my best doctor

No sugar, no cheese, no dairy, no wheat, no drinking, no fizzy drinks, no more than two ear piercings, no going to bed after eleven and take my funny concoction twice a day.

I do not listen to men. I don’t know why but when men try to enforce some form of discipline on me I do not respond so it is a hard pill to swallow when I realize that I am drinking in every word that this Chinese doctor is telling me. He could tell me to cut my toe off and I would obey – after all this is the man I let jab twelve needles into me without question or protest. I just lay on his bed with his meditation music playing in the background while he flicked two needles into my stomach and three into the front of each knee and after about half an hour I let him flick two more into the back to my knees.

It didn’t hurt at all except for one of the back-of-the-knee ones that stung quite a bit. I’m no wimp when it comes to pain. I mean, after all, I walk around on my knees daily and I don’t break down every time they are sore. How would that help me get on with my life?

Now, an hour later I am feeling great – my knees are a bit stiff but the pain is mostly gone. Results: these are things I’ve never really had before and it feels good to know the pain isn’t gone because I took two mypaids and called you in the morning. What I am worried about is sticking to the new diet he has given me – no sugar, no wheat, no dairy. As a rule I don’t normally eat dairy or wheat as much as some people do but the whole “NO” is quite scary. In one foul swoop my Saturday Tribeca breakfast and tall cappuccino has been blasted away. I’ll have to find another treat that isn’t a bagel with cream cheese. In my mind the challenge feels impossible but I know I can do it.

I can walk the walk and talk the talk but can I do the do? I suspect this weekend might be quite hard to get through. Also, what will I have for supper tonight? A sandwich on rye bread? That’s what I had for lunch. I better rip out the Healthy Living Recipe Book and find something.

Oh, and I have slow, deep pulse? What does that mean? Dr Chiu doesn’t really make anything sound like it is a problem. After all, he did say “blood tests” and “autoimmune disease” as if he were offering me a juice box. Curses. But he is amazingly awesome and my best doctor. Thanks, Dr Chiu!

you can't see the writing but it says "my best doctor"