Session 2

"Magnet Machine" on whose discs hands and feet are magnetized

February 23, 2011

This time I step in somewhat early, it's twenty minutes off six pm. And guess what, the reception area is pitch black. As in there is no electricity in the house. It's also crowded. Almost every chair is occupied by some patient or the other. I panic--what if there is no electricity all evening? What will happen to my healing process? Why me? Why me?

Anyway, these thoughts are quickly put to rest once I see that there is an electrician on the premises. He opens the main power switchboard, finds the wire that has burnt out, and fixes the whole thing in about 5 minutes flat. The lights are back on, everything is as it should be, and it's not even 6 pm (which is the time of my appointment anyhow...serves me right for coming in a bit early).

So I go get my dose of gentle electric current and vibration from the little steel drums, for my palms and for my feet. It is really crowded today, and I am sent to the backest of back rooms where I do my ten minutes of electromagnet stimulation on the affected knee. That done, I signal to one of the assistants, Manoj, that I'm ready for the main course.

But there is a bottleneck of patients. I hang around for about 30 minutes, hoping that the electromagnetic charge hasn't dissipated or some such, and that the acupuncture will still have its intended effects.

At last, I am summoned by the doctor. He asks me how I feel. I say great. I think the swelling on my knee went down a little. He says great. I want to ask a question, I say. Shoot, says he. Well, you've promised this healing in 15 days to 20 days on the outside. Could I book my ticket back to the States at the end of the 19th day? (reason being, I can get in on a Sunday and recover before the work week begins). No problem, says he. You should be healed in 15 days, if the swelling is already down somewhat.

He asks me when I ate last, then asks someone to feed me a piece of candy to raise my sugar level. Don't want you getting dizzy, he says.

Then he grabs my left hand and pokes the ring finger on the side with his probe pen. No laptop this time. The pen pushes hard onto the side of my finger--he's just covering a line about an inch long. He presses a point. It hurts. He presses a few others. Some of them really hurt.

Then it's an all out assault on my ring finger. Seven needles in quick succession. On some, there is intense, as in INTENSE, pain. Who knew a little needle inserted only a little into the finger could hurt that much. I shout mutedly, and on one stab I can't resist cursing. Sorry.

But once the needles are in, they stop hurting. No needles on the legs today? I ask. No, he says. Now go and lie down. So I lie down for 30 minutes. Nothing hurts, which is nice.

Manoj removes the needles, and tells me to go do my exercises. After completing those, I return to have my finger wrapped and taped with seeds that look like fenugreek. This is done by another assistant, whose name I'm not sure about, but sounds like Lochan.

And that's it. I pick up a bunch of food supplements that have been prescribed for me and head home. Not as tired as day one, and my headache only mild in comparison to last time.