Had my first acupuncture experience yesterday!  Just before we had left Roanoke I went to the Highland Park "dog park"  with my sister and their dog Max.  Max is a small dog, rat terrier but we took him into the "big dog" half of the park because that’s where the dogs were.  He literally ran circles around them and it was fun to watch.  But it was also cold and damp.  I ran around a bit too.  That afternoon my sciatica started to act up and I could hardly walk.  Next day not so bad.  I took Advil, did stretches.  But when I got back here it got worse and worse and by the end of the day I could hardly stand up because my hip and knee hurt.  When we got up on the hard I decided to stop stretching and stop my morning walks.  The pain seemed to ease a bit but still by late afternoon I could hardly stand it.  More Advil and more Advil.  But during the day the pain was less even if I walked.  So by yesterday I wasn’t exactly sure why I was going to the acupuncturist, but why not.  Our friends Fien, Hans, and Julia had all seen Prof. Dr. Shamsudeen and had been relieved of pain and had been impressed with his knowledge and skill.  And Fien assured me that new needles were always used and not even touched by him.  He inserted them right from their container.  of, course I didn’t see any of it because I was face down on the table with my head in a hole cut out to rest my face in.  Doctor Dinn as he is called has hours from 4 to 9 pm and no appointments are taken.  You just wait your turn.  Fien suggested that we take the 5:15 ferry from Rebak, go to the appointment and then return to the ferry terminal where we would meet Randal and Hans for dinner at the small restaurant there and catch the 8:45 pm ferry back to the marina. 

  We caught the 5:15 ferry and there was a taxi at the terminal which was good.  And even better, the driver, a young man spoke English quite well.  He and Fien negotiated a fare of 24 ringits ( $6 )and I said fine with me and off we went.  Luckily Fien knew the way though our driver was good and after we complimented him on his English he told us a good part of his education history and his regrets at spending too much time "being naughty" and not learning.  Now he sees friends who had studied hard with much better jobs than his so has regrets but he is still optimistic about his future if he works hard and God gives him some luck.  The Selayang Healthcare Center of Dr.Dinn is a 15 minute drive into Kuah.  I asked our driver for his number so we could call him later but he said that he’d wait since fares at the ferry terminal were slow.  As it turned out, that was quite good as it wasn’t a spot where you’d normally find a taxi waiting for fares.  Hans and Fien had always taken their motorbike. 

   So first I filled out a short form with my name, address, passport number, short description of my problem, and then we waited.  There were some teenage girls and their mom from Qatar there too, but that’s a whole separate story.  After about 15 minutes it was my turn.  Dr. Dinn sort of reminded my of Joe the Pharmacist in town whom I really like so he had that going for him.  And right away you just know he knows his stuff.  He listens to what you say but is already 2 steps ahead because he knows how the body works and where pain comes from and all of the problem points of sciatica.  Of course, with my pain not so fierce as it had been, I was less definitive about where it hurt, but he still knew. 

   I took off my shorts and lay down on the table with my face in the cutout space.  Before he started and through it all he asked how I was doing.  I was always fine, a bit nervous and also very ticklish!  First needle went into the top of my head and that was the oddest part to me.  Then more and more went in and it didn’t hurt…I just was afraid it would.  On a shot scale of 1 to 10 with 10 hurting the most, I’d give dental novocane shots a 7 and acupuncture needles a 1.5.  Once they were in he would do something and ask what I felt and I kept saying nothing which surprised him.  He must have applied electrodes to the needles because finally he turned something way up and I had a shock in my foot that I definitely felt!  Made him and Fien chuckle.  I figured it was payback from my group home days when we would get some kid to volunteer to touch the electric fence with a wet leaf to see if it was on.  Can’t believe we did that or that this really big kid would always do it.  Guess he got a "charge" from it.  So who was I to complain.  Next, all of the needles were hooked up and started to stimulate my muscles or nerves.  It was mildly intense; similar to the treatment I’d had from a wonderful physical therapist in Roanoke.  But her treatment was a cycle and this was ZAP,ZAP,ZAP.  Then he told me I would have it for 30 minutes; ZAP ZAP ZAP…the worse part though was 30 minutes with nothing to read and too much ZAPPING to snooze.  I was also afraid to move thinking I would stab myself with a needle and make it hurt.  Fien came periodically to check on me and so did Doctor Dinn who I think secretly upped the voltage.  When I asked him he said, "Oh, do you want me to increase the voltage?"  I said NO and that was the end of the discussion but I could feel my leg jumping around on the table.  Finally it was over and the workout had been so intense that there wasn’t instant relief when all the needles were removed.   Next came the suction glasses.  He put on several and I still have a red ring on my backside where it was most intense.  Some glasses popped off instantly and some left marks.  Apparently the problem places hold the cups and leave the marks. When that was over he had me stand up and say where it hurt.  Nowhere and everywhere so it was hard to tell.  But when he would press the problem spot, that would hurt.  The last thing he did was to put two very very tiny needles attached to a tiny circular pad into the side of my leg just below my knee and behind my knee that I was to leave in for a week unless it hurt and then I was to take them out.  Fien said that she had to pull one of hers out early because it hurt and one fell out and she stepped on it and that hurt more.  When I paid I was given a small vile of tiny little white balls of homeopathic medicine of some kind.  Two balls three times a day under the tongue with no food or water.  He also told me to avoid air conditioning and ice cubes.  Amazing since my leg had already begun to improve as soon as we went on the hard and had no AC.  My legs get stiff at night in the chill and I get leg cramps.  No AC and my problem lessens.  Cost of the entire visit and pills 50 ringits.  Next visit would be 40.  I asked when I should come back if I had time and he just old me his hours.  He never pushed that I had to come back.  Fien said she’d go with me again, so if I can’t talk Randal into a visit for his back, (which all of the boat work seems to be curing) next time we’re in town, I’ll go with Fien. 

  The taxi was waiting and we drove back through the night.  By the time we arrived back at the ferry and actually were served our food we had about 10 minutes to eat.  Poor Fien got hers last and had to gulp it down and it was spicy hot.  I gave the driver a tip so ultimately paid 54 ringits to the taxi driver, so 4 ringit more than I had paid Dr. Dinn.  Hard to imagine that. 

   I took the white pills before bed and after breakfast this morning.  So far no Advil.  My knee hurts and feels kind of stiff, but everything else seems to feel a bit better.  Dr. Dinn has been practicing for 20 years and when I told him I was ticklish he said, No problem.  He had been kicked, hit, etc by patients and found it all to be part of the job.  A very nice man as well as knowledgeable.  An experience!