Saturday, March 18, 2017

尋醫記



當我2005年第一次去看腦神經科醫生的時候,醫生告訴我說我得到的是一個無法醫治的疾病。不但無法醫治,就算給病人服了藥,這種疾病本身仍然會持續惡化。
正當我與這個疾病生活了將近11個年頭的時候,我突然警覺到原本我能做的事情逐漸變得困難了,尤其在最近兩年我的做事能力消退得更快。比如我在2016年之前,每兩個星期我會幫太太和麵粉做饅頭,但是這個活我已經心有餘而力不足了。這個病帶給我的麻煩大體上說有顫抖,僵硬,失眠,走路步伐蹣跚,平衡感差,容易跌倒等等。當這些症狀發作時,各位可以想像得到我是多麼的挫折無奈,因此儘管醫生告訴我這個病是沒得醫的,我仍然抱著希望,在很多可能的管道裡尋尋覓覓。
所有我想到的點子有:腳底按摩,營養補充劑,氣功,原始點療法,甚至還用上精神修煉的內觀靜坐。這幾個治療的點子,都各自發揮了某種程度的功效,但是和我的期望還相距太遠。
目前我正在做原始點療法。在這裡我想多談談我從2016年9月間開始進行的這個療法。這個療法是由我的好朋友David和Mary夫婦替我做的。他倆堅定的相信原始點療法對我的巴金森病一定有效,於是他們為我安排了一個每週兩次的原始點按推為期6個月。他們原本要兩次的來回行程都由他們來承擔,經過我們真心誠意的勸阻,最後終於同意我們分擔其中的一次旅程,從我們家北岸市搭兩趟公交車和火車去位於南區的Papakura。他倆不但如此發心的布施,還不辭辛勞的替我們熬煮濃姜湯,提供理療所需要的熱水袋溫敷的電毯。
原始點醫學源自台灣,是原始點醫學基金會發展出來的一個醫療系統。這個系統相信任何疾病都是起因於與其相對應的筋受到身體熱能降低的影響而引發的。如果體寒與筋傷這兩個問題化解了,疾病也就跟著消除。
這個理療行動是從去年(2016)九月中旬開始的。當時我正飽受失眠之苦,因此我期待這個理療法能把我自2015年以來一直苦惱著的睡覺問題先給解決。
剛開始並沒能看出什麼重大的改善,直到兩個月後的十一月間,我突然留意到我的睡眠保持穩定的良好品質,從此我開始對這一個療法生起信心。
除了這項每週二次的按推,我得每天喝下600c.c.的濃姜湯,並且每天做最少二小時的溫敷。我一直對他們所相信的所謂的提高內熱能的方法抱著懷疑的態度,因為他們相信內熱能可以經由給身體外表加熱而提升。因此我從來沒能確確實實的做好溫敷這項作業,直到最近一次親身的體驗,才使得我修正了我對這個理論的看法。
好幾天前我的左大腿顫抖得很劇烈,同時右大腿也僵硬得很嚴重。我當時想到,也許我應該好好聽信他們的建議,把溫敷確確實實的做一次看看。我真做了,而且那次溫敷所得到的結果非常理想,顫抖和僵硬很快就平靜了下來。
我想把我分別在2012, 2013, 2015以及2017年間的自拍照來驗證一下我的健康狀況,並且給它們做一個比較。
IMG_0370.JPG  To monitor progression of my aging pace, on a night of January 2012, I self shot this portrait of me. My another portrait shot in 2005 when I was just diagnosed Parkinson's Disease was placed in the next frame for comparing.  IMG_1262.JPG  IMG_2739.JPG
上左2012 上右2013 下左2015 下右2017一月
這四張照片可以很清楚的看得出我當時的身體狀況。從最左邊的兩張,可以看得出我消廋了很多。我從2005年原本61公斤逐漸掉到當時的47公斤。打從我被診斷出患了巴金森病開始,就按時服藥而言,我一向是個很合作的病人。雖然這個文明的西藥幫助了我把病的主要症狀控制住了,但是它的副作用卻摧毀了這一切功德。這也就是為什麼我的這兩張照片顯得如此虛弱的原因
2014年間,一個胃酸倒流的副作用逐漸形成,我覺得很有必要去除掉原本每天四趟藥當中的一趟,以緩解日益嚴重的胃酸問題。沒想到這一個減藥的行動使我的身體獲得立即的紓解,我的體重回升到54公斤,最後穩站在52公斤。這張照片可以看得出我元氣多了。
對長期服藥所帶來的負面影響有了警覺,就在2016年中,我決定再刪減一趟藥。但是這次的減藥行動不但沒能給我帶來好的感受,反而使我飽受更大幅度的顫抖與僵硬,另外還多了睡覺困難的問題。
第四張照片攝於2017年的一月間。當時我已經接受了近四個月的原始點按摩。雖然我的主要症狀還沒有得到改善,但是像睡覺困難,便秘等副作用以及我的身體的一般性的問題都獲得了改善。每一個看到我的這張照片的朋友都說我的病好像痊癒了。
在我的尋醫的路途上,我很感恩有David 和Mary的出現。他們的慈悲改造了我的生命。






Saturday, March 04, 2017

In search of a cure

Upon my first visit to the neurologist in 2005 I was told that the disease I caught was an  incurable one. Not only that it is incurable, it will be deteriorating progressively from its onset even though the patient is put on medication.

While I have lived with this disease for nearly 11 years, I noticed that my ability of doing various kind of things has been taken away one by one, and is in an even faster pace during the last two years. The nuisance it generated for me were tremor, stiffness, sleeping disturbance, walking gait, poor balance, frequent fall and et cetera. It makes me frustrated and annoyed when any of these symptoms hits, therefore even though I was told of its incurable nature I spend time in searching for a cure through various possible channels.

The ideas that I have found from my search for a cure are: reflexology, dietary supplement, Qi Gong, Original Point Medicine and the spiritual practice doing Vipassana meditation. To some extent, these techniques have done some of their works but they are still far away from the level of my expectation.

Currently I am doing original point therapy. I would like to talk more about this therapy which I have been undertaking since the late part of September 2016. This therapy is carried out by my good friends David and his wife Mary. They had a strong belief that the Original Point medicine will certainly do good to my Parkinson's disease and so they arranged a free two sessions a week of Original Point massage for me. Not only that they offered to travel all the way from Papakura, where they live, to come to North Shore to do the massage for me, they cooked thick ginger tea, they provided the electric blanket and hot water bottle all for free.

The Original Point medicine originates from Taiwan is a systematic treatment developed by the Original Point Medicine Foundation. This system believes that the symptoms of any disease emerge due to certain amount of damage found on the corresponding tendons or from a sharp drop of the biological energy of the physical body. If the two issues of energy drop and the tendon damage are eliminated then the disease will be eradicated.

The treatment was started in the later part of September 2016. I was suffering from an annoying sleeping disturbance since late 2015 and I wished this problem could be solved first of all.

No significant improvement was found until the mid-November when my sleeping quality suddenly began to maintain its stabilised pattern. I gradually trust in this therapy.

Besides the twice a week massage sessions, I am supposed to drink 600 mL of thick ginger tea and at least two hours of heat therapy on a daily basis. I have been skeptical about the heat therapy which they believe is the way of topping up the biological energy from outside, and so for this reason I have never really done this properly as requested until recently.

A few days ago I had a severe tremor on my left leg and stiffness on the right and I thought perhaps I should take their advice of doing the proper heat therapy for this time, so I did and I found it really helped eradicating the tremor and rigidity.


I would like to share four of my selfies shot in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017 respectively.


These four pictures of me clearly tell you the results of the major treatment I had in that year. As you can see from the first two pictures, my body weight plummeted to 47 kg from 61 kg in 2005. During the seven years since I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, I had been a cooperative patient in the sense of taking the prescription medicine as I was told to. Although the modern medicine help me to put the major symptoms of tremor and the stiffness under control, the side effects that come out of the medicine is destroy all of the merit it is meant to provide. That is why I look so weak and skinny in these two pictures.

Gradually a side effect in the form of gastric acid reflux was emerging in 2014, I felt I must cut one of the four sessions of my medication to deal with this problem that had been troubling me in 2015. I felt an instant relief physically after the cut of medication and my body weight was brought up to 54 kg then gradually slide down to 52 kg and settled at this figure. The picture shot in this stage sure is a more energetic me.

Having realised the negative side of the medication, I decided to cut off for yet another session in mid 2016 without having consulted my doctor. This action was too radical because not only that I could not experience of further relief physically I was suffering from excessive tremor and the stiffness together with the sleeping disturbances.

The fourth picture was shot in January 2017. I had had nearly 4 months of the Original Point massage. Although the major symptoms have not been improved, some of the side effects such as sleeping difficulty, constipation together with the general issues of my physical body have been improved. Everyone whom I shared this picture with commented that I seemed to have completely got rid of my disease.


Along the journey of my search for a cure of my Parkinson's disease I am grateful to David and Mary. Their compassion has made a difference of my life.