I’m on my way to an acupuncture session with Bill and decide to drop into the Whole Foods Market in Cambridge to pick up some fruits and veggies. On my way out I notice a bearded face thats seems somehow familiar – but I’m not sure. “Peter?” he queries. (He actually used an old nickname of mine)
Its Alok – and I haven’t seen him for about ten years.
Alok is now a successful body worker and massage therapist in Cambridge MA. We spend ten minutes catching up on each other’s news but I don’t have a lot of time because of my acupuncture appointment.
“Is he prescribing any Chinese Herbs?” Alok asks.
“Not yet, but I’ve yet to tell him about my diagnosis – I’m on my way to do that now”
Fifteen minutes later in Bill’s office, having just told him the results of my biopsy, I hear the words “I’d like to refer you to a Chinese herbalist. He can prescribe some herbs that will help to support the work we are doing in acupuncture”
I am always encouraged when the universe conspires to point the way. For me synchronistic events are like signposts that confirm that I’m heading in the right direction. An hour or so later I enter the E Shan Tang storefront on Harvard Ave in Allston/Brighton. The wonderful aromatic scents of the store remind me of the ayurvedic clinics I visited in India. In a small private cubicle at one corner of the store is B J Wang, the herbalist and diagnostician. We talk in a leisurely way about my symptoms and the diagnosis from the biopsy. He asks some questions and takes my pulses in much the same way as Bill does during my acupuncture sessions. He prescribes a 20 day supply of herb capsules. I am encouraged to see that one of the prescriptions is for Reishi Spores. Reishi (or Lingzhi as it is known in China) is a type of mushroom grown in Japan and China. It has a well researched beneficial effect as a supportive treatment for prostate cancer.
It is certainly not my intention to use Chinese Herbs as a sole therapy for my cancer, however I do have confidence in healing modalities that are not specifically western in origin. I know that the addition of these prescribed herbs to an already (mostly:-) healthy diet will be like having yet another ‘partner’ join me in the dance. I will report on their effectiveness in due course.
