By Cyndi Sweeney 译/Christine Yang
十三岁那年,李彤医师患上了慢性疼痛症,从此开始了她对中医学的求学和践行生涯。少年的李彤被诊断患有类风湿性关节炎,关节疼痛不断困扰着她。在尝试药物治疗无果后,李妈妈决定带小李彤去看中医。李彤回忆道: “在接受针灸治疗后,我的膝盖、手、手腕、手肘的疼痛竟明显地缓解了。”
针灸不仅缓解了李彤的病痛,更改变了她的人生轨迹。如今,她是位于加拿大新斯科舍省哈利法克斯市李陈济针灸中医诊所(Life-Care Acupuncture and Natural Medicine)的共同所有人。
李医师生于北京,在深圳医院工作研习针灸,在广州获取硕士学位。她与丈夫陈实成医师分别在黑龙江中医药大学获取博士学位,共同创办了后来的李陈济针灸中医诊所。
2013年11月,在积极实践、研究中医学并取得显著成就后,李医师获取世界针灸学会联合会(World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies, 即WFAS)的资格认证。世界针灸学会联合会是经世界卫生组织认证的唯一此领域的国际联合组织。此次认证肯定了李医师在替代医学领域所作出的贡献,对她作为一名出色的学者、从业者和践行者给予肯定。
“对我而言,这是莫大的荣耀。在你倾尽心血投入一件事的以后,能在国际领域受到肯定,是非常鼓舞人心的。”与此同时,来自新省小城哈法的呼声能被国际舞台所聆听,使她感到无比欣慰和振奋。
李陈夫妇移居加拿大已有24年,他们现在拥有两间诊所。三年前,他们在哈法成立了加拿大中医针灸学院,以培训更多专业的针灸医师。“当初我们来到加拿大正是因为看见了加国医疗市场对针灸以及替代医学的广阔需求。” 李医师说:“我们拥有30余年的临床实践经验。”
李陈医师一直专注于疼痛防治、对抗压力和生育治疗。李医师自豪地说:“我们在对抗压力和生育治疗方面已有显著的成效。单就新省来说,我们的治疗目前已为病人们带来了多例三胞胎、四对双胞胎以及268名婴儿。”
六年前,37岁的麦凯因受精神压力困扰,前往李医师的诊所就诊。麦凯的压力来源于不孕,李医师决定让她每周接受两次针灸治疗。麦凯说:“我和丈夫曾尝试怀孕一年一直无效,所以我们开始寻求帮助。现在我有个九个月大的宝宝。” 她还表示,她所接受的针灸治疗很大程度上帮助了她的受孕。“针灸帮助我睡眠,放松了我的身心,让我不再因为不孕而被困扰。” 她谈到,相较于西方常见的试管婴儿,针灸是更为经济的医疗选择,并且,治疗费用也被包含在医保项目中,使她不必有经济上的负担。她说:“我个人而言更愿意接受一套自然的整体治疗方案。”
李医师介绍,人身体自带相当大的治愈能力。当你的身体系统在健康的状态下,它能够完成自我治愈。接着,她描述了自己是怎样治疗一个八岁男孩的注意力缺陷障碍,帮助他学会专注,并使他的家庭恢复平静的生活。李医师回忆说这个孩子总是坐立不安,学校要求孩子接受药物治疗,教堂也把一家人拒之门外。在接受李医师的几个疗程后,小男孩上课能够集中注意力学习,现在成绩优异,一家人也能够重返教堂。
李陈夫妇治疗过许多疾病,这其中包括运动伤害、结肠炎、克隆氏症(炎症性肠胃病)和颈椎病等。李医师曾遭遇过三次车祸,对痛症感同身受,因此在临床研究上倾注了大量的时间,为解决患者病痛寻求最快速、有效的治疗方法。
梅赛是一名心脏科护士和两个孩子的母亲,一场车祸使她不得不停止工作接受治疗。“我想要继续工作,但连我的理疗师都承认理疗并不能治愈我的疼痛。” 于是,理疗师为梅塞推荐李彤医师。梅塞回忆道:“一开始我非常迟疑和害怕,不敢直视那些针头。” 梅塞遭受的是三等伤害,因为神经系统受损,致使她的右手以及两根手指失去了知觉。第一次看诊后,梅塞回到家中告诉丈夫:“你肯定觉得不可思议,但我已经感觉好多了!”
吉尔达博士在罗马尼亚受过医学方面的训练,28年前她移居加拿大并居住在戴尔豪西大学校园宿舍。这位家庭医生对东方医学本着开明的态度,向梅塞和其他病人推荐中医针灸。“我向病人们推荐李、陈医师,因为他们曾帮我治疗,且疗效显著。” 习舞的经历曾使吉尔达博士疼痛缠身,她在李陈济接受三周的治疗后,感到一些奇特的变化。“他们只在身体的一个区域进行针灸,但你的全身都会感受到治疗后的效果。脾、肝、肺的状况都有所改善,甚至面部也更加红润了。” 吉尔达说道。
“我们治疗的不仅仅是患者疼痛的部位,我们也依照人体的经脉线络治疗患者的全身。” 李彤医师从未想要停止或放慢自己对中医针灸学追逐的脚步。她说:“我热爱我的事业,它给我带来了莫大的快乐。” (完)
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Debilitating pain at the age of thirteen inspired Dr. Diana Tong Li along a life changing path of Chinese traditional medicine, healing and a thirst for education.
Li was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at a young age, experiencing pain in her small joints. After reacting poorly to medicine, her mother took her to an acupuncturist. “I had pain in my knees, hands, wrists and elbows so my mom took me to have acupuncture and it really helped me,” says Li.
Not only did it help manage the pain, but Li says it healed her and inspired her future. “In China, it’s a very popular form of medicine,” explains Li, co-owner of Life-Care Acupuncture and Natural Medicine Clinics. She grew up in Guangdong province, where she studied to become a doctor, specializing in acupuncture. Along with her Bachelor and Master’s degree, Li and her husband and partner, Dr. Franklyn Chen are two highly specialized Canadian doctors holding PhD degrees from China in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Li’s tremendous work and research earned her international status in November 2013 when she was recognized by the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies (WFAS). WFAS is the only federation of its kind recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). They honoured Li for her ongoing contribution as a leading educator, practitioner and lobbyist for access to alternative medicine.
“It’s quite a big honour…when you’re working hard, it makes you feel so good to be recognized internationally,” and most importantly she says it gives “a small town doctor an international voice; for myself, for Nova Scotia and for Canada.”
Li and Chen moved to Canada 24 years ago and operate clinics in Halifax and Bedford, Nova Scotia. Together they opened Canadian College of Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine three years ago to help regulate and train more acupuncturists. “We left China and came to Canada because we saw a lot of need for acupuncture and alternative medicine in Canada,” says Li. “We have 30 years of clinical practice experience.”
Their practice specializes in pain treatment, prevention and management along with fertility. “We’ve had excellent results…in Nova Scotia alone, we have triplets, four sets of twins and a total of 268 babies as a result of the treatment,” she says with pride.
Angela Mackay (37) began attending the clinic six years ago to help her with stress management. After having difficulty conceiving, Li put her on a program to receive acupuncture twice a week. “We tried to conceive for a year and realized we were having trouble and needed some help…I have a nine month old now,” says the mom of Kieran Finn. She credits her treatment to the pregnancy. “It helped me to sleep, to calm down and not be so attached to having to get pregnant,” says MacKay.
She says it was less expensive than going the Western route of IVF and it helped financially that her insurance provided partial coverage. “For me, it made more sense to invest my money in a natural holistic treatment, in line with my body,” says MacKay.
“The human body has a lot of healing power. On the right program, the body can heal itself,” says Li. She describes how treating an eight-year-boy with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) not only helped the child focus and concentrate, but also brought peace to his family. “The family’s church found him so disruptive they were asked not to attend,” says Li. She says the boy’s school wanted him to take medication. Li says within a few treatments the boy was able to concentrate and focus, he was able to sit still in school and church. “He’s now a top student.”
Li and Chen treat many disorders including sports injuries, colitis, Crohn’s disease and whiplash. Having been in three car accidents herself, she’s devoted years to clinically researching how best to reduce patient recovery time and promote thorough healing.
Beverly Mercer is a cardiac nurse and busy mother of two. A car accident resulted in her being off work for five months. “I wanted to get back to work and my physiotherapist even admitted we weren’t getting anywhere with physio,” recalls Mercer. Her doctor referred her to Dr. Li. “I was very skeptical and scared. I couldn’t even bare to look at the needles,” says Mercer.
Mercer’s car accident resulted in grade three whiplash, which has neurological involvement where she lost feeling in her right hand and two fingers. Mercer says she noticed a difference after one visit. “I said to my husband I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I’m feeling better.”
Dr. Gilda Bowdridge trained in medicine in Romania and moved to Canada 28 years ago and repeated her residency at Dalhousie University. The family doctor is open to Eastern medicine and referred Mercer, along with other patients for acupuncture. “I refer patients to Dr. Li and Dr. Chen because I have had excellent results from them myself,” says the competitive dancer.
Pain she experienced from dancing, she says was gone after three weeks of treatment. “What I like is, when they treat one area, in the same treatment they can treat the whole body,” like the spleen, liver and even facial lines by increasing vascular flow to the facial tissue, says Bowdridge.
“We’re not just working on the pain area, we’re following the meridian line in the body and treating the whole body,” smiles Li. She doesn’t intend to slow down anytime soon. “I love my job. It makes me so happy.” (End)