A healer finds healing

A vet makes a long journey to acupuncture = for both=20 pets and people

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Oregonian

L aurel, a sweet Labrador retriever, was at the end of her = life. It was=20 last October, and the 13-year-old dog's arthritis was so disabling = she=20 could no longer stand. The pain medication from her veterinarian = wasn't=20 enough.

Owner Lynn Parsons made the sad call to a house-call veterinary = practice to schedule Laurel's euthanasia. The office manager made = a=20 surprising suggestion: Try acupuncture first.

Veterinarian and acupuncturist Kelly Jenkins Nielsen talked = with=20 Parsons and was sure she could help. Within hours, she was at = Parsons'=20 home. Laurel was lying on the floor, quivering with pain. Nielsen = gently,=20 quickly, skillfully placed acupuncture needles in the prescribed = points.=20

When the needles came out, the old dog stood up and wanted to = go=20 outside.

"It was like nothing I've ever seen," Parsons says, her eyes = filling=20 with happy tears. "She keeps getting better and better. Now she = gallops=20 around the house." Laurel receives monthly acupuncture and takes = some=20 herbs. She loves her walks and wags her tails at every stranger = she sees.=20

While several veterinarians in the Portland area provide = acupuncture to=20 pets, Nielsen took the additional step of graduating from the = Oregon=20 College of Oriental Medicine's rigorous program. She will be = practicing on=20 both people and pets at Kindred Spirits Acupuncture=20 (www.kindredspiritsacupuncture.com), the practice she recently = opened in=20 Lake Oswego.

Along the way, she had to put her career on hold for three = years, and=20 then she had to beat a rare and aggressive cancer that had already = spread=20 through her body.

In 2001, Nielsen decided to take the same acupuncture courses = other=20 veterinarians have taken. She had seen a lot of animals in her = years of=20 veterinary practice that conventional medication couldn't help. =

"I wanted to help those patients," she says. The veterinary = acupuncture=20 course provides about 200 hours of training. Nielsen took a = follow-up=20 course on herbs the next year, then one in veterinary chiropractic = training. It didn't feel like enough.

"The more I learned, the more I realized what I didn't know," = she says.=20

Then she heard about the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, = in=20 Portland. "I didn't even know it existed," she said.

She put aside her veterinary practice to learn an entirely = different=20 way of healing. Instead of the 200 hours of class work in the = veterinary=20 course, Nielsen immersed herself in an intense, three-year = curriculum that=20 included clinical practice as well as classroom learning.

She was surprised to find she loved treating people as much as = she did=20 animals. Nielsen says treating humans is definitely easier than = cats and=20 dogs.

"It's like cheating," she says with a laugh. Humans can tell = her how a=20 treatment feels, and whether it works for them.

That response, Nielsen realized, made her better when she = worked with=20 animals. "The people were sort of my guinea pigs."

Nielsen had to learn to look at medicine in new way, whether = the=20 patient had two legs or four.

"You don't treat diseases, like in Western medicine. You look = at the=20 body and see what has happened that allowed the disease to = manifest,"=20 Nielsen says.

But she could see the results. "Sometimes, it still surprises = me," she=20 says.

She was ready to put her energy into a new kind of veterinary = specialty=20 practice. "My goal . . . was that veterinarians would know there = was=20 someone with a specialty degree they could refer to."

Nielsen anticipated veterinarians sending her patients, or = people=20 bringing in their pets, for the same range of conditions that = humans seek=20 alternative medicine to treat.

She says she believes in Western and Eastern medicine working = together;=20 sometimes the answer is surgery and acupuncture, or medical = treatments and=20 herbs. With her background in both veterinary medicine and = alternative=20 medicine, Nielsen would be able to work closely with other = veterinarians.=20

Then everything changed.

Just before her graduation, she felt a lump in her abdomen. It = proved=20 to be a hard-to-diagnose cancer that had already spread.

"As soon as I was done with my national boards, I was in the = hospital=20 having surgery," Nielsen says. The odds weren't on her side: 17 = percent of=20 patients in her situation lived. Her doctor promised that, with = highly=20 aggressive treatment, the odds would increase to 50-50.

Nielsen practiced on herself what she preached to others: Her=20 treatments combined Western science and Eastern knowledge. There = was=20 radiation and chemotherapy and herbs.

The Western treatments were grueling.

"It was bad. I was so weak. I just focused on survival," she = says. "I=20 learned a lot about what to do, and what not to do, for a patient = who is=20 very, very ill." She went through a divorce, and tried to be an = available=20 mom for her teenage son.

One of the things that sustained her was the outpouring of = support from=20 her classmates.

"I learned so much about the value of compassion and support = during=20 that time," she says. "It made me a far better practitioner, for = animals=20 and for people."

The treatments completed, Nielsen is cancer-free. She's built = up her=20 stamina. Her license requirements are completed, she's passed her = boards.=20

Nielsen will be doing something at her clinic no one else in = Oregon can=20 do: provide acupuncture and herbal treatments for both pets and = for=20 people. Some might be owners of pets, who can get everything from=20 acupuncture to calm them during their dog's visit to a full = treatment=20 without a pet.

Of course, the people will be the easy ones, because they can = say what=20 ails them.

Deborah Wood is the author of 10 books, including "Little Dogs: = Training Your Pint-Sized Companion." You can view her blog at=20 http://blog.oregonlive.com/pets/ or you can reach her by email at=20 TaoBowwow@aol.com; by mail at Deborah Wood/Pet Talk, The = Oregonian, 1320=20 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201; fax, 503-294-7691; phone, = 503-221-8416.=20




A healer finds healing A vet makes a long journey to acupuncture = for both=20 pets and people Tuesday, January 22, 2008 The Oregonian L aurel, a sweet Labrador retriever, was at the end of her = life. It was=20 last October, and the 13-year-old dog's arthritis was so disabling = she=20 could no longer stand. The pain medication from her veterinarian = wasn't=20 enough. Owner Lynn Parsons made the sad call to a house-call veterinary = practice to schedule Laurel's euthanasia. The office manager made = a=20 surprising suggestion: Try acupuncture first. Veterinarian and acupuncturist Kelly Jenkins Nielsen talked = with=20 Parsons and was sure she could help. Within hours, she was at = Parsons'=20 home. Laurel was lying on the floor, quivering with pain. Nielsen = gently,=20 quickly, skillfully placed acupuncture needles in the prescribed = points.=20 When the needles came out, the old dog stood up and wanted to = go=20 outside. "It was like nothing I've ever seen," Parsons says, her eyes = filling=20 with happy tears. "She keeps getting better and better. Now she = gallops=20 around the house." Laurel receives monthly acupuncture and takes = some=20 herbs. She loves her walks and wags her tails at every stranger = she sees.=20 While several veterinarians in the Portland area provide = acupuncture to=20 pets, Nielsen took the additional step of graduating from the = Oregon=20 College of Oriental Medicine's rigorous program. She will be = practicing on=20 both people and pets at Kindred Spirits Acupuncture=20 (www.kindredspiritsacupuncture.com), the practice she recently = opened in=20 Lake Oswego. Along the way, she had to put her career on hold for three = years, and=20 then she had to beat a rare and aggressive cancer that had already = spread=20 through her body. In 2001, Nielsen decided to take the same acupuncture courses = other=20 veterinarians have taken. She had seen a lot of animals in her = years of=20 veterinary practice that conventional medication couldn't help. = "I wanted to help those patients," she says. The veterinary = acupuncture=20 course provides about 200 hours of training. Nielsen took a = follow-up=20 course on herbs the next year, then one in veterinary chiropractic = training. It didn't feel like enough. "The more I learned, the more I realized what I didn't know," = she says.=20 Then she heard about the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, = in=20 Portland. "I didn't even know it existed," she said. She put aside her veterinary practice to learn an entirely = different=20 way of healing. Instead of the 200 hours of class work in the = veterinary=20 course, Nielsen immersed herself in an intense, three-year = curriculum that=20 included clinical practice as well as classroom learning. She was surprised to find she loved treating people as much as = she did=20 animals. Nielsen says treating humans is definitely easier than = cats and=20 dogs. "It's like cheating," she says with a laugh. Humans can tell = her how a=20 treatment feels, and whether it works for them. That response, Nielsen realized, made her better when she = worked with=20 animals. "The people were sort of my guinea pigs." Nielsen had to learn to look at medicine in new way, whether = the=20 patient had two legs or four. "You don't treat diseases, like in Western medicine. You look = at the=20 body and see what has happened that allowed the disease to = manifest,"=20 Nielsen says. But she could see the results. "Sometimes, it still surprises = me," she=20 says. She was ready to put her energy into a new kind of veterinary = specialty=20 practice. "My goal . . . was that veterinarians would know there = was=20 someone with a specialty degree they could refer to." Nielsen anticipated veterinarians sending her patients, or = people=20 bringing in their pets, for the same range of conditions that = humans seek=20 alternative medicine to treat. She says she believes in Western and Eastern medicine working = together;=20 sometimes the answer is surgery and acupuncture, or medical = treatments and=20 herbs. With her background in both veterinary medicine and = alternative=20 medicine, Nielsen would be able to work closely with other = veterinarians.=20 Then everything changed. Just before her graduation, she felt a lump in her abdomen. It = proved=20 to be a hard-to-diagnose cancer that had already spread. "As soon as I was done with my national boards, I was in the = hospital=20 having surgery," Nielsen says. The odds weren't on her side: 17 = percent of=20 patients in her situation lived. Her doctor promised that, with = highly=20 aggressive treatment, the odds would increase to 50-50. Nielsen practiced on herself what she preached to others: Her=20 treatments combined Western science and Eastern knowledge. There = was=20 radiation and chemotherapy and herbs. The Western treatments were grueling. "It was bad. I was so weak. I just focused on survival," she = says. "I=20 learned a lot about what to do, and what not to do, for a patient = who is=20 very, very ill." She went through a divorce, and tried to be an = available=20 mom for her teenage son. One of the things that sustained her was the outpouring of = support from=20 her classmates. "I learned so much about the value of compassion and support = during=20 that time," she says. "It made me a far better practitioner, for = animals=20 and for people." The treatments completed, Nielsen is cancer-free. She's built = up her=20 stamina. Her license requirements are completed, she's passed her = boards.=20 Nielsen will be doing something at her clinic no one else in = Oregon can=20 do: provide acupuncture and herbal treatments for both pets and = for=20 people. Some might be owners of pets, who can get everything from=20 acupuncture to calm them during their dog's visit to a full = treatment=20 without a pet. Of course, the people will be the easy ones, because they can = say what=20 ails them. Deborah Wood is the author of 10 books, including "Little Dogs: = Training Your Pint-Sized Companion." You can view her blog at=20 http://blog.oregonlive.com/pets/ or you can reach her by email at=20 TaoBowwow@aol.com; by mail at Deborah Wood/Pet Talk, The = Oregonian, 1320=20 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201; fax, 503-294-7691; phone, = 503-221-8416.=20 =A92008 The=20 Oregonian