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.

Day 2 - September 27, 2016

I had six lovely young nuns today.

Even I suggested Yeshey we need to tell the hospital to control the registration of how many people I see daily, looks like out of anybody's control. These young ladies travelled to Thimphu to see me, Of course didn't book their appointments ahead, of course I won't, also not willing to turn them away.

They are very shy.  I don't considerate Bhutanese women very shy through my first day of work, because my colleague is a guy here. But these nuns are very shy, during the treatment all my male colleagues (3 of them) had to leave the office and would not be able to help me., thank goodness we have a lady here. I was joking with them that they had to come to Boston with me when I leave here, because only one of the male colleagues is treating patient here, I might be able to get the lady start to work for the public in the future, that is one of my goal.

Four out of six had gastritis, that caught my attention. Lack of B vitamins can be one of the reason for it, I am a vegetarian, it's very tricky for me to get B12 from food. Pickled vegetables is one of my main source, also I take B complex here and there. I shared this through my translator. Since their temple is on the way to Paro airport, I am thinking to ask Yeshey if I can make a stop there on my way home. Maybe I can see how other nuns are doing and give some suggestions for their food also get the vitamins for them when I come back to US.

I enjoyed them very much, after the needles in, I told them to do their own meditation. One of them I had to needle her in a sitting position, a moment later she turned into a Kuanyin in my eye.

Of all the people I worked the day before, just two of them report the headache came back, l sent them away with a smile again, will see how things go tomorrow.

When I came back from my nap in the afternoon(3:00pm, had one hour break）there is a young girl who was crying in the office, she waited from 7:00am!!! and refused go to eat lunch, she absolutely has the right to be upset, I went to talk to her immediately, explained that she needed to have some food before the treatment, otherwise she could faint on the table, also with the food in her, the needles will be able to do better job. we had lunch left in the office, she went in for it. Even the hospital tried their best to send part of people away for afternoon sessions after registration in the morning, somehow they missed her.

I don't want to say how many patients I see the second day. When Yeshey picked me up at night, he told me that his phone was keep ringing from strangers for the information about this project, and he had no clue how they get his number.

One thing I asked him is that we need to close the office Sunday on my way to the apartment. He totally agreed with me.

I started to get all my colleagues together if I see a special condition or certain place need pay attention how to needling, also my personal experience to treat certain cases today.

( please forgive me I haven't got chance to learn how to spell all my colleagues name, will ask Yeshey today)

First Day at the Clinic - September 26, 2016

What a day!!!

My first day in Bhutan is mixed with chaos, excitement and gratitude.

I went to the office 8:00am, even the door suppose open at 9:00, already saw people waiting at registration.  we can't talk but that warm smile they gave made me so comfortable with the day would coming.

Someone should help me with the intake came in late, by 9:00 am, the hallway is packed, I couldn't wait anymore, told my colleague that I need to start.
 
The lady I treated the night before came, she still doing well, also brought her auntie who also has migraine headache. I started my day from her.

The time just flow away from hand like water, At the beginning I just worked on who can speak English. My colleague here asked for thicker needles, imagine if you felt pain in my office, then I really acted no mercy here. I have to say, my first day here for migraine headache patients had unbelievable result, almost everyone came in with big relief. Whatever I am doing for this part, the universal gives a prove, also all the love and prayer I carry from you guys made it happen.

As more people came, I realized more helper came. People in Bhutan are so wonderful, even is chaotic, the sense of the trust they gave to me always there, nobody complained anything, they just patiently waited. I had 2 treatment rooms running, 8 beds in total. One for guys, one for woman, each time I pass through the hall way to another treatment room, that smile they gave me will never forget.

I had some tough cases other than migraine, there is a 2 yrs old girl, lost her ability to walk after severe fever a year ago. This case in China probably had big chance to recovery if got treated early. When she saw me, she just give me a big smile and open her arms towards me, that is incredible. For a 2 yrs old, she would not sit still for needles, I could do scalp acupuncture but need short needles,thank goodness Chen is coming Monday, he can get from Dr Lin's office. No matter how much I can do for her, just try the best I can.

When I am here alone to work for the people in Bhutan, I want to thank all the teachers who told me, because of them I can come here to do the work. All the colleagues I worked with, you guys gave me so much inspiration. When you have to make a decision at the moment what you can do the best for the patient in front of you, no body to talk to, no time to think through, my strength is from all of you!

I can't thank enough of my colleagues here, they all came in to help me, without them, we would not be able to see 50 people yesterday.

 
The hospital officials came in to meet me, they provide snacks and lunch for us, I don't have time for snacks but enjoyed the Delicious lunch, Even took a 30 mins nap, I had to do it for the afternoon patients.

Of course I am very tired at the end of the day.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

I am very jet lagged, it's 4:00 am in the morning at the moment, slept less than 4 hrs last night.

There are a lot of things want to share, maybe will do some later. First of all, I love here, honestly I barely know the country, but just have the feeling, feel like home here, even the weather is not the typical fall, damp and cold. Maybe the universal wants to give me a test. Feel bad for the farmers, it's time for them to harvest the rice, now all rotten in the field because of the rain!

The  flight delay almost 3 hrs because of the weather, stretch my long trip even longer. Yeshey picked me up at Paro airport, since he knew that I wanted to cook for myself, on the way back to Thimphu, we picked up green vegetables, beans, chili pepper, freshly picked up mushroom, baked corn alone side of the road from the farm-stands. People are amazing here, very friendly, I joked with Yeshey that he seems know everyone.

After I settle done at my apartment, we went to the hospital to drop the stuff I brought here also wanted to get familiar with the intake form, at the mean time meet the colleague here.

Ok, I need to mention a little more about the condition here. Through the emails I had with Yeshey before, We got lost in the communication, I thought they didn't have anybody here. The fact is: there are 5-6 people who can do acupuncture but just one of them really treat patients. He was trained in Mongolia, very nice gentleman, humble, try his best to help me.

They have a huge space in the hospital with a lot of potential. If you watched that link I sent to you, I would love to think someday we could do that here.

We got to the hospital and Yeshey called his friend who suffers severe migraine lately and asked her come to see me Monday. When he off the phone, he told me that she was having a bad one that time. Since I was in the hospital and we would spend sometime to talk about Monday's procedure, why not ask her come in and see what I can do.

It's fall here, temperature is in the 60s with rain,  as I mentioned before damp and cold, after a few hours here I noticed most of people are bare foot with sandals, so I told Yeshey to asking his friend come in with shoes and socks, warm cloth.

I am very grateful Yeshey's friend and her husband put her trust in me. I did whatever I felt it's the best at the moment for her, when we took the needles off, her pain was gone. Also thank you guys for helping me to get all the equipments here, they need more, but that was the most I can carry!

Film - 9000 Needles

I just want to share with you this documentary film before my departure to Bhutan.

 I went with Dr Lin to this hospital 2007, he knows Dr Shi who was the chief physician in this film. This hospital specialize for stroke patients also treat other conditions, when I visit there, daily outpatients were around 1200.

This story is talking about Devin Dearth suffered a massive stroke cause by a hemorrhage in his brain, his recovery severely interfered by the insurance company. After the struggling, he and his family decided go to China to get acupuncture at Tianjin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

We don't have that kind of practice environment in the US, but with the trust, determination of our patients, we get the result sometimes beyond our expectations.

Thank you for trust me😊

https://youtube/y9FOH758oW0

Maybe someday we can build up this kind of hospital in Bhutan.

Huang Yu

Almost Ready to Go! September 20, 2016

Dear friends:
I am almost ready to go!!! People ask me if I am excited,
I can say that I am looking forward, but can't say I am relaxed.
There will be a lot of responsibility on my shoulder. Yeshey will be there for me,
he made the trip much easier.

Yeshey wrote to me couple days ago: ".. I hope you are prepared!!!!!
I suspect you will be TOTALLY OVERWHELMED!!
Calls already coming in to me asking about the project ... Hospital already warned us
 not to advertise your arrival ... But hell !!!!
You would want the most benefit to accrue while here!!!"

Thea helped me with the intake form, it will help the whole process a lot.
My helper just need to check the box and I will know mostly what is going
on with the patient. Thank you Thea!

Thank you for all the support😊

All the best

P/s: I will take 2 bags of supplies, another part is in NY, Chen will take it later on.

Huang Yu