VENTRESCA
Never thought I would do it, no way. I knew about acupuncture of course, had heard it helped people and did wonderful things for all kinds of ailments. But I was immersed in Western medicine up to my eyebrows; daughter and granddaughter of physicians, logical left brainer. But around the edges of that left brain were little jagged areas of doubt. I was told I was going to hell in the ninth grade by well meaning nuns and priests at a Catholic school because I asked too many questions, after all. Asking questions that people couldn’t answer had always been a particular specialty. So now after doing reading about alternative medicine, it began to make sense.
Why separate the mind and the body? Why not use the mind to help heal the body? Why not use the wisdom of several thousand years to add to the wisdom of the west? So I called a friend who recommended Jim Ventresca, and made an appointment, and jumped with both feet into the world of alternative medicine. And I’ve never regretted it, either.
When we walked into the Southwest Acupuncture School I wasn’t sure what to expect. Jack and I walked into a nice looking office building on Carlisle, plants and a fountain on the first floor, other offices around. Here was something about the Water Dept., and a personnel office for UNMH. We walked up the stairs and to the door of the school, and into a waiting room with magazines and chairs, just like any other waiting room. There were booklets about the school on the secretary’s desk, she was a nice looking woman wearing a skirt and blouse. No beads, no incense, no sounds of anything unusual. Clicking computer keys, a little music from the hallway. Then Jim walked in and smiled at us, and I found a friend.
He’s a man of medium height, in his forties, dark thinning hair, warm brown eyes. Dressed in slacks and an open-necked shirt, no necklaces, no bear claws, no fur cape. He led us into an exam room, sat down and put us at ease immediately. He took a good detailed medical history, asked all the right questions, and let us look at the posters of acupuncture sites, human figures with lines and what looked to my nurse eyes like nerve pathways.
“ It’s stagnated energy, that’s what acupuncture unblocks. "
He showed me the sterilized needles. He was dealing with a Nurseperson after all, and explained how they would feel and what they did. He placed them carefully, watching my face for the reaction when the little sting happened and then the deeper feeling when the needle was positioned correctly. He was quiet, he moved smoothly, he spoke carefully. I lay back, awkward because of the recent surgery, and instead of wondering what I was doing there, I felt completely comfortable and at ease. Jack felt the same way; he hadn’t known what to expect, but this was not going to be a problem. This felt secure; it was a place we needed to be, with Jim.
When we left, with an appointment for the following week, Jack and I felt ridiculous for expecting a wild and crazy experience. We also left with a feeling of respect and certainty that this was the correct way to add to all that had gone before.
And it began to work. The little ‘trigger’ in my back began to come to the surface, the nerve began to respond to the stimulation of Jim’s little needles. And adding to Western medicine made me feel good; there was another dimension, another level of understanding. We talked about food a lot, Jim and I. Italian backgrounds were similar, and we both liked to cook, and wondered why more people didn’t. It sounds naïve, and it is. When I told Dr. Kazu I had seen an acupuncturist he didn’t bat an eye, merely nodded.
Gradually the mind expands, gradually the soul lifts and learns. Does it take cancer to make people grow? Does it take a serious illness to shake the mind and spirit out of its rut and complacency and find a new path? Pain was what did it for me; the intractable pain in my back after surgery, knowing that all the docs could do was inject cortisone and give me medication. This kind of medicine was addition, not contrary to Western medicine, just something added, another dimension. It wasn’t a case of either/or, a choice of one above the other. The one completed the other, the one hand complemented the other hand. And together, it worked.