The Simple Act of Volunteering

I personally find volunteering to be one of the most rewarding and satisfying activities that I can engage in.

As many of you know, every Tuesday I volunteer my time providing acupuncture treatments and Traditional Chinese herbal consultations at MEND (Meet Every Need with Dignity). MEND is a full service organization that provides food, clothing, showers, and all types of dental and medical services, ranging from family practice and counseling, all the way to massage therapy and of course acupuncture.

Sometime in May a stroke victim was referred to me. Everardo was 6-months post-stroke, which is not ideal, as the closer to the stroke that treatment can be provided, the more beneficial Chinese Medicine is. He arrived in a wheelchair in essentially a vegetative state. His eyes were fixed, his body slightly slouched, and he made no indication that he even knew that his wife and I were in the room. It was his right side that was affected and he had a slight right eye and mouth droop with drooling, in addition to the right-sided limb paralysis. To get the best results from acupuncture, ideally you need a minimum of several treatments a week to begin with, but as my clinic is only once a week, I instructed his wife Mirabel to continue a simple part of his treatment at home.

The results have been amazing! After a couple weeks Everardo had rejoined the living. He was alert, greeted me and had begun to move his right leg. His mouth and eye droop were gone and facially you would never know that he had had a stroke.

Everardo continues to improve, although slowly. His wife is an excellent caregiver and has made sure that in addition to what I can offer, she has gotten him physical therapy, and has him swim as much as possible. Today, Everardo visibly brightens when he sees me, complains about all the needles (his way of teasing me) and basically tries his best to converse, although his speech is still garbled. His right leg gets stronger everyday and we are hopeful he will be walking by Christmas. His right arm remains the major challenge, as well as getting his speech to “normalize”.

It is still such a great feeling to see a person who was basically unresponsive be able to interact with his family and children again. If you haven’t yet tried volunteering, I strongly encourage you to give it a try. The gifts you get back are amazing!

Yours in health,

Dr. Linda Miles, L.Ac., D. O. M.