For the next few weeks, I’m turning over my articles to my husband, Dr. Craig Thomas, D.C. so that he can post and share with you entries about his month-long journey to India for Ayurvedic treatment.
After recently suffering from a stroke and seeking help from Western medicine, Dr. Craig decided that more could be done to improve his condition if he went to India, the heart of Ayurvedic medicine, to work with Ayurvedic practitioners in facilities that specialize in this ancient healing science.
I’ll let him tell you more about this himself…
Hello, friends. This is Dr. Craig Thomas here, husband and partner of Dr. Helen Thomas. Over the next few weeks, I want to share with you a very personal story of healing and Ayurveda. The following is only a beginning: as you will see, the story is not finished.
On August 13, 2008, our world changed completely in an instant. I had a stroke. I was visiting our son in Puerto Rico where he is currently attending medical school. That night, I was feeling tired and decided to go to bed early. As is my usual practice, I was laying in bed meditating when suddenly, I felt as if I was hit in the back of my head with a baseball bat. I blacked out.
When I came to the next morning, I crawled out of bed and stumbled into my son’s living room. I was wobbly on my feet, the left side of my body was numb, and my speech was slurred. For a moment, my son thought I was drunk, but he soon realized that something serious had happened to me. My symptoms persisted for the day, and I decided to cut my trip short and fly back home to California.
The day before I left for Puerto Rico, I had been to see a cardiologist. I’d been feeling a little tired and short of breath for a few weeks, and the doctor scheduled me for cardio testing after my trip.
A CT scan at the local hospital confirmed our worst fears: I had indeed suffered a stroke, and t hat tiny part of my brain that it affected was now ischemic (dead).
For those of you not familiar with medical terminology, there are two kinds of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic, like mine, is where the blood supply to the brain is interrupted for a period. Hemorrhagic is when a blood vessel, or vessels, bursts and causes bleeding or swelling.
Over the next two weeks, I underwent a series of tests and exams. I had multiple blood tests, an echocardiogram, a stress EKG with contrast dye injections, an MRI of both my brain and brain circulatory system, and I med with a neurologist.
The medical analysis is that I have diasystolic disfunction of the heart which causes less blood, and hence, less oxygen to get to the brain, putting me at risk for strokes and further cardiac problems. This was likely caused by hypertension, and that was most likely related to my weight. I was surprised to learn that I have neither clogged arteries nor high ch olesterol (although the medics wanted to put me on Statin drugs…as a precaution!).
The past month has been maybe the most challenging of my life. There is improvement: I no longer slur my words - unless I’m very tired - and the numbness on my left side is almost all gone. What I’m left with is extreme fatigue, muscle aches and pains throughout my body, and an inability to concentrate or focus. My head feels like it’s one mass of cotton, and I walk like the proverbial drunken sailor.
The doctors say that there is nothing more they can do. There is no surgery to be done on my heart, and apart from basic high blood pressure medication, there are no drugs that I can be given to help me. I was told to lose 50 pounds, exercise every day, and hope for the best. In six months, we’ll know if any of my symptoms are permanent.
Well, that’s not good enough for me! I aspire to be more in life than a potted plant! I’ve been getting great Ayurvedic herbs and world-class chiropractic adjustments, and I’m still not back to my old self.
Fortunately for me, our friend and colleague, Dr. Narendra Pendse, has offered to supervise and direct my recovery through intensive Ayurvedic treatments known as Medical Panchakarma - if I will come to his clinic in India! The reason that this treatment must be done in India is that it will be done in a hospital setting, and they do things there that aren’t done outside of India. I’ve witnessed firsthand the miracles that Ayurvedic physicians perform in India, so I’m jumping at the chance! I’m leaving on Monday, September 22nd for a month in Pune, India, so by the time you read this, I’ll already be there.
As I understand it, the goals of treatment will be several: first, lowering the blood pressure. Second, rebuilding the muscles of the heart. Finally, reworking the metabolic mechanisms so that I can lose weight and utilize food more efficiently. I’m not sure what procedures will be used, but I’m going to report back and let you know exactly what’s happening every step of the way.
The next four aticles of this series will be devoted to my progress reports, so stay tuned!
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