I have been a patient in Dr. Xiu-Min Li’s private practice for about a year now, and it was time for me to meet her in person. We have been having once a month telephone appointments. Meeting Dr. Li in person was like meeting a rock star! She and I hugged each other like long lost friends, having spoken on the phone for a year.
I have written about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) before, and you can read that blog post here.
Most of Dr Li’s patients travel to New York City to meet with her before they start treatment. However, it is VERY difficult for me to travel, and being an adult, she was willing to consult with me after receiving a battery of blood tests and endoscopy results for my eosinophilic esophagitis and mast cell disorder diagnoses. I also have IgE allergies to several foods – peanuts, onions and corn.
Because of these diagnoses, and gut issues every time I try a new food, I am currently eating just 4 foods: organic chicken breast, organic turkey breast, organic broccoli and Cascadian Farms organic hash browns. (For some reason, those potatoes, having been parboiled to perfection, work for me while homemade hash browns parboiled do not.) Mast cells and eosinophils are crazy!
When I travel I must either bring these foods or be able to purchase them. And because all of these foods are low in calories, I eat 6 times a day, about 2 hours apart. I have to cook all the foods for my stomach to tolerate them – not that I would be eating raw chicken! But even raw broccoli doesn’t work for me currently.
My recent trip to meet Dr. Li felt like a big accomplishment. I was able to stay with a fellow food allergy Mom, and to use her kitchen to cook all my meals. I ordered my food from FreshDirect and had it delivered to her apartment prior to my arrival. What a wonderful service that is in New York City! And what a wonderful friend I have to put up with me cooking non-stop!!
As far as the Traditional Chinese Medicine that I’ve been taking – I’ve been on a cream IIIvb, which looks like avocado dip, and I apply it once a day, every day. I’ve recently begun an herbal foot bath, which is all that I can tolerate currently. Most of Dr. Li’s patients use herbs in a “real” bathtub, however I am currently too sensitive for that. The combination of these two treatments, which permeate the largest organ – the skin – have begun to decrease my body’s sensitivities. I have yet to begin to swallow any TCM treatments. Again, most patients are able to start with this, but my system is still in need of healing more before I will be able to swallow any teas or pills. Dr. Li’s protocol is not something that I could manage myself, and I couldn’t go to a local store to purchase the herbs. I feel very grateful that I have a doctor, with such knowledge, managing my care.
I realized how much better I’m doing when I was asked by Dr. Li to rate my improvement. I’m far less reactive to smells and contact with the environment. I have much more energy. (That’s the real issue with mast cell degranulation for me – it zaps my energy). And I’m far less anxious. I really want to eat different foods, and Dr. Li thinks that’s in my not-too-distant future. She wants to try some Chinese vegetables because it’s something I haven’t ever eaten, so hopefully my mast cells won’t recognize the food as an invader!
For me, TCM is more about how I feel than any blood test result. We aren’t trying to cure any food allergy. I’m willing to not eat a few foods that I’m allergic to…I’d like to be able to eat all those other foods that currently I can’t tolerate because of the mast cell/EoE issues!
Dr. Li suggested that I purchase a pressure cooker to cook the meats that I eat to make them more easily digested. Upon returning home, I immediately purchased an “Instant Pot”. What a wonderful little device! I can cook my chicken in 15 minutes, while my potatoes are cooking on the stove. This allows me to always eat fresh, and to cease microwaving foods to reheat them, which Dr. Li wants me to quit doing – “as much as possible in our busy lives”. She’s always so patient and kind!
I’m continuing to increase the amount of cream that I apply, and to increase the amount of herbs in my daily foot bath. It’s so exciting to feel healing occur in my body.
The various medications that I’ve been on – Ursodiol, Zyrtec, Zantac and Ketotifen – only mitigate symptoms. They do nothing toward a true cure or healing. I’m grateful to have them, and I’ve been able to decrease the amount of medication that I take daily since starting on the TCM protocol.
The future looks very bright!