Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 2

Sorry about the double posting, didn't hit publish on Day 1 yesterday.

Woke at 6:30 after 10 hours of sleep. Meditation, mantra and QiGong all before 7:30 the official wake time, which felt great. I'm using the "Waking the Cobra" seed mantras for meditation as well as Om Namah Shiviya using a full mala. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes and all out loud. The walls are a little thin here, and my voice has a drone to it anyway -- I'm sure some of the staff wonder just what is going on in my room. But, I have to get over being concerned about that -- not here to impress anyone.

Breakfast arrived at 8:30, noodle soup and veggies again w/ egg. Not so sure the egg is a good long-term plan, I recently tested with a moderate allergy to eggs so I've been avoiding them. But, the breakfast menu is pretty limited and eggs are the only protein and high protein is the priority. Hopefully I'll be able to find some protein powder when I go to the market tomorrow.

Daily round with the team @ 9. The professor wants me to start taking calcium supplements as well as do tongue exercises to combat the atrophy.

Did some shopping on Amazon, looking for a good acupuncture book to help me log the points being used as well as a book on Chinese history and culture. Found a number of free kindle books on Chinese history and a sampled a few good acupuncture books. I love the kindle store -- you can sample a book in the reader, and many of the samples are dozens of pages.

Herbs showed up @ 10am just as I was saying goodnight via video chat w/ Margit and Grace.

11 brought Tom for acupuncture and tui-na massage. More needles today than yesterday; 5 on top of the skull, 7 in the back of the neck, 1 deep in the upper back (3 inches), 6 down the right arm one in the left and two in the right foot, and my favorite, one under the chin. They are concentrating most of the work on voice and tongue to start. Nothing really painful, but not exactly comfortable -- especially when I swallow. 30 minutes later the needles come out and then it's another 30 minutes of massage. Medium to deep tissue work, mostly head, shoulders, neck and arms.

Lunch @ noon was mutton "hot pot". Massive boiling bowl of lamb bits and lotus root, cooking via sterno. Pics coming soon...

Nap from 1-2:30 then studying and logging the points used. While studying I learned that moving while having the needles in is recommended, especially for ALS. So tomorrow I'll see how that feels. Certainly not the most intuitive thing to do given the depth of some of the needles.

A little email and Facebook and a failed attempt to video chat with my friend Legend, then it was beef (I hope) and celery, mushroom and corn soup and rice. Again, a tasty meal -- as long as you don't spend too much time thinking about it.

Some planning for the trip to market, evening mantra and a good morning video chat with M&G and I was in bed by 9.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beef, you hope - love the way you phrased that!

Mom said...

Now you can see why I always liked sleeping with a board under the mattress or on the floor. It will be nice if they find one of your allergies is NOT eggs. Jeana was allergic to eggs until she started kindergarten when they gave her a different from the other kids, her small pox shot. After that she was no longer allergic to eggs. I guess that happens alot. God Bless you and I love you.

Heidi said...

Hi David-

I am excited to follow your progress! I was diagnosed with ALS in April 2010, and you posted to one of my posts on the ALS forum. Glad to see that you followed through and are in China! How long are you planning to stay? I may well follow you...
Cheers-
Heidi

Markus said...

David, it is wonderful to read your posts. Feels like I'm right there with you. Embrace all the difference of experience and keep telling us about it. My thoughts are always with you, together with the genuine hope that this process will bring you healing and comfort.

We gonna have you spin on the bus this BM!

Love

M

Peter L. Johnson said...

Dear David,

Your awareness is stunning and beautiful. You are doing great listening to your body and yourself. What a great path you have put yourself on.

deep bow, peter

Gonzo said...

Sounds like an adventure and treatment all rolled into one! Hang in there, buddy.

Catherine said...

David,

Wow! I can;t believe you took the time to answer my email. Blessings for your journey. You are not only getting well, but doing very important work.

Sending positive energy and looking forward to reading your posts when you are able.

Sharon said...

Hello David, this is very exciting stuff as I have ALS and my speech is just starting to be affected, other than that I only have right footdrop. You mentioned tongue exercises. If you can, could you send me a private message on the ALS Forum sharing what those are? My name there is Sequoia. I really want to follow your journey towards healing. My prayers are with you
Namaste, Shalom, Peace