During the last few years, my body would go into crisis mode every few months.
Out of the blue I would get excruciatingly tired, at times I was unable to get out of bed in the morning.
After a few days the symptoms usually subsided and with the help of considerable amounts of willpower I would get on with my busy life.
My usual herbal and homeopathic remedies did not seem to have much effect and doctors couldn't find a cause.
I was suspecting that the onset of Peri-Menopause was in part to blame, since I am approaching that ominous age category...
Last November, my husband and I traveled to India to spend a few weeks of study and contemplate with our teacher.
When we go to India, we live in the foothills of the Himalayas with a community of about a hundred friends who have dedicated their lives to Meditation.
This year, a nasty cold/flu was working its way through the village.
By the middle of our stay it caught up with us too.
I got quite sick and was not able to recover during and even for weeks after the trip.
I finally gave in and went to see y doctor who prescribed antibiotics.
A this point I had been sick for more than 6 weeks, so I decided to take the antibiotics which I usually avoid at all cost.
Another two weeks later I was as sick as before - if not worse.
The doctor decided to perform more extensive tests, which resulted in the diagnosis of Hashimoto's disease.
Western medicine defines Hashimoto's as an incurable auto-immune disease.
Anti-bodies attack the Thyroid, which then starts to under-function and create all the symptoms of Hypothyroidism.
I had pretty much all of the symptoms, including extreme fatigue, dry skin, depression and hair loss.
The medical community's answer to this is to prescribe a synthetic hormone for life.
This synthetic hormone is supposed to take over the function of the Thyroid (which will eventually cease to produce hormones).
I was in no way ready for a treatment of drugs for life, and decided to see an Endocrinologist, an MD specializing in the Endocrine System, Glands and Hormones.
It did not make much sense to me to try and replace the delicate balance of at least a half dozen hormones (which is what a healthy Thyroid does) with a single synthetic hormone in an arbitrary dose - for the rest of my life..
..
It seemed to me that the Immune System - the origin of the problem - might need some attention.
The doctor's opinion was that nothing could or needed to be done for the Immune System.
I pointed out that I had already two auto-immune issues going on in my body: eczema and allergies, and that I wanted to avoid having to deal with ever more dangerous aspects of a sick immune system, like cancer or rheumatoid arthritis for example.
The doctor's comment to this was: "usually the Immune System does not work like that".
When pressed, that was the only "scientific" answer she could give me.
So here I was, with an "incurable" auto-immune disease, nasty symptoms and a prescription for a synthetic hormone for the rest of my life - not my idea of health and healing! It was clear that I would look for alternative ways to deal with this condition.
A few months earlier I had heard of Tong Ren and Tom Tam from a friend who had started to study with Tom.
As soon as she told me about the philosophy, the method and its astonishing results I had a sense of being in the presence of something exceptional.
It was an easy decision to contact Tom and see what he had to say about Hashimoto's.
When I told him my diagnosis, he smiled and said: "oh Hashimoto's is easy, we can heal, no problem".
Surprised by his absolute conviction and doubtlessness, I asked if he really thought this treatment could improve the symptoms.
He answered in his characteristic mix of English and Chinese: "no improve symptoms, heal immune system, go back to normal".
And that's just what he proceeded to do.
For the following months I saw Tom once a week.
My friend, a student of Tom's, gave me a treatment of Tong Ren and TuiNa (Chinese deep tissue massage) every week and I proceeded to do Tong Ren self-treatment religiously every day.
Within the first week I started to feel better.
Every day I had several hours where my body was functioning normally - I could actually work again.
The next week it shifted to the opposite: I was doing well, aside from a few hours here and there when I needed to rest.
By the third week I was functioning 70% of what I considered normal and it kept improving every week.
By the fourth week I started to take training from Tom, for I knew that I wanted to learn as much as I could about Tong Ren.
Before I knew it, friends and clients wanted to get treatments from me, and within a few short months, Tong Ren has become an integral part to the work I do with my clients.
The results speak for themselves, they are as spectacular as what I have experienced for myself.
After 2.
5 months I had blood-work done again.
Can you guess what the results were? The "incurable disease" had disappeared, my blood levels had gone from "off the chart" back to normal in less than 3 months!!!! I call it a miracle, but the doctor thought I was probably misdiagnosed in the first place.
She had obviously forgotten that the first time she looked at my initial blood-work she thought it could hardly get much worse...
I continue to take training with Tom and his students/teachers, I also attend his Guinea Pig classes as often as I can to learn as much as I can while devouring his books and improving my skills.
In the guise of an "incurable disease", Life has offered me an immense gift: the ability to learn and offer to myself and others a revolutionary healing method.