About the leg rash that sent me to Iva Jones initially: I'm trying a "super bandage" called Duo Derm. It comes in a 3x4 inch sheet and is a skin dressing for the treatment of leg ulcers or areas of the skin which are healing slowly. It's very expensive although you can get it on E-Bay for much cheaper. My friend Ruthanne gave me a box.
I had used one for a week, last week. It kept me from scratching and the itch seemed to go away after the first few days.
Right now the rash is about 2 x 4 inches on my leg and extends into my ankle for another 1" x 2" patch. There's three bumps under the skin on the right side of the larger area.
The skin looked much better when I first took it off, but it doesn't look so great now, 24 hours later. I haven't scratched it. Maybe it healed because I wasn't scratching for a week but the underlying internal inflammation is still there. Maybe it just wants more time.
I'm going to put another one on.
Showing posts with label alternative medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternative medicine. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
What's Going On? Fred? (3)
I have been seeing a local acupuncturist, Iva Jones, since last fall/winter. I began because I had a rash on my right ankle that I hadn't been able to heal. It's gone on for at least two years and it's a shameful area of my life. There's some kind of inflammation internally that breaks down that skin, but it itches and when I scratch it, it gets worse. I've resisted using a lot of steroid cremes on it but I do it occasionally and then beat myself up emotionally for not controlling my fingernails. Iva thought she could help the rash and gave me a break on the fee. signed up for 4-5 treatments.
Very quickly, she told me that I had some major problems, imbalances I guess she would say, and that, while I was feeling pretty good on a daily basis, I should not ignore the underlying issues. I had another problem, one I've already had three surgeries for, growing polyps in my sinus cavities. She didn't think she could stop this reoccurring drama without a lot of time and work because it has gone on for decades at this point. Among other things, it is due to too much damp in my system.
(I'm having a hard time talking about this because I don't understand Chinese medicine and the terms)
She wrote a treatment plan which included some major diet changes, Chinese herbs twice a day and regular acupuncture treatments. Gradually, I've adopted most of her plan.
I eliminated all sugars from my diet except agave nectar and fruit which took months and challenged some habits that go back to childhood. As I write this, I'm having a great craving for a chocolate bar. I also cut out milk and cheese although I still eat yogurt.
I take four kinds of Chinese herbs and mushrooms. An herbal formula she wrote works with Cordyceps mushrooms to sooth and heal the underlying causes of asthma. Reishi mushrooms do something else I forget and another formula she wrote, and varies occasionally, bolsters my underlying system. The mushroom are capsules--five a day. The formulas are powdered herbs I dissolve in hot water twice a day.
I get acupuncture once a week. Our conversation before the treatment helps keep my symptoms and the weekly western information clearer in my mind.
Last week, she suggested the possibility that these fevers are due to a virus, perhaps one that has no connection with the lung inflammation we see on the CT Scan. She sent away for a specific herb that should wipe that virus out, if it is the cause. It means a week drinking a dose of this nasty stuff three times a day. We're trying it out before the next CT scan, just in case. It would be amazing, and is not impossible, that the fever, and the weird CT finding is due to an odd virus.
Very quickly, she told me that I had some major problems, imbalances I guess she would say, and that, while I was feeling pretty good on a daily basis, I should not ignore the underlying issues. I had another problem, one I've already had three surgeries for, growing polyps in my sinus cavities. She didn't think she could stop this reoccurring drama without a lot of time and work because it has gone on for decades at this point. Among other things, it is due to too much damp in my system.
(I'm having a hard time talking about this because I don't understand Chinese medicine and the terms)
She wrote a treatment plan which included some major diet changes, Chinese herbs twice a day and regular acupuncture treatments. Gradually, I've adopted most of her plan.
I eliminated all sugars from my diet except agave nectar and fruit which took months and challenged some habits that go back to childhood. As I write this, I'm having a great craving for a chocolate bar. I also cut out milk and cheese although I still eat yogurt.
I take four kinds of Chinese herbs and mushrooms. An herbal formula she wrote works with Cordyceps mushrooms to sooth and heal the underlying causes of asthma. Reishi mushrooms do something else I forget and another formula she wrote, and varies occasionally, bolsters my underlying system. The mushroom are capsules--five a day. The formulas are powdered herbs I dissolve in hot water twice a day.
I get acupuncture once a week. Our conversation before the treatment helps keep my symptoms and the weekly western information clearer in my mind.
Last week, she suggested the possibility that these fevers are due to a virus, perhaps one that has no connection with the lung inflammation we see on the CT Scan. She sent away for a specific herb that should wipe that virus out, if it is the cause. It means a week drinking a dose of this nasty stuff three times a day. We're trying it out before the next CT scan, just in case. It would be amazing, and is not impossible, that the fever, and the weird CT finding is due to an odd virus.
At this point the continuum of my fear goes
from
virus cured by one icky week of chinese herbs
to
cancer that's spread to my lymph system
and will kill me sometime this year.
from
virus cured by one icky week of chinese herbs
to
cancer that's spread to my lymph system
and will kill me sometime this year.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
What Next?
I think I'm going to drive out to Bolinas to
a cancer retreat center which has a good
library. They balance western and alternative
ideas and I need the alternative voice in
my head. I also ordered some books on
lung cancer from the library tonight
This surgeon and the pulmonary specialist
felt much too much like a railroad train taking
me somewhere I don't know. I didn't trust
them.
That means I have to become more familiar with
this unusual place -- the country of the major
lung problem.
a cancer retreat center which has a good
library. They balance western and alternative
ideas and I need the alternative voice in
my head. I also ordered some books on
lung cancer from the library tonight
This surgeon and the pulmonary specialist
felt much too much like a railroad train taking
me somewhere I don't know. I didn't trust
them.
That means I have to become more familiar with
this unusual place -- the country of the major
lung problem.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
