Monday, April 29, 2013

New Treatments

Maya's itchiness has been getting worse over the past month as the weather got warmer. We've decided to stop going to the previous doctor, because 1) he kept trying to sell us stuff, 2) he's been asking us to go through Maya's history every time we visit, which doesn't feel good when being charged by the time spent, and 3) he turns my ideas into his suggestions. I just felt like not trusting him and there isn't much he can offer anymore.

Black eye and hot spots showing up again

Over the winter, I was looking into a new treatment call NAET and found a local vet, Dr. M who provides this treatment. Unfortunately, she only does house visits and we are out of her service zone. We exchanged a few emails and she kindly gave me suggestions even without seeing us our charging us. A few weeks ago, just when the itchiness got worse, a friend moved out of his apartment and agreed to let us use his empty house for an appointment. To my surprise, Dr. M spent a good amount of time reading through my blog before her first visit. This not only saved me a lot time going though Maya's history, it also gave me a good first impression. No matter the treatments work or not, at least she shows that she cares and not just in for the money.

Waiting in an empty apartment

During the first appointment, we spent some time talking about Maya's conditions and the treatments we've tried. Like the previous doctor, Dr. M also thinks that Maya has blood deficiency and some inner wind imbalance. She agrees that the Dang Gui Yin Zi (當歸飲子) we are currently giving Maya is good, but we should also add in more Si Wu Tang (四物湯). She also suggested to get Maya's thyroid checked, just to rule out the possibilities of hypothyroidism, since some of the symptoms are similar. (More on this topic later in a different post.)

After all the talking, we got started with the NAET treatment. NAET (for humans) in short, is to put little bottles of allergen against the body and check if the body gets weak, which means the body thinks the allergen is something hostile. Then the doctor will do some massage while the patient holds the bottles to let the body accept the allergens. Well, up to this point, it's weird but kind of makes sense. However, when it's applied to a dog, it feels even more like voodoo...

To test whether the allergens weaken Maya, I would put one hand on Maya and another on the doctor while she touches the bottles and pushes her own fingers backwards to test the strength. Once she found the ones that may be problematic, she would put the bottles against Maya's body and massage me while I touch Maya. It would have made a lot more sense if the massage was done on Maya instead of me, right? Anyways, the allergens found are Parasitic Worms, Gallbladder, Program, and Mammary. The doctor said it's not important what they are, since they were all "cleared". None of the food, pollen, grass, or dust related allergens showed up.

Allergens that "weaken" Maya

Another treatment we tried is acupuncture for balancing Maya's "Qi". Maya was a chap and didn't even wink when she got poked by 7 needles. She also stood still for a good 10 minutes while we waited. After the treatment, she was really sleepy and dozed off right by the doctor's feet. She spent rest of the day sleeping as well.

Acupuncture

A week after the first appointment, we met the doctor for the second time. Since my friend's apartment is no longer available, we met in a parking lot and had the treatments done in the trunk of my hatchback. So far it's been a week after the second visit, and we haven't seen much improvements yet. As for the cost, the first visit was $175 for 1.5 hours and the follow-up was $85 for half an hour. No, it's not cheap. Though I do have some doubts, I'm willing to have a few more visits. I really wish we can see some results or find some answers with her up-coming blood tests.

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