It is well known in our circle that Dennis and I both love yoga.  But neither one of us have ever expanded into the world of Chinese medicine.  We have learned the basics in Qi Gong, but never Tai Chi, so we seized the opportunity to try it on the 2nd morning of the cruise.

We also attended a lecture on Eastern Medicine presented by the ship’s doctor, Ryan Wang, M.D., a highly respected Eastern and Western trained Doctor.  We then learned from our travel mates that he was offering free consultations, so we thought WHY NOT? And that decision is now taking us down a path that we never would have imagined.

So we scheduled an appointment that afternoon.  Dr. Ryan is a big believer in PREVENTION, as are we.  He also explained that if an issue shows up on a blood report, the problem has already progressed significantly.  So by a simple conversation and an examination of our tongue, hands, eyes, and pulse, he announced this diagnosis ~

Dennis:  heart and liver issues plus he needs help with his left knee swelling and pain.

Diana:    heart and kidney issues plus she needs help losing weight (belly especially). Interesting enough, kidney issues also relate to memory and hearing which I am beginning to experience but did not mention to him

45 minutes later we left his small office with an appointment at 9:40 that evening for a session of acupuncture, cupping, and acupressure on Dennis’ left knee.   Wow ~ that happened fast!

I know many of our friends are well versed in these 3 techniques, but we are virgins!

In addition to the 3 Eastern Medicine treatment techniques, we each received herbal pills that were formulated at the Natural Herbs Research Center – Hubei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Wuhan.

Dennis herbs:  Tendon Relaxing Pill.

Diana herbs:  Vessel Opening Weight Reducing Pill and Kidney System Pill (Invigorating and Brain-Benefiting Pill),   He also placed Ear Seeds in my right ear.  We have enough medication for 3 months.

In addition to Acupuncture and Acupressure treatments, we both received “Cupping” in 10 locations on our back.  This treatment is meant as a sort of deep tissue massage and helps with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation, and well-being.  Part of our homework from Dr. Ryan is to purchase a cupping set (with DVD) from Amazon.  We’ll both learn how to apply the cups on each others back.  The cups are applied and kept on the back for 10 to 15 minutes.  NOTE FROM DIANA:  I can cup my own belly to help remove fat!  I’m game on that one!

Diana back AFTER her 1st cupping session has been completed

We had a second session the next day where he again did about 1 hour of acupuncture, cupping, and acupressure.

We met after the treatment to get our “homework”.  Including taking our herbal medicine, Dennis has a new regime for his knee.  He also highly encouraged 15 minutes of Tai Chi each morning.  OK … WE CAN DO IT.

Because the improvement will be worth it.  He believes that if we are diligent (kinda like physical therapy, right Cindy?) then we will be good as gold.  We can also keep taking our vitamins because there are NO side affects from the Chinese medicine.

Interestingly enough, a cold was being passed around the ship and I caught the bug during these days of treament.  But I do wonder if part of my symptoms could be toxins releasing from my body?  I truly don’t know.

Since Dennis will be 65 in November, and I am now the age of my father when he died, we are both willing to follow Doctor’s orders.  We understand that this current decade are the years we want to enjoy active and adventure vacations.  I will admit that travelling is not as easy as it was when we were younger, but we both still want to explore.

We BOTH intend to be healthy, happy, free, of service, abundant, and loving for many years to come.  So we believe this has happened for us at the perfect time in our lives.

We’re prepping and packing on Monday morning.  Departure for the Wuhan airport at 12 pm.  We have 3 flights (Wuhan to Shanghai, Shanghai to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Tucson) starting at 3 pm today.  Even though Diana picked up a little cold bug on Saturday (she’s feeling much better on Monday), we’ve truly enjoyed our 12 day trip to China. What a GREAT global adventure!  Upon our return home, we’ll complete the remaining blog posts for the final 4 days of our trip.  Stay tuned!