The words XieXie and the symbol above mean Thank You in Chinese. I learned it so that I could say it to the herbalist as I left his shop the other day. I feel now, like I need to go back and say it again, with more inflection lol. As many of you know, my whole family's been sick for right at a month now. It's been a hell and back experience that I hope to avoid again in the future. However, after all of us being on antibiotics at least once, I continued to get worse. While at work the other day, one of my supervisors asked me if I was opposed to alternative medicine at all. Honestly, at that point, if someone would have told me that licking a cow's ass would have made me feel better, I would have been all over it.
I said that I wasnt at all and he called his wife to get the number and address of their herbalist. They are a very traditional Chinese family and practice a lot of traditional homeopathy, herbal healing etc. My accupuncturist is Chinese and has prescribed me herbal medications before, so I was prepared for anything. I got the name and number within about 20 minutes and actually left work then and there to go because I could barely talk between coughing. After overshooting the exit by about 20 miles, several phone calls to the office and a turn around to get on track, I arrived. If you're ever in San Fran and are interested, it's called Han Hing Herb Co.
The experience was quick, interesting, fairly entertaining and is proving to be, incredibly healing. As I approached the open front door, I was greeted by a friendly, but not overly friendly, Chinese man in his mid to late 30's. There were baskets of herbs and all kinds of earthy things outside of the store front. I loved it already. The man asked me how he could help before I even got to the doorway and I explained to him how I'd been sick and that one of my co-workers had sent me. He told me to explain my symptoms to him and follow him as I did.
As we walked through the front door I was met by a center string of baskets containing dried mushrooms, roots, weeds, everything you could think of, including lizard skins. The walls were floor to ceiling herbs, pots, healing elixors etc. It was very small. Very. Small. It was barely 20 steps from the front of the store to the back. To your immediate left was a Chinese woman, barely four feet tall, tending to small drawers of herbs that I swear must have numbered in the hundreds, littering the walls in row after row. At the back of the store was an opening of about two door widths with three steps going up. At the top of the steps sat an older Chinese man, maybe late 50's, early 60's. Hair well coiffed, in a suit with no tie. It looked like the classic Navy blue suit of the late 60's. He had on glasses and sat at a very simple wood desk with no drawers and no front, just a top. In front of the desk sat a simple, plain chair. The man sitting behind the desk was reading an interesting looking newspaper all in Chinese.
The gentleman escorting me asked me to sit down in the chair. He began to interpret for the man at the desk, I'll call him doctor now. The doctor pulled out a small white pillow and took my wrist, setting it down on the pillow. As the escort speaks, the doctor puts two fingers on my wrists, doing what appears to be checking my pulse and maybe my pressure points. I had been told that this man is legendary for being able to diagnose people by this simple method. As he feels my wrist, he begins speaking to the escort. The escort asks me several typical questions, but then, asks me some not so typical things. He asks me if I've had trouble sleeping lately. Why, yes, I dont think I've slept for close to a month for more then an hour at a time I say. He tells this to the doctor and the doctor responds to him.
He says that the doctor's asking if I've recently had a throat infection of some type. Huh? Why yes, I've had Strep. Wtf? Lol At this point I'm surprised and a little more then impressed. The doctor then looks in my throat and tells the escort several things in Chinese. The escort tells me that the doctor says that I have the Flu AND a cold and there is a toxin attached to the flu, which is why no matter how many antibiotics I take, I wont be able to shake it. I think I just stared and said "Ok". The doctor then grabs a piece of white paper with red Chinese writing at the top and begins to write furiously in Chinese. I was impressed with that as well, because, if you've ever seen anyone write in Chinese, it's quite impressive.
He was writing my prescription. It was long and I had no idea what it said. The escort told me to pay the doctor $8.00 (YES, what a steal) and to follow him. So, I payed the doctor and asked the escort how to say thank you in Chinese (I very much enjoy speaking to people in their primary language), told the doctor thank you and followed the escort. This part of my experience was really great. The doctor went back to reading his paper in silence and the escort gave the prescription paper to the small woman behind the long counter. She read it over and quickly grabbed a hand held scale. The scale was old, the kind that had a brass plate with three strings and small brass counter weights. Watching this was priceless. Like a gazelle, she laid out three large paper squares on the counter and with her weight in hand, began assaulting the small drawers behind her.
Each had Chinese writing on them, identifying what herb lay inside. She scooped out the amount onto the scale and would then quickly divide what was on the scale into three parts onto the white sheets of paper. There were a LOT of different herbs. We're talking what looked like tree bark, daisyes, weeds, twigs, cotton, mushrooms etc etc. See picture above. And what's on the paper, is only a quarter of what was in one bag lol. When she was done putting a total of 15 items on the white paper, she poured them each into brown paper lunch bags and stapled the tops. The escort then gave me a sheet of paper explaining how I needed to prepare the herbs: only in a stainless steel pot, soak for ten minutes, boil for one hour, strain, drink 1 cup, once a day, while warm, not hot, not cold. Do this for three days. He also gave me a loquot syrup for my throat. My total cost? $15. Yes, that's it. After several hundred dollars worth of antibiotics, Nyquil, cough drops, etc etc etc. $15.
I said thank you for everything and left. I went directly home and began the preparation for what I was hoping would be my healing solution. Let me tell you something, there's always a sacrafice for high hopes lol. Stuff looks like ground cover. Smells and tastes. Just like ground cover. But I drank it like it was cool. And, I had enough for a dose for Jen. She wasnt happy about it, but, she drank it. Bitter, awful, but healing. I'm on my second dose as of tonight and I'm amazed. Last night was rough after the first dose, as I was told it might be. I was hot, but didnt sweat. I had an enourmous headache and couldnt get enough water. I had close to 3 liters in one night and it wasnt near enough. However, as I lay silent and still on the couch today, I felt different. The extreme pain in my throat and lungs was gone. Yes, gone. I still had a bit of a cough, but it was about a %50 reduction from the day before. I literally felt, like I was healing. I'm hopeful for tonight and for the last night of treatment tomorrow.
I'm already planning on how I'm going to thank my boss, because if I continue to feel better at the rate I am now, I think I'll be back to good by the weekend. Amazing. Thank goodness for the earth and alternative medicine. Thank goodness for the healers.
