Adam’s C6 SCI Treatment

More Therapy

September 20th, 2007

Sundays at the Xiaoshan hospital are a free day for patients. Most of the doctors, nurses, and staff are off. So, my Dad and I decided we wanted to go see the Lingyin Buddhist temple in the afternoon. Told Johnnie, the meal interpreter, and he ordered a taxi and driver for the afternoon. Johnnie took 10 minutes to give the driver instructions in Chinese. It was a 50 minute ride from the hospital to the temple. The driver got us very close and gave us 2  hours to do our touring. What a remarkable place, one of the top 10 Buddhist temples left in China. There were multiple temples at the same location with the largest Buddha over 75 feet tall. The temple has been restored and was originally built during the Ming dynasty over 1200 years ago, a very impressive tourist and local Chinese attraction. Lots of burning of incense, people on kneelers praying, the Buddhist monks arrived to begin their afternoon prayers.

Hangzhou is under a construction explosion. We saw no fewer than 150 cranes building high-rise apartments and office buildings. All the streets we were brand new, not a pothole or a bump. Most of the streets were 4 lanes wide for cars, median on either side, then another lane on the outside of the streets for cars that is used for pedestrians, bicycles, and motor bikes, then sidewalks on the far outside. Not a piece of trash anywhere, immaculately trimmed vegetation lining the streets everywhere. Interesting to see Chinese ladies on a moped in a skirt and high heal shoes, with a child in front and another person riding side-saddle on the back. Many of the mopeds were electric. At night, only half have their lights on. Horns honk a lot here, and it seems that it is an indication of be alert or behind you, not get out of my way. Another interesting thing is that here in Hangzhou, the cars have the right of way, not the pedestrians.

Monday was a therapy day. Again, acupuncture followed by electrical stimulation on my legs, and then workout with weights. Each day, Dr. Martin adds more repetitions. Saturday was twenty, Monday was “sir-tee.”   Am working my shoulders and biceps with 10 lbs of weight on each wrist, and abdominals with 20 lb weights stacked on my stomach. Lots of leg, hip, ankle, and Achilles tendon stretching. After that, it was 50 pushups with most of my body on the therapy mat with the upper half hanging over the end. Dr. Martin assists with lifting up from above while I push up as my triceps are “no strong.”  Am up to 5-6 sets of “sir-teen.”  Therapy ends with 25-30 minutes on the standing frame.

Tuesday was another therapy day. The process is the same for each morning session which takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours in total. It is usually acupuncture first, followed by electrical stimulation, then exercise with weights. I wanted to get more circulation to my spine and asked Dr. Martin what he suggested. He headed off for a minute and showed up with a try with 9-10 clear glass fish bowls of different sizes. There were fish-bowls that were 5 inches in diameter, 4 inches in diameter, and 3 inches in diameter. He rolled me on my stomach and my Dad watched as Dr. Martin lit a cotton swab soaked in alcohol and inserted the burning swab into a fish bowl to warm it up, then stick it on my back. This Chinese treatment is called “cupping” and is 2,500 years old. The suction process from the heat in the bowl draws the skin into the glass bowl which also draws blood to the surface of the skin. Dr Martin placed 7 of the fish-bowls on my back on either side of my spine, one on my neck, and another on my spine at waist level. The bowls were removed after 30 minutes and left some serious hickeys. The dark color is an indication of poor circulation. The lighter the better. Not sure how much good it did, but it was interesting to try an ancient medical technique.

Wednesday turned out to be a free day due to the typhoon. Lots of wind and rain, but not much flooding from our window vantage point. I went to therapy anyway and my Dad helped as Dr. Martin did not make it in that day.  My 2nd scheduled injection was cancelled and rescheduled to Friday. Vials of stem cells are flown in the day of injection, but the airport was closed due to the typhoon.

Thursday, September 20 was another therapy day in the morning. This morning’s session started again with acupuncture, this time with 24 needles in my hands, feet, and legs, but Dr. Martin added a needle next to my belly button, stuck some Moxi on the end of the needle, and lit it on fire. When my Dad arrived, he thought that the whole floor smelled like burning marijuana. It looked like a fat cigar about 1 inch long.

My head was congested and I asked Dr. Martin what he could do to help as I had almost no sense of taste or smell for the last 2 months. His answer was “acupuncture.”  I got a needle stuck in my forehead and two next to my nose. It was really uncomfortable as he wiggled those needles for about a minute each.  But to my amazement, some congestion cleared up within minutes.  Food now smells better. What an experience.

Entry Filed under: sci