Awakened this morning by a strange-sounding rooster, I looked out to the cloudy skies. The first sentence that came into my mind was this: Thank you Kadek, thank you Kimberley – Kimberley because she fed me last night and Kadek, well because he saved my butt.
I was at Bumi Sehat yesterday afternoon when I felt the first inkling of something gone awry; my sacrum started acting up. I didn’t last long in the clinic, first curling up on the office couch then excusing myself from moxa-duty earlier than usual. Bobbi (aka Dr Bobbi) forgave my early departure, urging me to visit her for a needling session myself.
Unsure what to do next, I started walking home – but soon enough realized I needed help. As I debated whether or not to head over to the Toya Clinic, Paragus suddenly appeared out of nowhere and offered me a ride over there (5 minutes away) – a sure sign that I was going in the right direction.
When I entered the clinic, Dr Susila greeted me and asked about my injuries and pain. In black slacks, ironed shirt (was there a tie?), leather shoes and white overcoat, he dressed the part of a western-trained allopathic physician to a ‘T.’ He leaned back in his chair and even when I declined his offer to sit – with an explanation about my accident and injuries – he didn’t ask to look my back/sacrum. Not once did he ask to see the locus of my pain.
Rather, Dr Susila asked for previous x-rays and hospital reports. He asked about painkillers and surgery; and seemed less than impressed with the compendium of complimentary / holistic treatments that I said I’d been receiving. I asked about getting an x-ray; he suggested I consider having a peripheral nerve stimulator implanted sub-epidermally to manage my nerve pain. I told the doctor I believed that my intensive yoga classes and deep tissue massages were healing me, albeit at a slow pace; he urged me to consult a neurosurgeon.
Except for our conversation about getting an x-ray, Dr. Susila and I were not on the same page, not even on the same wavelength.
Bummer. Yet another physician who dares not touch. What can he possibly know about the state of my body just from x-rays and reports?
Dr. Susila, may I introduce you to Kadek? He doesn’t care a hoot about hospital reports, nor do I think he is a fan of painkillers. Even though he asked to see an x-ray, it’s not likely to alter his hands-on style. He firmly believes in the body’s power to heal itself – with assistance when needed.
You see, Kadek is all about touch. Healing touch. And isn’t that what people need most to recover, to achieve well being?
When I walked through my door, I flopped onto the bed in child pose, tears streaming down my face, wondering what to do. I could barely walk, let alone head over to Felice’s for a dinner party. Kimberley, who offered me a ride, dropped by instead with a scrumptious meal. Ahh… boundless gratitude for a feast fit for a (cranky) queen.
Then, just like that, I texted Kadek to ask if he would drop by. And just like that (even though he’d already had a busy day), he came over to soothe my aching body. I closed my eyes while he placed one hand on my head, the other on my sacrum.
There was imagery and light, prayer and release, poking, prodding, zapping, bending, renewed attempts at walking. We were pushing the pain away. The life slowly returned to my face and body. As the anchor lessened its weight-bearing hold on me, the jokes seeped back into our dialogue. I could breathe more easily.
Isn’t this what we all really need; a body healer who is unafraid to touch our body, who becomes as familiar and attuned to it as we are (or more) – and who makes house calls too?
Healing Pilgrim 