Dr. Na Zhai Clinic Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Dale and Bonnie: Heart Bypass Surgery On Top of Severe COPD

 

For forty-three years, Dale built things. As a general contractor, his hands shaped homes and businesses, but his trade exacted a heavy price. Decades of inhaling dust and fumes quietly scarred his lungs, leading to a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

For the past four years, his COPD was debilitating. He was placed on daily inhaled steroid treatment with a nebulizer, oxygen, and other respiratory medications. About two years ago, his doctor told him he had to have heart bypass surgery. The operation was a risk to his life but desperately needed. He survived, but it seemed to further debilitate his body.

By the time he shuffled from his backyard to the house—only about 200 feet—stopping twice to catch his breath, Dale had begun to plan his own funeral. He believed he had only weeks left. The mountain of a man who had once commanded construction sites was now diminished, winded by the shortest walk.

His wife, Bonnie, had been suffering in the background. Her own battles with back pain, chronic fatigue, and a heart condition were overshadowed by the urgency of Dale's decline. The constant worry and silent sacrifice drained her, compounding her pain with layers of stress and sorrow.

The Turning Point

A chiropractor—Anna's father, the same man whose daughter had walked out of Dr. Na's office without crutches months earlier—was treating Dale for severe knee and back pain. He noticed how serious Dale's overall condition had become. He strongly recommended that Dale visit Dr. Na. He said she had helped his daughter.

Dale balked at the idea of trying alternative medicine. He carried the number around for about a month.

Then one day, while doing yard work, he was seized with an attack of breathlessness so severe he could barely move. The dramatic worsening of his respiratory problem prompted him to call Dr. Na that very evening.

It was a Saturday. Dr. Na said, "If you can be in my office in an hour, I will take you."When he arrived, Dr. Na looked at his tongue and felt his pulse. Then she said something that shocked him:

"Before I fix your lung, I have to fix your heart first."

Dale was stunned. He had just seen a heart doctor less than a month earlier.

Dr. Na told him, "In two weeks, you'll feel 80% better than you do today."

He was skeptical. But he had nothing better to lose.

The Treatment

Dr. Na treated Dale with a series of acupuncture sessions and herbal formulas—the same two synchronized protocols that form the foundation of her system:

• Awakening and balancing the body's systems through a unique acupuncturemethod.

• Clearing metabolic waste accumulated in the colon over years using a safe, proven Traditional Chinese Medicine formula.

For COPD, Dr. Na follows the same two principles with every patient:

1. Clear the colon — using #25 Body Clean to remove accumulated waste. The colon is the root.

2. Support the lungs — using formulas like #18-3 and #20 to promote lung function. The lungs are the branch.

Guided by the TCM principle that "肺与大肠相表里" — the lungs and large intestine are interior-exteriorly related, like the palm and the back of the hand—Dr. Na focused first on supporting Dale's heart, which was the more urgent condition. But the root of the treatment remained the same: clearing the colon to open the lungs, and supporting the lungs to strengthen the heart.

The lungs and the colon are not separate systems in TCM. They are two sides of the same whole. When one is blocked, the other suffers. When one is cleared, the other can heal.

Dr. Na also prescribed herbal remedies, including Body Clean, Cough Stop, and Phlegm Resolve, to remove the toxins from the body. Dale's body was able to return to an optimal state of health.

He felt compelled to follow Dr. Na's diet and lifestyle advice because the treatments were so effective. He was confident in any remedy she offered and realized that his full participation in the healing process was important.

The Results

After completing the initial four treatments in two weeks, Dale felt 80% better. His life was already transformed. He was able to get around better than he had in the past four years.

The treatments were comprehensive. Not only was his breathing improved, but his back and knee pain improved greatly. It took only one treatment, with one needle, and his knee pain was instantly gone. He is still remarkably free of knee pain.

"Now I walk nine holes in the morning and I do exercises, started working around the house," Dale said. "I am feeling what I think is 100% better, but maybe I've still got a little ways to go yet."

He has started dropping off some of the medicines he has taken for four years. He has lost about 38 pounds since he started with Dr. Na. He can climb a mountain for about a mile and a half. He has gone rafting.

"I didn't feel 80% better after four treatments," he said. "I felt 100%."

Bonnie's Turn

Bonnie had been watching Dale's progress from the sidelines. She had been having trouble sleeping. She had terrible pain in her lower back and legs. She thought she would just have to live with it.

Her husband kept saying, "You need to go see Dr. Na."

She saw his progress and decided to start treatment herself.

"Dr. Na treated my heart first of all," Bonnie said, "and that gave me energy, and I'm completely better. I have no pain anymore, and I feel rested all the time."She now smiles, claiming she feels like "the happiest woman in the world."

The Outcome

Dale and Bonnie are both back to their lives—together. Dale is hiking, working around the house, and planning trips. Bonnie is pain-free, rested, and full of energy.

They are no longer planning funerals. They are planning adventures.

For Dale, there are no more inhaled nebulizer treatments. There are no pain medicines. To the amazement of his friends, he now boasts of being able to golf nine holes every morning.

He recalls, with emotion, a long-planned vacation to Tennessee to see his children and grandchildren. He climbed one and a half miles up a trail in the Smoky Mountains and went whitewater rafting with his son's family. A dream has come true for a man who worked so hard throughout his life.

"I really want to thank Dr. Na for all she has done for both of us," Bonnie said. "She saved my husband's life."

A Western Physician Notices

When Dale saw his primary heart specialist recently, he did not mention anything about Dr. Na's care. But his doctor could not help noticing the remarkable improvement.

Dale's doctor stated that something truly impressive must have happened for him to have recovered as he did. Dale shared his experience with Dr. Na.

The doctor was so impressed by Dale's story that he asked his nurse to come listen—so that she might decide whether to see Dr. Na for herself. In fact, the nurse had problems similar to Dale's.

Dale and his wife both came to Dr. Na with low expectations of her ability to truly help. They came away with an appreciation of the medicinal skills and offerings of ancient Chinese medicine—and a great love of Dr. Na's practice in particular.

What Dale's Story Shows

Dale's case is a story about one man, one household, and a system that treated both him and his wife—starting with the heart, even when the lungs were the presenting problem.

Dale's doctors had done what they could. But his COPD and his heart condition were treated as separate problems. Dr. Na saw them as connected. She focused on the heart first, because it was the more urgent condition. But the root of the treatment remained the same: clearing the colon to open the lungs, and supporting the lungs to strengthen the heart.

For Dale, that meant:

• Focusing on the heart first, then the lungs.

• Clearing the colon with #25 Body Clean.

• Supporting lung function with #18-3 and #20.

• His breathing improved.

• He came off inhalers and other medications.

• He lost 38 pounds.

• He returned to hiking, rafting, and an active life.

For Bonnie, that meant:

• Treating her heart first, which gave her energy.

• Addressing her chronic pain and fatigue.

• She became pain-free and rested.

• She returned to her active life.

This is not a one-time result. This is the same protocol Dr. Na uses for every COPD patient. Because the treatment follows a pattern, it can be taught. Because it can be taught, it can be passed on.

This is the system Dr. Na built. This is what she offers.

And it began with a chiropractor's referral—Anna's father—a desperate phone call on a Saturday, and two patients who were willing to try something different when conventional medicine had nothing left to offer.