In February I became ill. The illness started with a 101 degree fever for 24 hours with aches, chills, headaches, etc. for several days. Then severe diarrhea, loss of appetite, rapid weight loss, chronic low-grade bladder infection, minor sore throat, low-grade fevers that came and went and near crippling fatigue.

After 10 days I visited a western physician who diagnosed a "flu-like" virus. Prescribed 10 - 12 hours of sleep per day. He had blood and urine tests done that came up negative. He predicted the illness would pass after 3 weeks.

At 3 weeks the diarrhea had cleared, but all the other symptoms remained. The fatigue was the worst. I'm a mom of 2 young children (fortunately, I had already quit my job). The kids were not sick and had loads of energy that was not getting properly channeled. I went back to the western doctor and had him test for mononucleosis - Epstein-Barr virus. The test was negative. He sent me home and said there was nothing he could do.

At this point, I turned to Shasta. Shasta diagnosed a cold condition with deficient chi. She immediately started a regimen of moxa/acupuncture, herbal medicine and dietary therapies. I eliminated cold and raw foods, began taking bone marrow broth twice a day. I also did treatments at home with a hot water bottle and moxa essence, and learned to dress warmly at all times. I slowly began to improve. I would have 2 or 3 "good" days where I felt nearly normal energy and then 1 or 2 "bad" days of zero energy, low-grade fever and sore throat. On the bad days I would use the moxa and hot water bottle 3 or 4 times. The heat on the back of my neck felt so good. I really felt that my immune system was being stimulated. Shasta continued treatments in her office twice a week for several weeks and then weekly for several months along with daily chi kung (from Carradine videos with Arnold), as I gradually improved. I really looked forward to my treatments and wanted to continue even after I was well. Shasta was so supportive. I would get very discouraged and feared I would have to give up a long-term goal of sailing around the world with my family due to lack of energy and health. Shasta gave me hope that I would get well and I did! I feel like my normal energetic self again. We recently moved onto our sailboat and are preparing to leave the Bay Area in early September. I'm leaving not only with my health, but also with an education in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Shasta was great about explaining everything in detail. She also lent me many books from her library on TCM, women's health, nutrition, and energetic medicine. We have also put together an herbal first aid kit for the trip!