now is drinking an herbal mixture 3x a day for a week and I will see him again next Wed. He had also mentioned something about my lungs, and when I finally why I was there and that I needed a kidney transplant he said well of course because the lungs and kidneys are both filtering systems so one can also affect the other. So we will see. I didn’t get to ask too many questions as Chris wasn’t there (and this was all in Chinese and his is way better than mine). But my next visit Chris will go with me and we will ask a ton more questions. I only have 2 more weeks left here so really the doctor doesn’t have much time to work with me, but I will take what I can and go from there. I will have all my labs done again when I get back to the US and also will head to UCLA to start the referral process for a transplant. Like I said in the video I am looking at all my options.
Apart from having stomach issues because of the medicine I am doing well. As you can imagine it’s been a wild few weeks (and months honestly) with all of the kidney stuff and then losing my dad right before this trip. Since having Nathan I would say my stress level has been at about an 8-9 constantly. Which a normal person would want to fluctuate between 4-7 I would think. There is good stress and bad stress and we’ve had both. Nathan and Chris’s new job as super highs, and then my kidneys and dad as super lows. I’m looking forward to taking time over the summer and fall to settle down and process. I’m hoping to also find a good counselor in our area to meet with as well just as I unpack all that is going on.
Have a great day! (I also have a video I can add later of me drinking my meds the first time, it was pretty funny but I don’t have time to upload it while here.)
Sarah