The Rest of the Stay

The rest of the stay

I already came back to Boston, back to my life in the US. Before I went, Yeshey is the only one I felt familiar through email, now I left a lot of friends in Bhutan.

When I finally got a chance to rest, Thimphu had pouring rain for 2 days, my friends felt bad for me, I told them the universal was trying to test me that how much I could love this country. 

I did go to the festival and enjoyed the story from dance and the traditional singing. Art always can express our deep emotion even I don't understand the words of the song. To my surprise, Chen and I got very special seat in the festival, when Yeshey told me that the 4th King ( current King's father)asked people to arrange this for me, I couldn't believe my ears. I just did what I planed to do here, but people are so appreciated even the King heard about it. Also I can feel how much the King cares about his people.

Yeshey called me the day before I left Thimphu that one of my patient's family invited us for dinner. Young Garab requested his mom cooking me a dinner, I was so moved.  He has cerebral Palsy, when his grandma and sister brought him to the hospital, I didn't know how much it would help him, his whole body was so tense even hard to stay in the wheelchair, there is no way I could put any needles in his body but the head, that was what I did.   

Unbelievable, Garab told his mother he could sleep better and more relaxed.

I brought some needles with me to Garab's house, he was so happy that he could have one more session before I leave. To me, if Garab felt little better, this trip worth all the effect everyone put in.

Bhutan is a small country, my friend Yeshey's feet covered almost every corner of it, he trekked 48 days one time, took beautiful photos of the Wild life here, some of his photos are in very prestigious museums. 

Before I went to Bhutan, I asked Yeshey that if it's possible to set up a temporary clinic in the countryside, he told me that the distant is short but the drive is long. I finally got it when we went to Punakha. It took us three and half hour for 72km. Because of the road, some of my patients drove 10  hours to Thimphu to see me, there is no way I could let them go without a treatment. 

Punakha is beautiful, much quite than Thimphu. I told Yeshey Punakha is more like the Bhutan in my mind not Thimphu. We visit the famous Punakha Dzong. The architecture is so unique in Bhutan, I love it, even the country is open the door to the outside world, they still kept the traditional style. I miss the old houses in China, when I took the train from Beijing back to my hometown in the south, high concrete building is all you can see. We should learn the best from outside world, but don't lose the essence of yourself. 

There is a nunnery on the top of the mountain  can see the whole valley, we decided to go there, plus I had a patient from this nunnery, I wanted to see how was she doing as well. 

My patient went to Thimphu for acupuncture that day, my colleagues would take care of her, but there is another girl here had bad headache at the moment, I have needles with me, so we found a place for her to get some relief. When I was treating her, More and more girls came, we started talking and laughing. There is a girl caught my eye, she did not ask for treatment, just busy to serve hot rice soup and hot tea for everyone. When I finished with all the girls who need a session, she told me that she loves cook, I told her that I will share all the information about food with her. We exchanged Wechat.

Wechat is from China, like Facebook here, everyone I know in Bhutan use it, they told me because you can leave voice mail directly through it, much easier for people don't know how to write. After I came back, I already formed a group of friends from Bhutan, we share good ideas about food and healthy life style together.

If you go to Bhutan, you have to see Tiger's nest, we did the day before we came back to US. 

We followed Yeshey's advice started our hiking at 6:30, it was quite, feels the whole place belong to you, of course the dogs as well. 

The clouds made the mountain very special, we could see Tiger's nest all the time as we climbing, it's just magnificent. 

Yeshey sent Tshering with us, she is a lovely, young, modern girl, we enjoyed each other a lot. I saw the struggle of young people from her and the young patients in the hospital, it's normal process for us to grow. She told me without any financial burden but still got lost, not fulfilled, not very happy. I shared my experience with her, not avoid any growth pain, learn from it and be patient with yourself. 

We all know Bhutan is the happiest nation in the world, happiness is within, with the country open the door to the world, with more and more temptation from outside world, how to balance your inner peace with the outside chaos, it will be a learning process for the people there.  The country is rooted in Buddhism practice, that probably will help. 

I really love the people there.   

Traditional dress Gho and Kira. 

Punakha Dzong.

Work in the nunnery. 

The little monk who loves paint cartoon character.

Tiger's nest.

Young Garab.

This dog accompanied us all the way to Tiger's Nest.

Festival in Thimphu. 

Days 14 & 15

Days 14 & 15

I finally got a chance to explore the city instead of working on Sunday. Chen and I decided to hiking. Tango Monastery is near by, my friend Jamyang gave us a ride also sent her sister and niece to go with us.

On our way to the hiking trail, I stopped at a Tofu shop, this is the only place make Tofu in Thimphu. The owner is Yeshey's cousin, also both of her children are my patients. I had no idea how many cousins Yeshey has, probably you walk on any street of Thimphu, you will meet one of his cousins.

Yeshey's cousin Damchoe was very happy to see me. It was great Jamyang came with me since she works at department of education. Lots of kids have low protein diet, most of them I saw in the hospital have rice and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner with occasionally meat and lentil soup. I asked Jamyang to help me to give the information to the teachers and parents. some of my patients buy soy milk import from Thailand.  Kuenleg Choeki( Damchoe's daughter) told me that her mom use locally grown, organic soy bean to make soy milk and tofu. It would be much better for people buy it  from her. Tofu and soy milk are more in Chinese diet, but I hope people have more information about how to have a balance diet and where to get good food locally.

I happily accepted the Tofu,soy milk and mushroom Damecho gave to me.

It was not good weather to hike. It rained whole day,but the rain gave the mountain more mystic look. The road was quite, it was surreal to see people passing by with traditional Bhutanese dress, feel myself was in a different time period.

To my surprise, lot of Bhutanese think Chen is one of them, including the monk in the Monastery. He explained all the Buddha status for us, this Monastery worship
" Passion Buddha" , I told him that is
" Kuanyin " in China, he disagree, because
"Passion Buddha" suppose to be a male. When I got back to check, they are the same, it's just another form of " Kuanyin" .

We enjoyed the tea he offered, the warm tea just made you feel great in a raining day.

Monday was my last day to work, after that would be 3 days of big festival in Thimphu, also it's a big holiday for everybody. Instead of seeing patients, I mad sure all of my colleagues know how to use the electric machine I brought, shared the cases we had, also watched them treat the patients and gave my suggestions. BBS( Bhutan Broadcaster Service) gave me a interview, I caught the chance to share my concerns about the diet, woman's health to the people here.

The Rotary club which Yeshey belong to invited me for dinner, there is a little shop next to the restaurant, I met Pema there. he used his feet happily to say Hi to me when I walked in, then went back to do his wood work.  He was disabled since birth,  lived with his grandparents but abandoned by his parents.

One day when he Heard the Queen her Majesty ( 4th King's wife) was in the area, he waited whole day at the place she would stay, when he got the chance to see her, he used his feet to brush teeth, wash his face to show her that he could do anything, she was amazed at the same time was very impressed. At the end, he hope the Queen could help him to fulfill his dream to learn wood curving and painting. She did, not just that, she also rent this little place for him to work so he could be self sustain. Chen and I bought a piece of work from him.

I told Pema he could have massage and acupuncture in the hospital to release some muscle tension.

I admire him a lot, instead of be miserable, complaining, he made the opportunity for himself by working hard. CNN new anchor visited him, I saw a picture on the wall. He made me to exam my life and thoughts.

Days 11, 12 &13

Days 11, 12 &13

Dr Nima is a physician, also a rotary member. He brought his wife, sister and brother in law came to see me.

I was so busy with the patients, whenever I had nobody around to translate for me, then people who spoke English would jump in. That afternoon Dr Nima jumped in a lot to help me out. I had no clue who he was, he and his family waited patiently for their turn. When I started to treat his sister, someone came to introduce him to me. He was practice in the Western hospital before, now works for WHO. Chen participated an nutrition project for WHO in China long time ago, I told Dr Nima my concerns about the nutrition aspects in the diet. Hope we can do something together in the future.

He followed me to do the full intake of his family members, I explained to him how we  differentiate the diagnosis. He was amazed by it. His wife is a school teacher, she told me that she would help the parents to understand more about the nutrition for the kids.

Every little effort helps.

I had a lot of kids in my office, because they need to go to school, I treated them first. There is a little girl made me thinking about my niece Chuchu a lot, she had that sweet smile on her face all the time, I thought she was 6 years old but actually she was 9. She had a fall 3 years ago, injured her head, after surgery her right hand couldn't open up anymore. 3 years is a long time, I had no time to be hesitate, did whatever I thought it could help, also told her mom continue with PT. After a few sessions, her mom told me it's
better. I hope she can use her right hand again, it very hard for me to see the kids suffer, and I see way worse case in Bhutan than in US.

The woman with black stool came back with her doctor's report, she had hp bacteria causing the stomach problem, already on antibiotics, already felt better, will continue her acupuncture treatment as well. She brought her kids to meet me.

I am very grateful that I work with the patients and their physicians together in Bhutan.

The girl always with sweet smile on her face even she lost her ability to use her right hand.

She brought her kids come to meet me, people are so appreciate what we done to them here.

Days 8, 9 & 10

Day 8, 9 & 10
I have to admit that I never been able to get home before 10:00pm, and I go to the hospital 7:30 or 8:00 am.  Everybody in Bhutan was surprised about my energy level, including myself, they are wondering what I eat in my diet. Meditation is my main strength. The worse the chaos the more I need to be calm and focused.  Also I carry the blessing from universal and good energy from you guys. Thimphu is warmer and moisture than I thought, it produces lots of different kinds of mushrooms, I eat a lot of mushrooms everyday, it's simple, easy to cook, save me time and give me good nutrients.

The tables are wide with solid wood on both side, it's hard to treat patients In a comfortable position, after 2 days here, my low back was in pain. I put some patches on, too busy to focus on my own discomfort, I realized the pain was gone when I went to pick up Chen at the airport.

People started to bring apples, pear, corns and vegetables from their own garden to me,  I was so touched, feels like I became an Chinese Medicine Doctor dates back to the old times in China. It was early evening, one of my colleague took me away from the crows for a break, my patient brought me milk tea. she is  an elderly grandma, we can't    communicate to each other properly, but the way she looked at me I felt love and care.

Bhutan is famous for its NGH- National Growth of Happiness. I hope people from outside not think them just live in la la land. Like each of us, they face life challenges, some much greater than us.

When I watch the rain keep dropping,  can't imagine what is going through the farmers mind. All the hard work will rotten in the field.

No matter what is going on in life, how stressful they are, they can sleep. That just amazed me. Most of them go to bed @ 9:00pm, sleep till 6:00 or 7:00am. Last 6 days, lots of patients came for treatment, very few had insomnia. There are 2 cases, after one session they came back and told me that they felt better, honestly I couldn't believe my ears. I rarely had this kind of luck in US. Also that shows how peaceful in their mind, even they struggle, at the end of the day, they make peace with the Buddha in their heart. To me, that is NGH.
This grandma had asthma, it was hard for her to lie down, we treated her with a sitting position.

She came from a rural village, just look like my grandma who took care of me with I was young.

Days 5, 6 & 7 September 30, October 1, 2

Days 5, 6 & 7

Even the hospital was trying to control how many patients I see every day, but more and more people came in, some of my returning patients had no way to get an appointment, that frustrated me. My colleague took over most of them, but very sensitive ones prefer a female practitioner.

Before I came here,  Thea helped me for the questionnaire in order to save time, but we ended up not be able to use it. The girl suppose to do the registration didn't know the medical terminology in English. The hospital and I never had the experience to face so many patients at once, it was chaotic.

I ended up talked to each of my patient, the good thing is that I had direct connection with them, also I got totally lost a lot. It took me almost a week to understand what "piles" means, it means hemorrhoids. most of people told me that they have "piles", I thought they mean "binds", stool binds inside, constipation, this understanding is with the help of my colleagues. Even they had similar causes, the needles can be different. The spicy diet plays a major role in this condition.

There is a young woman from far away village caught my attention, she had black stools for a while, Complains about GI problem, anemia, not on iron supplement, not eating much of dark greens, dark food, I urge her to check it out with Western Doctors, just make sure if any bleeding or other things going on at her GI track, also told my colleagues they need to pay attention to her if she came back.

My days are busy and long here, when you are busy, time just fly, without notice, Sunday came. I took sunday off, really need it.  Also Chen arrived Sunday morning. Yeshey and I went  to Paro airport to pick him up together.

The nunnery where the lovely nuns stay is located between Thimphu and Paro.

Before I left Boston, some of you gave me money to spend on the road.  I asked Yeshey to get me B-complex and lentils, we would visit the temple after we picked Chen up.

We met the Master and the  head monk of the nunnery, some girls happened to be at home also joined us. I shared my concerns to the head monk, the girls giggling around, also told me that the improvement they made, the things need to be improved as well. They are happy to see me at their home.

I met my neighbor the day I got here, but never see them again due to my schedule. Finally we got a chance to catch up Sunday, they are Anne and Phil, came from Australia,  Anne is a veterinarian, volunteer for the wildlife refugee here, Phil retired, they came here for a year.

Anne shared her work stories with us, also showed some pictures. It's bear season at the moment in Bhutan, they are lots of bears here, one day when Anne and her colleagues were trying to sedate a bear, because the drugs from Indian is not concentrate enough, the bear woke up in the middle of exam, very mad, scared them all.  it was scaring but also funny, I could picture everyone was not prepared, and in shock.

Since Chen arrived also I had the day off, my friend Yeshey invited us to his house for dinner, his wife is a excellent cook, hopefully I will have time to Learn a Bhutanese dish from her before I leave.

 Morning crowds at the hospital.

Share a case with my colleagues.

In the Nunnery with the girls. When we were taking the photos, the cat got a chance to steal the food.

Team work.

The rice field in the background made me thinking about met hometown Hunan.

In the Nunnery with the girls. When we were taking the photos, the cat got a chance to steal the food.

We stopped a local grocery store after picking up Chen at the airport. This girl had shoulder pain, Yeshey asked me if I could do something, I used a spoon to guasha her for a temporary relief.

 Chen shared a local beer with Yeshey.

October 2, 2016 - Huang Yu, Chen and the hungry cat visit with monastics

Days 3 & 4 September 28-29, 2016

Day 3 & 4 in Bhutan

The lovely six nuns brought two more of their friends Yesterday, I enjoy that giggling sound during the treatment with them.

One of the two case came back from the day before yesterday still not doing well. She purposely came here for the treatment from Paro because of the terrible suffering. I took her aside asked more questions, found out she was in the middle of menstruation, also it's very heavy, she is a vegetarian as well, I checked her diet, mostly it's rice and vegetables, not much protein. That is the key!!! I changed all my treatment plan, nothing on her head, just a few needles to nourish her, told her drink rice soup, lentil soup and  ginger tea with molasses when got home, give us a call if the headache came back. by 3:00pm yesterday afternoon, she called that the pain it's coming back, but not as severe, I reassure her things will be OK, just keep drink the soup and tea. When someone suffered so long, it's scaring to put the trust out there. But she trusted me, I am so appreciated. I saw her this morning, she is better. I am very concerned about the vegetarian diet here,  she is a teacher, I told her that she should educate her kids and parents about how to eat right.

I met some highly educated women in my office, started to encourage them to form a women's group, I will share what I know about food, if the mother knows how to eat right, will benefit the whole family. They are very interested in my suggestion. I am a vegetarian, if you eat right, will feel great, but sometimes you do have limited choice, and Bhutan has limited plant protein.

I had a special visitor today. When I first arrived Thimphu, the hospital official told me that they would arrange an appointment for me to go the Department of Health as courtesy, because they granted my visa.

As I was in roomful of the patients, one of my colleagues came in whisper to me that the Minister of the Health is here.  I was surprised he was coming. as my days passing in Bhutan, I started to meet people in different background, I have to say that I felt warm and comfortable with all of them.

I had a private talk with the Minister, we had nice conversation about nutrition facts, women's health, spiritual aspects at both traditional Bhutanese and Chinese medicine and future collaboration.

It's 7:30 AM now, Yeshey already outside waiting for me, I had a bunch of patients won't be able to finish last night, promised them to get there early. The hospital is really trying to take action control how many people can been seen daily, let's see how thing will go.