I’m back after two weeks of hard-core editing to help a group of amazing teens publish their life stories in an upcoming teen story anthology. It’s such a cool project (see the book cover the students designed). It’s also taken a bit of a toll on my eyes.

I had planned to return to the Wellspring Clinic on Wednesday April 17^th for the two days remaining in my first ten-day treatment session. But between nonstop editing on my part and a scheduling mistake by Dr. Yu, this has been postponed until May 13^th.

Dr. Yu left early April 18^th for three weeks of intensive learning in China.  He makes the trip to China two or three times each year to study with masters in traditional Chinese medicine and continue his search for acupuncture techniques and herbs that will help improve his treatment for RP patients. He’s told me he won’t stop his learning quest until he has perfected his RP protocol and is able to restore the eyesight of virtually every RP patient he treats within a twelve-month period. He is also on a quest to help people suffering from Usher Syndrome to improve and restore their hearing. He had his first break-though with an Ushers patient this past January  (see YouTube clip).

I’m excited that I will be seeing Dr. Yu for two days immediately after his return from China, because I know that he will be incorporating his newest discoveries into his treatment. In the meantime, I’m refocusing my efforts on my home treatment plan.

Here it goes again for anyone who has missed it:

• Acupressure and Eye Exercises Twice Daily. You can order a video from the Wellspring Clinic web site or do a search online for eye exercises that you can access for free.
• Chinese Herbs.  I am taking herbs prescribed by Dr. Yu. I don’t know what is in his formula. But I do know he’s been devoting a lot of energy to perfecting his herb treatment for RP – and that it’s helping me. You can contact him about his herbs directly. If you don’t want to go that route, you can always do an Internet search for Chinese herbs that are good for eyesight and try that.
•  Green Juicing. Twice a day, I drink a green juice that consists of three or four kale leaves, two celery stocks, a cucumber and a half green apple.
• Healthy Eating. I’ve eliminated nearly all processed foods from my diet. I have also greatly reduced my intake of meat because it causes inflammation.  Instead, I eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables – as well as beans, brown rice and nuts. I’m trying to limit dairy but still eat some cheese. I also eat eggs and try to have salmon at least twice a week.
• Limit Coffee and Alcohol.  I’m down to one cup of coffee a day and a couple of glasses of red wine a week.
• Avoid Cold Beverages.  Dr. Yu has stressed that cold beverages are bad for a person’s system (or at least mine). So I’ve been drinking room-temperature water and avoiding other cold beverages.
• Exercise. I’ve been slacking on this but plan to restart a 30-minute daily cardio routine starting today  (to help stay physically fit and reduce stress).
• Meditation and Breathing.  Since discovering from Dr. Yu that I have seriously low lung energy, I’ve started researching this a little and have discovered that shallow breathing and low lung capacity is a common issue with RP patients. So, I’m going to start working on meditation and deep breathing techniques.
• Restrict Eyestrain. Given my line of work as a writer/editor, this is my biggest challenge. Dr. Yu has told me that I should limit all reading and screen time  (computer, iPhone, TV) to four hours a day. I’ve not been able to do this for the past two weeks and I know it has been detrimental to my eyesight. But I’m getting back on track now.

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