Day 6 in Xining

We have now got ourselves into a routine at the hospital. Each morning we arrive at 8:30 to meet our interpretor and esteemed Tibetan doctor, who then takes us to a specific ward or department. Mostly we do 'walk rounds,' which means we walk to the rooms of various patients and learn about their disease, method of diagnosis, treatment...etc. It is fascinating just to get to see the hospital and see how differently, and similarly, certain things are done. We have been focusing a lot on pulse diagnosis this week, which is a way to pinpoint disease to a particular organ/body part just by feeling and characterizing the patient's pulse (weak, strong, rolling, soft...etc.). You feel the pulse along the radial artery (wrist) with three fingers (index, middle, ring) of the opposite hand that you are examining (left examines right, vice versa). On the left wrist, the index finger can palpate the heart and small intestine, the middle finger the spleen and stomach and the ring finger the left kidney and reproductive organs. On the right wrist, you can feel the lungs and large intestine, liver and gallbladder and right kidney and urinary bladder. The doctors are adamant about us examining each patient in this way, and while we are always up to the challenge, we are all usually unable to reproduce their findings (no surprise there). However, the doctor was able to tell I was having indigestion just by feeling my pulse (no hint from me) and claims he can identify what part of her cycle a woman is currently in (menses enhance the spleen's pulse).

We also had a talk yesterday on venesection, or bloodletting! A doctor came in to explain the process and theory behind it. It is a very precise science, and there are about 77 commonly used points for most common ailments. Interestingly, venesection is almost always used for 'hot' diseases, because it is believed that the loss of 'bad blood' gets rid of tripa, or the hot humour. I volunteered to be a guinea pig (don't worry, not for the actual bloodletting part). He placed a very tight band around my forehead so that that vein in the middle of my forehead began to bulge. He then took out the little blade that he would normally use, showing us how he would 'flick' it at just the right distance from my forhead to make a small knick in the vein. Apparently, the amount of blood you remove depends on the ailment, but can exceed 300ml. When I asked the doctor the theory behind this practice (i.e. what are they actually removing? what is 'bad' about the blood?) he told me that some Western doctors had done some sort of study in the past and analyzed the blood that was removed, finding that the cells were 'dead' and 'useless.'

What I am starting to appreciate and respect, the more I am here, is that one cannot approach TM in the context of Western medicine. At first, and even now, we find ourselves trying to find a Western equivalent to the diseases these patients are presenting with. Sometimes the connection is obvious ("patient has pain in stomach, vomits blood, cannot eat without vomiting" we soon realized was a case of stomach ulcers caused by H. pylori. The patient was taking Amoxicillin and Omeprazole, prescribed by the Western docs). But other times we are left perplexed and sometimes even frustrated ("patient has ringing in ears, ear pain, face turned black, kidney problems, nerve pain and muscle pain." This patient has everything!). It is important to remember that this is a science that is 3800 years old, and just because it doesnt make sense to me, doesnt mean it isnt valid in another context. If the body were a PC, western medicine would be like Windows and Tibetan medicine would be Vista. Same computer system, but you are interacting with the machine in a different context. Another way to look at it, is that Western medicine is designed for acute care, whereas TM is better designed for preventative and long-term well-being.

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On a less serious note, I am quickly getting used to the food here. Dont get me wrong, I am not going to miss it by an means, but I am slowly figuring out how to order. "Soo Shuh Juh" is my new favorite sentence. It means: "I am a vegetarian." Still, isnt always foolproof, as my spicy eggplant rice dish arrived today with chicken and beef. My new motto is "tyler, shut up and pick around it." Meal time can be a bit of a hassle, both for us and the servers. I have seen more than one look of disguised despair from a hostess at the sight of all nine of us entering their restaurant ("oh great, yeah, a bunch of...foreigners...uh huh...WELCOME!"). Ordering is a huge hassle, as we pull out our phrase books and hack at the Chinese pronunciations while they laugh at us. The other day we decided to visit our neighborhood joint, called "French Island Jazz Coffee." If that isnt a good example of Chinglish, I dont know what is. The menu was also in English, and was hilarious (an ice cream flavor called "unfortunately" for example. Another place we went to today, which I have dubbed Turtleville because of the tank of alive, and apparently edible, turtles at the entrance. Their word for pork sausage was "pig colorectal slices"!). The restaurant sort of looked like a brothel on the inside, with all these individual rooms with names of French places on the outside. We were brought into the "Louvre" room thank you very much. There were plush couches, a big wooden dining table, and brocade wallpaper with some "paintings" of French aristocracy. Totally trippy and random and sketchy. But the food was good!

People are still staring at us, incredulously. My new thing is to just stare right back, which is especially giggle-inducing to the groups of young Chinese girls. Sometimes they shout out "Hello" and when you say "Hi" back they crack up as if it were the funniest thing you ever said. Some people take pictures, without asking. Yesterday we were sitting on the grass outside the hospital and this Tibetan man, dressed out of another century, just came right up to us and sat right in our circle. He didnt say anything or smile, just stared. He continued to say his prayers while moving his prayer beads, as if this were the most casual of interactions. But to him it was! We are so concerned with personal space, which just isnt really a concern over here. After a while it was kind of nice to have him there, and he eagerly accepted an Oreo cookie from us. Eventually a small group formed around us, and even some Buddhist monks joined us. It was really cool. The Tibetan people are so amazingly beautiful. Their traditional dress is beautiful and they all have very gentle, but worn, faces. The women sometimes adorn their heads with these beautiful scarves, which just sort of sit folded on top of their heads. I have some pictures and I hope to post them soon.

All for now. Hope you found it interesting. Let me know whats going on in your lives!

Tyler