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Sequela ofradioactivechemotherapy cancer treatments

Witness : Unnamed

Symptom : Sequela of radioactive and chemotherapy cancer treatments

For three months, I suffered from pain on the insides of my knees. I couldn’t bend my knees to put on socks, nor could I kneel down. Life became difficult and inconvenient. I received Western medical injection treatments, each treatment consisting of five injections. I received these treatments twice, ten injections in total, but I found that I still suffered from pain in my knees. There was nothing else I could do other than to go for a third treatment session involving two further injections. I received twelve injections in total, but the pain in my knees did not subside. On my friend’s recommendation, I decided to go to Taipei and receive treatment from the Chinese medicine doctor, Dr. Wen. 

I had a number of other ailments, but I was already 82 years old. I had had an illness for over 20 years, but had never told anyone. However, I thought to myself “I am already 82. However painful it may be, it doesn't bother me. There will not be many years left for me to have to suffer from such pain.” I contracted tonsil cancer in 1992. After undergoing a 7-year-long electrotherapy program in a major hospital in Kaohsiung, I suffered from a sequela consisting of nerve pain in the scalp and lack of saliva. For years, I dared not touch my scalp. Even when I touched it gently, I would experience severe and unbearable pain as if I had had an electric shock. As a result, for twenty years I never dared to have my hair washed by others. Even though the staff at the hairdresser touched my scalp very gently, I was unable to cope with the pain caused by even just a light touch. In addition, I had pains in my neck for a long time. I was not able to turn my neck to the left or right as I wished to. As soon as I turned my head, the pain would occur. If I wanted to look to the side, I had to turn my whole body. For years, it has been like this for me. 

I told Dr. Wen about my ailments without holding any real hope; he said that he could try and help. He was aware of my scalp pains; subsequently, he inserted the needles in my legs instead of my scalp. Miraculously, I immediately felt that my scalp was released and instantaneously relaxed, as if it was able to breathe in fresh air. I produced more saliva and my mouth became less dry. My neck was able to turn to the left and right as freely as that of a normal person. It was as if it had broken through a barrier.

It had never occurred to me that the nerve pains in my scalp that had lasted for over twenty years would one day be alleviated; it had never really occurred to me that I could be how I am now. I am very emotional and so grateful for having met such a skillful doctor; I feel so thankful and so touched that I really want to cry. I am still receiving treatment from Dr. Wen for my scalp pain and the lack of saliva. Although I have not yet fully recovered, my current state is considerably better than it was previously, which is more than I had ever wished for. I am very grateful to Dr. Wen. 

I live in Tainan, in the southern part of Taiwan. Originally, I felt that it was time-consuming to travel such a long way to Taipei to receive treatment; now, I want to tell everyone that it was worth doing. This is a story shared by an elderly person aged 82, who came to Taipei to see a doctor.