Seeking eastern medicine for poor chi. Will travel.

Erica asked me this past weekend, “Is it weird talking to a person who may be dead in year?” As I was completely taken off guard by this, I fumbled through a chastising list of reasons she shouldn’t talk like this, shrinking in my seat. But a day later, I brought it back up and honestly answered that “yes, it’s weird and it sucks… but it’s sort of a gift too”. I love that she understood what I meant.

We are enjoying each day for what it is and have sort of jumped the gun too by putting up a Christmas tree a wee bit early this year. Every other day, Erica still must go back to ITA to have her blood drawn and has consistently needed platelets. Some days she has more energy than others, but has taken to napping each day and sleeping 10+ hours a night. She has a pretty decent appetite, and with all the amazing dishes being sent over, it’s hard to object! Her spirits are always the highest when she’s with family and friends. So it’s good to see that some things never change!

One new development is the inclusion of eastern medicine to Erica’s continued western treatment. She still receives her low-dose chemotherapy monthly and takes all the meds prescribed by her physician at Stanford Medical Center. In addition, we went to meet a woman who is a Chinese herbalist and has been treating patients with a variety of ailments with treatments/herbs utilized for thousands of years. She spoke to Erica through our Mom (aka “translator”), asked about the meds she’s currently taking, felt her pulse, and examined her tongue. After a minute or so of “aaaahhhhhhhh”-ing, she came to the conclusion that a specific blend of dried herbs boiled for a couple of hours will fix Erica’s chi. In short, Erica’s immunity needs help, and her chi sucks. We quickly found that the final product of this boiling is something like a stinky brown sludge. Our Mom now boils this in an electric pot/kettle out on the balcony so we don’t have to smell it in the house, but poor Erica still has to drink two bowls a day! After cheerleading it down her throat, I stepped up to show her that it’s just not that bad… I found out that it’s far worse than Erica ever let on! One sip had me coughing and gagging, and she drinks bowls of sludge! So after this experience, I admit that most of my skepticism regarding eastern medicine was put to rest knowing that Erica believes in its healing properties enough to endure its flavor. I am not extremely educated in eastern philosophies and medical ideologies, but I certainly respect it.

In case we don’t post again before Thanksgiving, from our family to yours, gobble gobble all the goodness this year! It’s hard to imagine a family more thankful than ours: to know Erica, to love her, and to have the privilege of each day with her as a gift.