Monday, January 9, 2012

Carving an elephant

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a famous artist who would carve elephants out of boulders. He would take his helpers down to the river, and walk along the shore, looking for boulders that would have elephants contained in them. He would then have his helpers drag them back to his studio, where he would work with his hammer and chisel. He explain that he was knocking "not elephant" off the boulder, to reveal the elephant. We do the same with the art of acupuncture.

Last Thursday a patient presented in acute pain. She was hyperventilating and screaming my name. She was having difficulty breathing, and near passing out. I attempted Lu 7, CV 22, and several ear points. She got worse. We got a wheel chair and transported her to ER. The first of the several hundred patients treated in the last several weeks with varying degrees of success, some extraordinary. It is good for our humility. We are facilitators. No more. And we are defined as much by our failures as our successes.

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