bro pang only speaks when necessary.

a friend, an american to be exact, asks hwubby, why this chinese treatment, the doctors are not working? hwubby, as always in his polite and clear mode, says, the doctors do what they do, they say the bones are healing. it takes ten to twelve weeks in my case. they show me the x rays, where the fractures are, or used to be and they point out to me where the healing is happening. can i walk? yes, with help of a cane and occasional walker. but i don't feel anything on the right side. weak and stiff. i sit for a few minutes and i feel very, very uncomfortable. then pain comes in. with bro pang, after the first treatment i can honestly say i can feel i have a right side. there are mornings when i kind of think i don't know how i can get this adhesive off. but i do. because it's so worth it.

speaking of 'so worth it' hwubby corrrects something i posted yesterday. he says, i was in the apple store when i saw these dark brown patties falling out of my pants. hey, that's even more cool than in the bus, right. i mean, i am laughing to the floor. i can only imagine those super cool nerds so focusing on what they are doing that they don't see those poop patties dropping all over around them. by the way, i don't think they look like poop. really. i found some on the bed and floor when i arrived. i remember thinking to myself, why does hwubby eat ginger snaps in the bed and these look like the wheat-free, gluten free ones that i made with molasses.

i digress. so, back to hwubby feeling his right side. this makes total sense. two thousand tons of speeding steel hitting flesh and bone of course creates tsunami waves of destruction in blood and chi flow. it's like the otherwise smooth river is blocked by boulders, pebbles and rocks and mangled piles of branches and leaves. over the course of time, the debris rot, fresh water turn stale and the rest of it. of course the doctors have done a great job. but what bro pang does is restoring blood and chi flow. and what he accomplishes i nothing less than magical. magic that he produces not by waving a wand or casting a spell but solid experiences over forty years founded on his special gifts, a quest for learning, dedication to the art and craft of this ancient discipline. my cousin, who is pang's in-law, says, pang never makes social calls, or just calls to say hello that sort of thing but he calls once his daughter told him that ben was hit by a car. what does he say? all he says is this is serious, ben must come for not just one or two days but longer, and also, is he coughing? at one point, over dim sum i ask pang, why coughing? he says, have to adjust the herbs if he cough. coughing makes pain in broken ribs. indeed, according to the orthopedic surgeon rib pain is the worst because every breath triggers excruciating pain. what's my point here? my point is pang is attentive to details and cares about the patient. he only speaks when it is necessary. what a refreshing difference. what a great teaching for me to keep in mind. what great good fortune we have to be in-lawed to him.

bro pang. sifu ho yer.

to kick it all off, this is a huge shout out to hwubby. he is so courageous and determined. here's a glimpse of what he goes through for chinese bone treatments. every night he sleeps with medicinal pads on certain parts on the right side of his body. the medicine is a custom-made herbal paste of more than thirty ingredients. it takes more than a year to prepare and age. it is spread over a gauze and held in place with adhesives. keep in mind hwubby has abundant body hair. this is how he does it in the morning. he sits up, holds himself steady at the edge of the bed. he takes in a deep, deep breath. as he makes a forceful exhalation, with a loud hooh he tears off the adhesive. part of my heart breaks to see him go through such pain. in the spirit of lightheartedness i say he has brazilian waxing every day. he says, one time i go to this dinner party after a treatment, every adult assures me the smell doesn't bother them. then i play with this five year old and he goes, your stomach smells. yet another time somehow the adhesive loosens and the hardened herbal paste fall through his pants. hwubby says, i am standing on the bus and suddenly i see these poop-like patties coming out of my pants. i know i shouldn't laugh but i just can't help it. you go, hwubby.

why is he willing to go thru this day after day? he has come all the way to seattle and been enduring this for more than two weeks. because he recognizes the benefits. he can feel the difference. he feels looser, less sore. he is so grateful. we both do.

what's the story here? turns out we have this relative, bro pang, who knows a lot about this ancient chinese bone healing practice. pang found this teacher when he was little in china. he talks about his teacher with so much reverence. he says, i have not learned a lot from him. and pang's been at this for forty years. bro pang doesn't speak a word of english. i think he's been in this country for more than two decades. he doesn't small talk. he doesn't butter up anybody. a straight and narrow shooter. not interested in commercializing his gifts. hwubby says, he walks into the room, immediately tells me to stay away from the couch, and starts doing his thing. he runs the back of his hand over my right side. later on in our conversations bro pang says, i can tell the temperature difference. when he identifies a spot he applies over it a herb-infused liquid which he prepares with meticulous care. hwubby says, he really digs in, his daughter, who is our niece-in-law and serves as his translator, keeps asking hwubby, is it too painful. hwubby knows this is all beneficial pain. he reassures them, it's okay. i say, is it like shiatsu massage? he says, this is way beyond shiatsu. where he rubs, and by the way, he rubs with special moves in a targeted manner, blacks and blue and purple quickly surface. pang says these are the bruises lodged deep within ligaments and tendons. they are there as a result of the moving taxi hitting his body. they block blood and chi flow. they have to be broken down, drawn out and redistributed into circulation. otherwise arthritis result down the line. guaranteed.

by the time i arrive seattle, pang says, one rib is not healing properly, not lined up straight. i say, what now? he says bluntly, i lined them up, okay now. seriously. now hwubby sneezes, coughs, and breathes. no pain. pang says, now he can stand up tall. i look at hwubby up and down. pang is right.

after every treatment hwubby gives two thumbs up to bro pang and says, sifu ho yer. teacher rocks. i say pang is a huge boon to humanity. a true miracle worker. we couldn't be more fortunate.

my inner self and self of universe.

hwubby says, listen to this. i say, yeah? he says, i got a nice email. i say, you always get nice emails. he says, no, you are not listening. i say, okay, okay, what is this nice email? he says, remember when i coached the choirs in the universities in seattle? i says, ye-ah? he says, i asked the department chair if i could stay with her, she says, no my house is too messy but i've arranged you to stay in a bigger house. i say, yeah, i remember, so? he says, so i write to them, saying i have to stay in seattle two weeks for chinese bone treatments, and my wife would come for a few days, i ask them if i could stay with them, and i would be happy to contribute to rent and use of kitchen. i say, yeah, so? he says, they write right back, they say, just come and stay, they're happy to have me and don't worry about rent. i say, what about me, can i stay too? hwubby says, oy, it's always about you, isn't it.

kidding aside, it's really my growing experience that if and when i am on the right track, meaning i am listening to the inner self, the self of the universe sings with me in harmony. i know it's the right thing for hwubby to go to seattle for two weeks as brother pang says. so we just go ahead and book the tickets for the earliest time he can go. where is he going to stay? we don't know. well, the self of the universe knows.

chinese bone expert in backyard

hwubby is returning to seattle. not for work. to receive chinese treatments. what's that all about? we are so grateful to all the western medical care that he has been receiving. having said that here's what chinese believe. with severe injuries in the likes of broken bones and fractures there are bruises lodged deep within muscles, ligaments and tissues. they block circulation, blood and chi. down the line these blockages are what cause arthritis and other health problems. imagine plumbings. for instance, hwubby's left pinkie. the taxi hit his right side. he was thrown in the air, fell, dented the hood, cracked windshield, tossed into the icy night air again before falling on the freezing street on his left. his left pinkie is visibly swollen and twisted. yet the orthopedists say, the bones are not broken, this is the way it is, it just takes a long time for the swelling to go down. of course we trust the doctor. but meanwhile hwubby has been experiencing tremendous discomforts in the pinkie. it has become sort of a weather alert. the pain and swelling intensify sharply at the onset of temperature shifts. if it rains it's a double whammy. what does the orthopedist say? take painkillers if it's too much pain. really, with due respect, i feel deep within that painkillers are only dealing with the symptoms, not the root cause. the chinewse way to treat this is to draw out the bruises, break them down so they can be merged into circulation. kind of like kidney stones.

so i have been doing the only thing i know how to do in such a situation where the externals are saying this is the only reality. how do you find such a person in america? i pray. i pray again and again. i hold firm the intention that i would find the right chinese who knows how to take care of this. i look around in chinatown. i see one chinese doc sign after another. not one resonates with me.

then i need help myself. the pains in my shoulders spike. i pick up my bottle of chinese medical oil for alleviating muscle pains and all kinds of pains. indeed, one chinese oil works for all pains. i'm not kidding. ai-ya. it's almost empty. it so happens that my cousins, tommy and daisy, are coming to take us to dinner that evening. i place an emergency call to daisy. i say, daisy, daisy, help, i'm running out of woodlock oil. when they arrive our house, daisy rolls up her sleeves, places me sitting backward in a chair, rubs a couple of oil drops between her palms, and start working on my shoulders. miracle. i can feel the difference after the treatment. all right, why am i talking about me? o, yes, right, because it turns out daisy's older brother is the expert that i have been praying for. his father sent him to school to learn this ancient knowledge when he was little. he loves it. it's his passion but he doesn't want to make money with it. he only does it for family and friends. he makes his living as a construction worker. his colleagues are truly fortunate to have him.

anyway brother pang lives in seattle. so last month while hwubby was in seattle doing some work in seattle he went to brother pang. brother pang doesn't speak english. and he doesn't small talk. very simple and direct. he comes through the door, sees hwubby sitting on the couch, motions him to stand up, places him sitting backward in a hard chair, and starts working on hwubby. he prepares his own medical oils. takes a year to brew it properly. hwubby says, he would touch a certain part, rub oil on the skin, and in a few manuvers dark rainbow colors appear. i say, painful? hwubby says, o yes, o very, but i definitely feel the difference. aaah. beneficial pain.

brother pang works on hwuby's left pinkie. it takes a couple of treatments. hwubby says, it feels better. it looks less swollen and not as twisted as well.

brother pang says hwubby needs more treatments. that's why hwubby is going back. who knew. the right person is in my own backyard. we have so much wonders and marvels within us. and without. we just have to pay attention and be grateful. so much grace.