From “incurable disease”
to invaluable gift
During the last few
years, my body regularly went into crisis mode every few months. Out of
the blue I would get excruciatingly tired, at times I was unable to get
out of bed in the morning. After a few days the symptoms usually
subsided and with the help of considerable amounts of willpower I would
get on with my busy life.
My usual herbal and
homeopathic remedies did not seem to have much effect and doctors
couldn’t find a cause. I was suspecting that the onset of
Peri-Menopause was in part to blame, since I am approaching that
ominous age category…
Last November, my
husband and I traveled to India to spend a few weeks of study and
contemplation with our teacher. When we go to India, we live in the
foothills of the Himalayas with a community of about a hundred friends
who have dedicated their lives to Meditation.
This year, a nasty
cold/flu was working its way through the village. By the middle of our
stay it caught up with us too. I got quite sick and was not able to
recover during and even for weeks after the trip. I finally gave in and
went to see my doctor who prescribed antibiotics. A this point I had
been sick for more than 6 weeks, so I decided to take the antibiotics
which I usually avoid at all cost. Another two weeks later I was as
sick as before – if not worse. The doctor decided to perform more
extensive tests, which resulted in the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease.
Western medicine
defines Hashimoto’s as an incurable auto-immune disease. Anti-bodies
attack the Thyroid, which then starts to under-function and create all
the symptoms of Hypothyroidism. I had pretty much all of the symptoms,
including extreme fatigue, dry skin, depression and hair loss. The
medical community’s answer to this is to prescribe a synthetic hormone
for life. This synthetic hormone is supposed to take over the function
of the Thyroid (which will eventually cease to produce hormones). I was
in no way ready for a treatment of drugs for life, and decided to see
an Endocrinologist, an MD specializing in the Endocrine System, Glands
and Hormones. It did not make much sense to me to try and replace the
delicate balance of at least a half dozen hormones (which is what a
healthy Thyroid does) with a single synthetic hormone in an arbitrary
dose – for the rest of my life….
It seemed to me
that the Immune System – the origin of the problem – might need some
attention. The doctor’s opinion was that nothing could or needed to be
done for the Immune System. I pointed out that I had already two
auto-immune issues going on in my body: eczema and allergies, and that
I wanted to avoid having to deal with ever more dangerous aspects of a
sick immune system, like cancer or rheumatoid arthritis for example.
| The doctor’s comment to this was: “usually the Immune System does not
work like that”. When pressed, that was the only “scientific” answer
she could give me. So here I was, with an “incurable” auto-immune
disease, nasty symptoms and a prescription for a synthetic hormone for
the rest of my life – not my idea of health and healing! It was clear
that I was going to look for alternative ways to deal with this
condition.
A few months
earlier I had heard of Tong Ren and Tom Tam from a friend who had
started to study with Tom. As soon as she told me about the philosophy,
the method and its astonishing results, I had a sense of being in the
presence of something exceptional. It was an easy decision to contact
Tom and see what he had to say about Hashimotos’s. When I told him my
diagnosis, he smiled and said: “oh Hashimoto’s is easy, we can heal, no
problem”. Surprised by his absolute conviction and doubtlessness, I
asked if he really thought this treatment could improve the symptoms.
He answered in his characteristic mix of English and Chinese: “no
improve symptoms, heal immune system, go back to normal”.
And that’s just
what he proceeded to do. For the following months I saw Tom once a
week. My friend, a student of Tom’s, gave me a treatment of Tong Ren
and TuiNa (Chinese deep tissue massage) every week and I proceeded to
do Tong Ren self-treatment religiously every day. Within the first week
I started to feel better. Every day during several hours where my body
was functioning normally – I could actually work again. The next week
it shifted to the opposite: I was doing well, aside from a few hours
here and there when I needed to rest. By the third week I was
functioning 70% of what I considered normal and it kept improving every
week. By the fourth week I started to take training from Tom, for I
knew that I wanted to learn as much as I could about Tong Ren. Before I
knew it, friends and clients wanted to get treatments from me, and
within a few short months, Tong Ren has become an integral part to the
work I do with my clients. The results speak for themselves, they are
as spectacular as what I have experienced for myself.
After 2.5 months I
had blood-work done again. Can you guess what the results were? The
“incurable disease” had disappeared, my blood levels had gone from “off
the chart” back to normal in less than 3 months!!!!
I call it a
miracle, but the doctor thought I was probably misdiagnosed in the
first place. She had obviously forgotten that the first time she looked
at my initial blood-work she thought it could hardly get much worse…
I continue to take
training with Tom and his students/teachers, I also attend his Guinea
Pig classes as often as I can to learn as much as I can while devouring
his books and improving my skills.
In the guise of an
“incurable disease”, Life has offered me an immense gift: the ability
to learn and offer to myself and others a revolutionary healing method.
©Marie-Lou Kuhne Millerick 2008
|