Integrated Medicine

Last Friday, I got a good surprise from being a couch potato. On the popular Dr. Oz’s television show, I was hearing the good doctor telling his many enthusiastic audiences benefits of three herbal teas. I remember not long ago doctors practicing western medicine would have nothing to do with the alternative medical treatments. Therefore, I was so taken aback when hearing an allopathic practitioner goes public on what sage, nettle and one African tea can do for us. What I saw on Dr.Oz's show suggests to me that the less invasive alternative medicine is no longer a taboo to allopathic doctors.

We all know the science-based allopathic medicine is indispensable in health cares. Penicillin has saved many patients from infection. Cardiac surgery has mended millions of broken hearts. Organ transplants are now common practices.

And we have also learned there are other ways to cure diseases. Some doctors prescribed high dosages of vitamins to cure mental illness. Others used acupuncture needles to manage their patient’s physical pain. It is no wonder that a new industry, nutraceutical, has emerged in the alternative health care regime. The manufacturers of nutraceuticals add healing foods into their products. Even in veterinarian cares, we can now obtain naturopathic therapies for our four-leg friends.

And I think it is a good thing that more alternative health treatments are becoming accetable therapies to the allopathic practitioners. Although the alternative ones are based on anecdotes, many of its regimes were put in use for years before the western medicine did. - Ayee

Be Humble and Respectful

Last Friday’s earthquake in Japan was another wake-up call. It showed us how powerful and ruinous Mother Nature can be. Historically, the "big ones" occurred many hundred years apart. But at present it seems earthquakes have become norms in our everyday lives. These days, they came and went too often. The tremors and the unstoppable Tsunami in Japan came soon after the earthquake and flood that devastated New Zealand a month ago. And remember the big one in Haiti only a couple years ago?

According to Encarta Encyclopedia, what we do to the earth, like filling up a reservoir, injecting liquid into the earth or conducting underground nuclear test, can all cause earthquakes. Therefore what we do to our good earth now may bring us deadly side effects later. What goes around does come around!

Every time I walked by a deep hole dug for a new high-rise apartment building, I often wondered how many tons of pressure the digging of this gigantic cavity had thrust upon the earth below. Whenever I saw a picture of a humongous tractor that dwarfed the people standing by it, I thought of what this powerful equipment does for us may also harm us.

Over the years, many smart people had made leaps and bounds in the science of detecting earthquake and forecasting inclement weather. But so far no one can yet predict precisely when or where the gusting wind or destructive tremor will strike. Even a well-prepared country like Japan, her advance warning of the incoming tidal waves had failed to save all her citizens. To ensure there are still livable spaces available for the next generations, we shall learn from these devastating natural disasters and be gentle and respectful to Mother Nature. We shall also be humble and think small. Last but not lest, we shall not attempt to conquer a world that is beyond our own frailty and limitation. - Ayee

Spooky's Last Will and Testament*

"I, Spooky Bezanson, being of poor health, do hereby bequeath to my friend and master, last will and testament, to be recalled fondly whenever he may think of me.

My time on earth has been a happy time, full of joyful memories and carefree hours. I take with me no worldly possessions, because possession and property have never been my primary concerns. What was important to me was earning your trust and praise, being obedient, and always faithful. But the one thing I possessed and will cherish above all else was my master’s love, for no one could have loved me more.

When I was gone and you have occasion to think of me, do not feel sad, for I am at peace and no longer feel any discomfort or pain. All the maladies that age and circumstance had thrust upon my physical being are no longer a concern to me. I am free to romp with the wind at my face and the grass tickling my feet. I nap in the warmth of the sun and sleep under a blanket of stars. In this joy I wait for you.

Because we shared so many happy times together, I know you feel like I cannot ever be replaced and that perhaps you should live the remainder of your life without another pet as a faithful companion. My friend, don’t try to replace me, for what we shared is irreplaceable. We grew together, through some pretty hairy (and cold) times. But don’t deprive yourself of the warmth and love another companion can bring to you. I would not want you to be alone.

Most of all, remember, dear master, I will always be with you, in your heart, in your mind, and in your memories. For what we shared was special, today, tomorrow, and always. And if you should ever feel a cold nose on your skin, and there‘s no animal around, just know, in your heart of hearts, it’s me, saying hello."

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*"Spooky" is one of the nine stories in Vicki Myron’s new book Dewey’s Nine Lives. It is a poignant account of unconditional love and devotion a disturbed Vietnam war veteran and a little innocent black cat had bestowed onto each other.

Bill, the former soldier, saved a badly maimed kitten he found on the roof of his car. Two of them had certainly met each other under the most bizarre and spooky circumstance. But this inexplicable gathering under the unfriendly sky of the City of Angels had forged a strong friendship between two fragile beings. During the turbulent 21 years they were mates, Spooky was always there for his best friend in both good and bad times. So was Bill. To illustrate their unwavering faith in each other, once a vindictive landlady dumped Spooky to a far away landfill. Against all odds, three weeks later, a thinner black cat appeared at the door of that mean woman’s house where Bill was. Both of them knew neither of them would leave that house without the other.

I think it was by a divine design that Spooky literally flew into Bill’s troubled life. Like his keeper, this venturesome pussy had also cheated the death in umpteen times. Spooky’s staunch will to live his nine precious lives had inspired Bill to facing the terms of his own survival from a miserable war in Vietnam.

Spooky suffered feline leukemia in the later part of his long life. He was 21 years old when he died in the arms of his best friend.

It was not known who had helped Spooky drawing up his Last Will and Testament. But it was learned later that it was from the animal clinic where a compassionate veterinarian, Dr. Call, practiced.

This touchy story also sheds a light on the plight of returned war veterans. They have become part of a growing homeless population in many places. - Ayee