I TREATING A FEMALE PATIENT AGED 40, PAST 8 MONTHS SHE HAS AFFECTED BY OVARIAN TUMOR AND THE DOCTORS ADVISED HER TO OPERATE TO REMOVE THE TUMOR. SHE CAME TO US AND WE ARE USING SP5, SP6, K7, K3, GB14 BUT THERE IS NOT REACTION FOUND AROUND 2 WEEKS.... PLEASE ADVISE
REGARDS,
SENTHIL.M
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
What is your TCM diagnosis with supporting signs and symptoms (tongue, pulse, etc.)?
Comment by Archived User
PULSE : WATER ELEMENT WEAK
TONGUE : WHITE COATING IN MIDDLE SIDE
BODY : FATTY BODY (WEAK)
RANDOM LEG JOINT PAIN & SWELL IN BOTH LEGS
Comment by Archived User
How are you monitoring the change in the patient? Did she have another scan after two weeks?
Comment by Archived User
So without stating the obvious, that ovarian cancer is a very insidious & occult disease in women with fatal consequences, I have to ask some questions (which I'm sure you guys have answered for yourself):
1 / have her MDs ruled out ovarian cancer? Is her condition something they learned about due to investigating pain? or did they find it because the tumor was seen during imaging for something else? She was last at the doctor 8 months ago before you began treating her? Or has she been going back to the MD routinely for updated scans?
2 / If not cancer, what other type of tumor might it be? Did it evolve from a simple cyst, or a corpus luteum that didn't degrade? Is it a teratoma? How long do they think she's had it?
3 / how big is it???
Okay, that all said, it's also concerning that she is experiencing rubor (swelling) in the legs...
4 / is the swelling just in the knees, like an arthritis-type of inflammation, or is it a general swelling, like an edematous reaction, involving the ankles too?
Without answers to these questions I would have to agree with her doctors that perhaps the ovarian tumor should be removed. If they HAVE ruled out cancer, and the tumor is small, and perhaps it's even derived from something rather common like an ovarian cyst, and they are WATCHING it regularly, then I'd say everyone is covering their bases, and by all means your work can only help her.
The points you're using sound good, particularly to move qi & blood, transform dampness, and boost the original (Kidney) qi to help the water element.
Perhaps you can add some points from the following options:
St 40 — for phlegm accumulation (what TCM usually considers tumors to comprise);
Sp 10 / Lv 8 — for Blood accumulation;
Zi Gong Xue — a great local point, if you feel comfortable needling the lower abdomen;
Gb 41 + San Jiao 5 — to open & regulate the Dai vessel (Dai blockages can often lead to accumulations in the Lower Jiao as illustrated with ovarian tumor, and Lower Jiao swelling);
Sp 4 + Pc 6 — to open & regulate the Chong vessel (again, lower body excess can be a factor of the fluids not being evenly distributed in the body due to a lack of flow in the vertical movement of the body along the pathway of the Chong);
Lu 7 + Kd 6 — to open & regulate the Ren vessel (the "sea of yin" and all things material, originating in the lower abdomen where the reproductive organs are);
Ren 4 / Ren 6 — always good points for the reproductive system, probably Ren 4 over Ren 6 if you have to choose one; and
Ren 9 — regulates fluids in body.
I would also recommend herbs for this patient, to be prescribed carefully according to pulse & tongue.