Amanda is a well-educated, high school principal, church going women, who has come into the office on the recommendation of her sister and her brother-in-law. She is riddled with severe inflammation in both of her feet. She is a full figured woman, big boned but not over weight, professional; her genetics gave her this posture. Amanda has been trying to get to the cause of her inflammation. She has tried many traditional doctors and now she is reaching out to alternative doctors, spending thousands of dollars on this search. Amanda is disillusioned and now she is trying NAET, a modern fusion approach of Acupuncture/Acupressure, Chiropractic, Chemistry and Kinesiology medical technique. This mixed medical approach concept is very difficult to explain even to someone as well educated as Amanda. Acupuncture is energy work, it cannot be seen with the eye. There is no physical pill to take. One almost has to blindly trust that this form of medicine will work. I think I am now prompted to write an “Easy to Understand Approach of Acupuncture to the Patient” book. Yes, there is a tremendous amount of theoretical, clinical and blind study evidence to support the efficiency of Acupuncture. Many lengthy volumes of books have been written over the past 50 years to support this now highly regarded alternative medicine. In China, Acupuncture has been the primary medicine for the past 2500 years.
Amanda is almost hopeless with my explanation of the NAET approach to Acupuncture. In a moment of inspiration, I told Amanda that I was going to bring in Mary from the other room to give her testimony about how well NAET works. I started to tell Amanda about Mary’s story. I quickly stopped because I wanted Leslie hear it directly from Mary. Both Mary and her husband Bob, came into the room and embraced Amanda, with Loving presence, who was laying on the table with Acupuncture needle in her. One of the primary reasons I practice medicine is to encourage people that there is another way and that there is proper support of other people who have has a similar plight. The Browns were extremely supportive of Amanda’s position and only gave her words of encouragement and praise. All three of them are devout Christians. I knew this (Christian bond) would create instant trust in their relationship. Whatever it takes for people to join and help one another is what life is all about. This is one of my personal missions in life. Perseverance, Endurance, Fortitude, Stick- Tuitiveness, Faith, Never-Give –Upness. I quickly left the room so they could join. The Browns were in the room for a good 10 minutes. They were praying together and Mary was sharing her tremendous success with NAET in just three weeks. She overcame a similar swelling pathological presentation. I know it is going to take much more effort to educate Amanda about the efficacy of NAET. We will have to build a solid foundation of trust with small steps of her healing process.