Yesterday had my fourth qigong session with a chinese qigong master. The fact that this is my fourth, despite it not being cheap, says something, but I’ll start at the begining.
A friend of my father’s told him about an elderly chinese doctor and suggested that he may be able to help me. Since western medicine offered no hope for a cure for my stage 4 colorectal cancer, I was curious about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). So I made an appointment.
First thing I noticed is that the doctor had no formal practice and offered his treatment in his living room. I then discovered that he was not a TCM practitioner, but a qigong master. Very highly respected according to his daughter who acted as an interpreter. The master had very basic grasp of jinglish, but with an accent so thick to be almost incomprehensible.
The session started with an examination. The master did not want to know what my problem was. He said that he would tell me. He proceeded to run the back of his hand up and down my body, checking my qi or chi. His arm jerked in a very spasmic way, which to him indicated the problem areas.
When he was done, he began to tell me what was wrong with me. I was told I had weak lungs, weak heart, problems with my pancreas and digestive system. Major problem with my prostate as well. The only major organs he left out were the kidneys, liver and brain. He then asked me whether I had any problems with the organs he identified. My answer was pretty much NO to everything, to his obvious frustration. I then told him that I had colorectal cancer, with extensive mets causing major problems in the liver. He beamed and said “I was right, you have problem with digestion system”. The fact that he listed almost every other organ other than the liver, did not seem to bother him. “What did I get myself into?”, I thought to myself. Another shaman and quack. In his defence, I was on chemo, so it is possible that all my major organs were struggling.
He then began his treatment. This started with the purging of negative energies out of my body and the infusion of positive qi, from his. This was done in a ritualized fashion with lots of arm waving and deep exhales on his part.
The next phase of his treatment was a head and shoulder, followed by back and legs massage. It was the most bizarre and interesting massage I ever had. It was quite enjoyable I must say. It was a very jerky and pulsating massage with emphasis on what I assume were specific pressure points.
The last part were qigong exercises. He taught me the first three of many, and told me to do these 4 times a day. “Very Important”, he added. The exercises were quite simple and combined basic slow movements with deep breathing. I can see how the deep breathing can be beneficial to cancer patients and if done properly qigong can also be relaxing, though I still struggle with the relaxing part. I have yet to find enough patience for the exercises, but I’ll get there.
In the end, we had a discussion about my cancer and his work. He said, “Don’t worry, I will cure you, no problem, just do exercises and believe in me.”, or something to that effect. He also suggested that if I still felt ok, that I should stop chemo. He is very charismatic and his words were very uplifting, but when he suggested that I stop chemo, that was a bit too much for me. I decided there and then that this was a huge waste of money.
On the way back in the car, I however noticed something odd. I realised that I actually felt good and my ever present nausea was gone. I was nausea free for the rest of the day as well.
So now I had my fourth session with the qigong master and made a weekly booking for months in advance as he is very much in demand and booked out weeks ahead as I found out. I had to wait a month to get my second booking before a spot was available.
In the last 2 sessions something odd happened. During my regular qi check, the master’s hand stayed perfectly steady, with no rapid jerking motions. He then stopped, with a very perplexed look on his face. He said, “I feel nothing. You have no cancer. Trust me I feel cancer, and you no cancer”. I wish this was so, but I still feel my tumours with slight hints of dull pain at the major tumour sites, I still feel nausea due most likely to the histamines the cancer cells release and my CEA blood markers are still through the roof. May be just a coincidence, but at about the same time when he could ‘feel nothing’, I started my high dose Vitamin C IV treatments.
Still, I do feel better after each visit with the qigong master, so I continue….
