Road to Recovery

About two years ago during summer, Scarlett started having ONE rash on her skin. After seeing a few pediatricians and skin specialist, the rashes got worse. I said rashes because it increased from one small rash to close to twenty on her arms and legs. The skin specialist said she had eczema. She went on antibiotics and steroids for months, which we didn't like, but was helpless, listening to the skin specialist. She lost weight and her teeth started getting awful brown stains. I even scolded her for not brushing her teeth properly at first. Thankfully, I started recalling my girlfriend, Mei, once told me she had some permanent stain on her teeth caused by antibiotics she took when she was a kid. I took Scarlett to the dentist and had those stains removed. We stopped bringing her to the skin specialist after he told us he had to perform a small surgery, to cut a small piece of flesh from one of the rashes to do a lab test to see if it was psoriasis. He said normal eczema under his treatment, should be able to recover and Scarlett wasn't getting any better but worse.

The photo on the left was taken when she was primary four (before the rash problem got out of hand) and on the right primary five (after all those antibiotics, steroids and lack of appetite). You can see she looked more haggard and her cheeks are not as plump as before. 

Allan and I decided to look for other alternatives. We brought Scarlett to my Chinese doctor instead.

When I asked my Chinese doctor if Scarlett was having psoriasis the first thing we saw him, he laughed. Long story short, he cured Scarlett. Her rashes are almost gone now, leaving only two small ones on her legs and the rest never came back after a year. Her health problem isn't just eczema but it sure did cause it. Every time when we see the Chinese doctor, he didn't even bother to look at Scarlett's rashes at all. He listened to her pulse, read her eyes, tongue and lips. Seems so simple but so much he can tell. I am pretty sure apart from Sir David Attenborough, our Chinese doctor is Scarlett's second hero. She listens to what he says all the time and remembers everything he said. She loves seeing him because he teaches her so much about our bodies and how we contract illness and how to find remedies. She even wanted to spend a day just sitting there listening to him consulting patients. Today, our Chinese doctor taught Scarlett how to read tongues using my tongue. It sure was embarrassing for me but as long as the little one is having a good time, why not. 

Have I ever told you that I believe sometimes bad things happen for a good reason? This is probably another example. If Scarlett didn't have her bad rashes that set Allan and I on panic mode for months, we wouldn't have brought her to my Chinese doctor, then Scarlett wouldn't have developed so much interest in Chinese medicine and get so convinced by it. She experienced it first hand and that speaks a lot to her. It even inspired her to study Chinese medicine saying she will be able to "take good care" of us when she becomes one, which indirectly means she wants to be the one to finally tell us how we should eat and live our lives for a change, thinking of trying to run our lives at such a young age. Lawyer, Chinese doctor, teacher or biologist? I am not sure what she will end up becoming.

I may have been blogging a lot more about Chester than Scarlett, but trust me, both are just as precious to me. I am struggling to divide my time for both by having less me time. Every month, I will bring Scarlett to see the Chinese doctor, bring home bottles of Chinese meds to heat up by steaming and make Scarlett drink it even if it made her cry occasionally. I make her ginger red date drink almost every night for her in the morning to help her with her running nose. This drink can stop her from having running nose and works like a miracle. We always thought it was Scarlett's sinus that causes it but there is no such thing as sinus in Chinese medicine world. Scarlett has a "cool" body and if she takes that red date drink every morning, it will heat up her body and she won't get running nose. I can go on about what more the Chinese doctor did but I think I will stop here.

Today, I am glad she is looking better and eating better. After lunch at Agnes. b cafe, we walked to PMQ as usual to kill time. The wait for Chinese medicine is about 2 to 2 half hours. I enjoyed our time at PMQ, looking at art and nice pieces of work done by artists and chatted about them. I think appreciating art doesn't necessary have to be done by someone who really knows a lot about art. It's looking at beautiful works, admiring the forms and functions of it and then talk about it. That was what we did. This girl sure knows how to appreciate things being made.

When we went to pick up our medicine from the medicine place, she got really excited and always wanted to look at all the herbs and asked about them. She also likes to watch how they pack the medicine. All in all, I think she had a great morning to afternoon hanging out with me.

Until she has to come home and drink this bottle of awful goodness. Mind you, I have two bottles of this awful goodness myself to finish up too. She once told me she'd rather drink Grey Goose than her Chinese medicine. 

Come on sweetheart, who wouldn't?

I love Chinese medicine. I believe in it. BUT, I am also forever thankful for epidural and my amazing gynae who delivered Chester. I am grateful that both Chinese and Western medicine are available for us for different reasons. 

Speaking of which, I have been dreading to visit my gynae for my annual pap smear (cry).

Can I not go?