Dr. Chen Adds Acupuncture and Chiropractor into His Treatment of Chronicle Illness

When I was in Taiwan, I received both modern and Chinese ancient medical treatments when I was sick. Taiwanese medical insurance recognizes the values of both treatment. Things are different in the United States. The medical insurance in the US covers modern medical treatments and chiropractor service. For acupuncture which I believe its treatment effectiveness, the US medical insurance does not cover the cost for its service.

Seven months into the modern medical diagnosis and treatment and only get the control of its illness prognosis, I decide to take a proactive approach for treating my chronicle illness: add acupuncture and chiropractor for treatment. I had both treatments this week, and I do feel somewhat better after the treatment. However, even the doctors believe that the effectiveness of the treatments and to wait for at least 1-2 weeks; I will report the progress of my conditions in a few weeks.

I had my latest blood test results down few days ago. The blood sodium level has improved from 124 to 131 to 134 (the latest results) against [135-155]. Both ALT and AST (liver enzyme)have dropped to the normal range. But direct bilirubin value is still stubbornly hanging high at 0.40 against [0.00-0.3]. My doctor told me not to worry about it. I will have another blood test down in 2 months, that will be in March. I will report the results then.

I did feel somewhat better these days. I had more energy swimming which is a real gauge of my medical condition.

Friends, thank you for your prayer and concerns. I will report to you my conditions one way or another.

Coping with Chronicle Illness, Dr. Chen's Way

Coping with chronicle illness is easy. With Dr. Chen more than 7 month of illness, everyday, and every meal is a struggle. If not coping correctly, it is easy to set in some irreversible vicious cycles which would end up with self-destruction. I write this down to share with my friends; not for you, because I hope you would never have to go through the suffering I am at this moment. But if you have relatives who are suffering from chronicle illness, this note may be useful.

What are the possible vicious cycles with chronicle illness ? First, the malnutrition vicious cycle. The reason is pretty simple, because the patient has no appetite. Malnutrition can create another problems in addition to your current illness. For Dr. Chen, I am fortunate. I have a dietitian relative who happened had read my suffering story. She called and advised me to drink a complete nutritional balance drink, called Ensure (manufactured and marketed by Abbott Lab.). This drink is not cheap. It costs approximately $1.10 per bottle. But, every time I drink Ensure, I feel somewhat reassured for future recovery.

Second, the depression vicious cycle. The patient has a tendency to withdraw from the social cycles and become self-pity and bitter about life. One way to overcome that is to find a support group. My wife had helped me out to take me out to participate in church choir. I also pray earnestly. Praying forces to articulate what I can find something to be thankful in each day's struggling. I also keep myself busy in preparing my spring semester teaching, because I know that finding the meaning of everyday life keeps me on the track.

Other therapies which I find useful are doing exercise, watching funny shows in the TV. Exercises help me improve appetite at least temporally. Laughter is the best medicine. Find anything funny and laugh the gut is a good therapy.

I share this thought with you. I also need you to continue to pray for me. Anything you do is very comforting to me and I really appreciate it because I know I am not suffering alone.

New Year Greeting and Dr. Chen Needs a Miracle for 2010

Happy New Year, The Year of Ox, 2010.

Friends, I wish I have good news to tell you about my health situation. But, I don't. In fact, since December 21 2009, my health situation is spiraling downward. Before that, although my appetite was not any good to start with, but I still could eat some. Although I felt stomach distress, I never felt nausea. Since December 21, I have lost most of the appetite and I feel nausea more frequently.

I had a blood test on December 28, the initial results were alarming: My blood sodium level was only 124 against a normal range of [135-155]. In fact, this is called the hyponatremia, a medical term describing the disease of low blood sodium. Since sodium ions control the osmotic pressures for all physiological function, this low sodium level could explain the loss of appetite and nausea symptom. Doctor's immediate prescription is to order me restrict fluid intake and liberate up salt intake. I had another blood test on January 4, 2010. The blood sodium level was 131 against a normal range of [135-155]. This new reading is still low, but somewhat better than the results done on December 28. My wife and I had immediate celebration together. I bought a bouquet of flower to her to thank all the care she had given to me over the past 6 months.

Other than somewhat uplifting news of new sodium level, the liver profile was not too uplifting. My AST results was 80 against a normal range of [0-38], total bilrubin was 1.1 against a normal range of [0.3-1.0], direct bilrubin was 0.4 against a normal range of [0-0.3]. Although it is still not a liver crisis, it indicates that my liver function is already compromised.

Meanwhile, I am struggling every meal, and every day and be just glad to be alive one day at a time. I am trying to distract myself from too conscious about the health situation by swimming and playing recorder. The rest of the time, I am in pain.

Friends, I need all of your prayer; not just for me but also for my wife. This illness had caused a lot of stress on my wife, and she needs all the support you can give her.

That is all I want to update you for now. I will tell you more when more diagnosis results are back. Good bye, friends.