Since I became aware of Chinese Medicine in 1986, I have been in love with it. My first experience with it was at a Chinese run hospital in Northern Benin, Africa. I was a Peace Corps volunteer working on a few community-service projects. I met the hospital interpreter at a local table tennis match between the Chinese hospital workers and the staff at the German version of USAID. They were all really good players. Meeting them encouraged me to see what they were up to at the Chinese hospital. I was having some intestinal trouble and so I stopped into the hospital to see what they could do. The pharmacist gave me some herbal pills to take and to my delight they really helped. That day changed my life forever.
Years later I finally took the plunge and enrolled in acupuncture school in the San Francisco Bay Area. Luckily, to help pay for my school, I worked full-time at a consortium of hospitals in the bay area enrolling patients into clinical trials, primarily oncology trials. I learned so much about the treatment process and new treatment strategies. I was lucky enough to enroll patients in 3 different trials for the alleviation of breast cancer symptoms using herbal medicine, diet, and energy medicine. It was a wonderful time to be a small part of a process in which complementary treatment modalities were being integrated into Western medical paradigms.
Fast forward to today. I have been a licensed acupuncturist for over 20 years. I am also an herbalist. In many parts of the world, including the United States, the integration of acupuncture, herbal medicine and a warming/healing technique called moxibustion are all common practices. I have been able to help many of my patients with this integrated approach to treatment.
It will be my distinct pleasure to help guide you through the process of healing we call traditional Asian medicine. I first called it Chinese medicine but, many Asian countries have adapted the use of this medicine and made it uniquely their own, so I think the term “Asian” is more apt.
I welcome the opportunity to work with you to develop a treatment plan based on your individual needs and informed by my years of experience.