There's a thread in Medications, Treatment and Procedures about acupuncture that I recently posted to. I remembered that I'd sent an email to a friend who asked about a recent acupuncture session I'd gone to at a free clinic in San Francisco some years ago. I enjoy writing and keep a journal off and on and had written this entry about an experience with an old friend, Dusty, who took me to one of her treatment sessions. This took place about 5 years ago and the letter was part of my journal.

The woman that I wrote this to and I lost Dusty for a decade or two. She returned from somewhere outside of Marbella, a little worse for wear.

I absolutely loved this experience and thought I'd share. Hope you enjoy it too.

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Acupuncture with Dusty

The clinic is in a medium sized building downtown. It is free but requires registration. You have to be indigent to qualify, but no one checks it out (I signed my name and stated that I didn’t have an income and was automatically accepted). The sessions are held once or twice a week and about twenty-five clients are there at a time. Chairs are arranged in a circle.

There were a few certified acupuncturists/teachers and half a dozen students who are qualifying for their certificates or licenses. Three were MDs who wanted to diversify their practices.

The clients are regulars and a few of them bring snacks for the group. It has become a social event and everyone is very friendly. When Dusty and I arrived, there was an elderly black man with one leg, a feisty skinny black woman who was about seventy, a grossly obese woman in a wheelchair and two SF State students. Dusty greeted them all and inquired about their health. The woman in the wheelchair had an arm that had swollen to the size of your torso – it was too heavy for her to move. The black woman was great – kind of a stereotype, the woman who has seen and done it all, looks like an old jazz singer, great humor, kept everyone laughing. Next came a Russian couple, about 50-55 years old. He was wearing checked pants, a plaid shirt, a belt and Tweety-Bird suspenders. She was wearing a floral print housedress and when she smiled showed a full set of metal teeth. She didn’t speak English and beamed at everyone. Because she was facing the window, the sunlight reflected off the metal. A few less interesting people showed up and then my heroes arrived.

They were acquaintances who met up in the elevator. They took the last vacant chairs, across from one another, and continued the conversation they’d already started. They were both probably around forty. The skinny guy asked the guy with no teeth why he was there. No Teeth replied, “I broke my neck about twenty years ago in a motorcycle accident and it was touch-and-go whether I’d live. I healed and haven’t had too many problems until last week. My trick wanted to hog-tie me, so he looped a rope around my feet, then drew it up and looped it around my neck. He got excited and I felt something in my neck pop.” Skinny Guy says, “Dude that sucks.” No Teeth says, “Are you HIV positive?” Skinny Guy shrugs and says, “Isn’t everybody?” The whole room was riveted by the conversation, some pretending not to listen, while the Russian woman smiled larger as if she understood it all and it looked as if sparks were jumping around in her mouth.

The acupuncturists made their way around the room. My particular problem is that I have bone spurs in my neck along my spine and when I carry something heavy (undistributed weight – like carrying a suitcase with one hand or a heavy purse over one shoulder) or type in a sitting position, the bone spurs chafe against nerves. Very painful. They use an ear diagnosis method and one of the women stuck all sorts of needles in both of my ears. After a ‘reading’ on that, she proceeded to insert more needles in various spots on my body. One session doesn’t do much and it did nothing for my neck, but I had instant relaxation and could have taken a nap on the spot.

The one-legged black man has diabetes and had to have his leg amputated. His only relief from pain is acupuncture. The skinny little lady uses it to keep ‘regular.’ The students had carpal tunnel syndrome. I can’t remember what was wrong with the obese woman but she claimed that acupuncture was the only thing that relieved her of some of her pain and symptoms. One guy was using it to stop smoking. God only knows what the Russian couple were there for. I was never able to determine why Dusty was there and she’s difficult to read. She’ll tell you the most private things (one of the reasons why she loves Herbie is because he has long black straight hairs on his balls) but she skirted the issue about why she goes to the clinic. It could be any number of things – depression, alcoholism, boredom, etc., but I can’t second-guess her.

After the session everyone stood around eating snacks and then said goodbye until next time.

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Since I wrote this a few years ago, I’ve come to realize that the woman in the wheelchair with the huge arm had lymphedema, something a lot of my breast cancer message board friends had to deal with.

Lymphedema

The friend that I wrote this to had asked me about the demographics of the group: age, sex, race, etc., which is why I went into detail. There were others there but these people stood out. It never occurred to me to bring a camera along but I wish I had!

My Dad, an Irish-Canadian-American wonderful guy with sparkling eyes and intelligent humor once told me, "You really can divide people into Uppers and Downers. You, sweetheart, are an Upper." I've always felt upbeat, one of nature's Uppers, with a few blips over the years, but nothing lasting.

This week has been hard though - I think it has to do with Brenda's death (I barely knew much about her but I read the reactions from those of you who did) and some bad news from breast cancer friends. I had a manicure on Tuesday and as I had my arms stretched out in front of me, palms up, I could see the vein in the crook of my left arm that the chemo needle was placed in during breast cancer treatment. I had to choke back a sob - something I'd never done even during treatment. Never know when it's going to hit you, I guess.

I'm out of the funk now, thank goodness, and looking up the acupuncture story actually helped. Something about the Russian woman with the flashing teeth gets me giggling.

Mimi

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mimi McC,