Here in Harbin I picked up Simone who returned fr Mongolia (via Beijing) with a suspected torn ligament in her ankle. That week i started inpatients neurology clinic and also helped Simone hobble to tuina clinic with the sadistic Dr Wang Jun and his equally harsh students. The x-ray showed no broken bones and the Dr didn't see the need for an MRI or a pair of crutches. He sent me back to my inpatients clinic and luckily a lovely Malaysian translated - but none of Simone's cursing or tears I hope! After the pain of the hissing girl's tuina massage Simone said yes to the doctor's needles!
For most of the first week she's was holed up in my room as the bruising was brought out and swelling subside. It's been a week of late April rain storms so Simone's been helping a top student prepare for an English exam. I pushed her on my bicycle to the Korean for a ban fan across the busy Heping Lu (Heping Road) and as we were leaving the sweet smiley waiter in the matching pink hawaiian shirt and shorts kindly took Simone home in his electric tricycle. I printed the pictures and took them round the next week when we returned for another meal. Ordering is still a challenge and I hope we avoided the gao (dog)!
It's been life in the slow lane for the Harbin tourist apart from a trip to town last weekend to get my Chinese brush characters and painting by my cousin's husband framed and purchasing various apparatuses for my Chinese doctor's toolkit - plastic suction cups and TENS/Electro-acupuncture. It's been full on action back at the liuxuesheng (foreign student) accommodation. I've been treating Alex with slide cupping and a 5" needle in zhu bian for his sciatica and using the TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) on Simone's ankle, then joined Guye to treat the Ayi (aunty - who actually is not my aunty as she's only 35 and I'm almost a decade older....) receptionist for oedema and to lose weight with points in her feet, hands and under her chin!!!! I haven't progressed to the pricking palms of hands and tongue that I saw a doctor do on a mute and hemiplegic patient! Though I did give a classmate a treatment for weightloss of 24 needles on the stomach. However, my blood-letting and fire cupping needs to improve before she returns to London.
Talking of which, I'm glad I managed to miss the jubilee mania - couldn't even bare to listen to Radio 4 all week! The best image I have is of Sarah in hospital after her op wearing a crown, union jack and sporting a blow-up corgi!! Two days later she was out watching the Queen go past her friend's Chelsea Harbour flat and then a day later she was out til 9.30pm PLAYING TENNIS!!! That's my big little sis for you!
The other dramas for the treatment tourist in her second week was the Hong Tou Fa (Red head/hair = Simone's new Chinese name) was a trip to the hairdresser on the first floor of my accommodation and a visit to Dr Cheng (neurology outpatients) to see what he could do for her rhinitis (swelling inside the nose that causes blockage in nasal passages at least 4 times a day). Immediate relief that there were no needles, but the 15 herb concoction (including Chrysanthamum, Honeysuckle, Licorice and various other roots and rhizomes) that was boiled and put into 14 bags for a 7 day course are pretty vile. I now remember why Chinese herbs are not so popular in the West.
The good news is that after 2 months my parcel finally arrived: Thai green curry, chocolate and dental floss. Thanks mum :-)) What more could a girl want for her remaining 2 months in Harbin (though I doubt the chocolate will make it to my birthday and we enjoyed 2 packets of curry that Simone cooked up in the 7th floor kitchen for my two remaining classmates.
Off to Dalian in 2 days and leaving my computer and 4 essay deadline behind for a week or so!!!
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