Zhongyi, a trip to the Chinese doctor

This evening after I got out of class Deborah and I met up with Andrea because we were going to accompany her to clinic this afternoon. Andrea went to the Seattle Institute of Asian Medicine and has been teaching at the Sports University and studying with traditional Chinese doctors here in Chengdu for the past few years. Once or twice a week she will go and sit in clinic and observe a traditional Chinese herbalist named Dr. Fang. There are many branches of Chinese medicine that are divided mainly into internal and external. External are things like acupuncture or moxibution, while internal medicine deals mainly with herbs. Andrea, Deborah, and I arrived at the clinic, which was a little old-style building on the side of a busy road, at about 5:45 or so. Andrea had told us to bring white lab coats because that was the in-clinic attire, so we all donned our lab coats went in. The building was very much open to the street on the front side. On the left hand side there was a little pharmacy with drawers full of all the herbs where the prescriptions are filled. Then there is a little hallway with small 5' by 5' rooms that are open to the hallway and the street on one side and have a little desk in the middle. Dr. Fang is a very nice man in his mid-60's. He graduated from college just before the Cultural Revolution and then was forced to go work in the country for over a decade, so much of what he knows he learned practicing there. When he returned to the city he taught at the Medical College in Chengdu as an Herbalist, but China has a mandatory retirement age of 60 for men and 55 for women. So he was forced to retire, then spent 5 years in Israel with an Israeli student of his setting up a new Chinese Medicine school there. He found out he had diabetes and decided to come back to Chengdu, so now he works at the "retired doctors clinic." Andrea, Deborah, two Israeli students, Dr. Fang, and I all fit in the small room. Patients pay 10 kuai and sign up at the front desk and then wait in the hall or outside the open wall of the room for Dr. Fang to call their number. At first I was very uneasy about the whole thing, 5 waiguoren (foreigners) wearing white lab coats observing and taking notes while a patient talks for 5 to 10 minutes to Dr. Fang about his or her problems. But it didn't seem to bother the patients at all, in fact for once in China I actually felt unnoticed. Plus all the other patients waiting in the hall were listening too, it was all very public. Dr. Fang always felt their pulse and looked at their tongue and asked them questions about what was bothering them. Illnesses are classified as having too much "heat" or "wind" or "damp". I decided that I wanted to see what Dr. Fang would say about me, so I signed up. The only problem I could think of was my shoulder, so I decided to tell him about that. However, Andrea said he would probably ask about my period so I should think about that too. So when it was my turn I told about my shoulder and then, sure enough, he asked about my period. I have never had a regular period; it usually comes about 3 or 4 times a year, very lightly with no side effects. I had asked Western doctors about this before and they had said it was nothing to worry about and it often happened with athletic girls like myself. Thus, I had always viewed it as a kind of blessing. But when I told Dr. Fang about it this is not how he responded. Having an irregular period in China is a VERY bad thing and he said that we need to deal with it right away, dismissing my shoulder as minor and maybe something we would address later. He said this was a sign that my chuan and ren (two channels that run through your body systems) were depleted and needed to be replenished. He also said I had a strong heat beat and a slightly yellow tongue, but I don't think this had alot to do with the diagnosis. So he wrote me a prescription with about 15 different herbs in different amounts and told me to take it all in about a week and then come back. So we left and went out to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled. I watched as the lady measured out identical herb mixture batches with a little hand scale. It had small red furry looking things and lots of dried brown things and little white cubes and all sorts of different things. Andrea said she would translate the prescription for me later, so I will let you all know exactly what it is I am taking. I am also going to do some research to see if I can find out what those herbs are doing to my body biochemically, although I think that is maybe a little against the Chinese medicine way. So I went home with my four little bags and cooked the first one. To cook it you cover the herbs with water and bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Then drain the water into a container and do it 2 more times. After you have boiled, simmered, and saved 3 batches of medicine, you can get rid of the herbs. The medicine looks like brown water, like from a mineral and sediment-filled stream. It smells pretty bad too and I hear that it tastes really bitter. I haven't tasted it yet though, I'm starting tomorrow.