The following narrative is about one family’s experience with stroke and its treatment with acupuncture by Professor Wan Cheng Liu. The narrative is a segment translated from the article “Amur Acupuncture” that appeared in the March 2003 issue of Immigrant World (Canada Poseidon Publishing House).
While we were in conversation with Professor Liu, a man arrived accompanying his young wife. The young woman walking with a cane entered the treatment room as the husband stayed behind in the waiting area. We learned from the man that his wife is just 35 years of age. The couple came to Canada from Hong Kong in 87 and 88 as computer
engineering consultant and software engineer, with two beautiful daughters age four and two and a half. Six months ago this loving family experienced the test of life and death. Mrs. Wen, the software engineer, normally brings work home from the office at the end of the day. Mr. Wen recalls with unease that that evening started out like another
other evening. After putting the two little girls to bed, Mrs. Wen started to work on the computer. A crashing sound was heard in the den. Mr. Wen rushed into the den and saw Mrs. Wen unconscious on the floor, her face uncharacteristically different. She was rushed to emergency and there she was diagnosed as having had a severe stroke. Half her body was paralyzed. She was unable to speak and was without memory. The hospital declared her critically ill, concluding that there was a large probability of a fatal burst of a blood vessel in her brain within 10 days. Facing this sudden crisis, Mr. Wen, a one-time athlete on a Hong Kong Judo team who was familiar with the concept of Chinese acupuncture, took the attitude “we will try our best and see where it leads us”. Mr. Wen found Professor Liu through a friend. After the negotiations and the legal formalities with the hospital (the patient’s family and Professor Liu each signed legal documents to assume a greater degree of responsibility for the patient, and limiting the hospital’s liability, should they perform acupuncture), Professor Liu was finally allowed to diagnose Mrs. Wen in the hospital. Professor Liu felt that in this case, the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain was totally avoidable, and was confident that after treatment, the patient would not only come out of critical condition, but prognosis for recovery was quite good. Mr. Wen told Professor Liu that money was not an issue and that if he had to, he would sell the house to save his wife! Professor Liu told him that selling the house was not necessary, but what was necessary was to maintain confidence and persist with the treatment. Mr. Wen’s recollect is still fresh; during the first 4 weeks the treatments were daily, afterwards it was once every two days, and this continued for over 2 months. In the third month his wife was released from hospital. After the first treatment, Mrs. Wen regained 70% of her speech ability. The speed of recovery and the results were most obvious in the first 3 weeks. The hospital tracked the progress of the patient with daily tests, and the primary doctors responsible for the case were astounded with the progress and were filled with admiration and respect, claiming it to be a miracle of God.
Mr. Wen said that during that time, he was in a state of stress and exhaustion, and lost 20 lbs. His old ailments returned, and he himself needed acupuncture treatment from Professor Liu. Having personally experienced Professor Liu’s acupuncture, he could tell that Professor Liu’s techniques were different from that of other people.
Professor Liu’s needles were “flicked” and not “pricked”, and as the needles were inserted, there wasn’t much pain and the results were obvious. Just before Mr. Wen left, he said that they were very lucky, to find something in a vast ocean; that something being a life preserver and not a piece of metal. He offered us his cell phone number and a picture of his wife and daughters, saying that we could tell their story in the magazine; maybe it’ll be of help to friends in need. We watched them leave the clinic. If not for the cane, one would not have guessed that Mrs. Wen, who had healthy facial colour, and whose words were filled with laughter, had just recently returned from a stroll around the line between life and death.