I remember my first class in medical school was named after Sun Si Miao who lived during the Sui-Tang Dynasty. He remarked that when patients come for treatment, a sincere Chinese medical doctor cannot discriminate them by their wealth or social ranks, but should help them as their own family members. Patients should be treated the same way, no matter if they are rich or poor, whether they are beautiful or ugly, the Chinese medical doctor should use his or her natural heart and spirit to care for them as him or herself. For this reason, Traditional Chinese Medicine is a natural approach to healing, and the heart and spirit of people who practice this medicine should be one with nature. Sun Si Miao said, “When you treat patients, you have to think their bodies are the same in nature; that way, you can help them and heal them, and then, your spirit and technique can really work for your patients.”

When I arrived in America, I learned the English word “celebrity.” I had several experiences in China following my professor, the president of Shanghai University of TCM, work on government officials and famous people, but in China this service was not arranged by person to person, but through one organization to another. The only thing with which I had to concern myself was the medical treatment; the university arranged everything else.

In New York when I began to work with celebrities, there was more to think about than just the medical treatment. Over time, I learned how to help them through individualized special care with my natural spirit.

Privacy

First, privacy is a very important issue for celebrities. I remember when Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow came to my office in Queens. At that time, the Queens office was in the basement of my house. Brad and Gwyneth arrived at the office in a beautiful long, white, stretch limousine, which stopped in front of my house, and excited my whole neighborhood. My neighbors must have thought there was a wedding at my house or some special event. One of them discovered it was Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow, and told others around the community until there was a group of people standing outside my house. When Brad and Gwyneth came into my office, their presence excited the whole office from the patients in the waiting room to those who were in the treatment rooms.

At that time, in 1994, I did not recognize their names because I had never seen a movie in America.

One of the patients said, “Dr. Jin, why didn’t you tell me he comes here?” I said, “Why?” “Oh my God, my daughter is really, really in love with him. You have to keep him in the office while I go to pick up my daughter and bring her here.” I said, “What? What are you doing?” “If my daughter just sees him once, she will do whatever I ask of her.”

Another patient said the same words; the patients prepared paper and pens for autographs, and they wanted to borrow my camera to take pictures with him. They made me concerned because I did not want people to come to the office and lose their privacy just because they were celebrities. How could I treat a celebrity, with so many people around them?

On that day, I could not concentrate on the treatment because I worried about keeping the patients away from the celebrities. I moved all the patients upstairs to the living room and I set up a makeshift waiting room for them until I finished the treatment for Brad and Gwyneth. I sent the two celebrities back to their car, and I saw a crowd hovered around the car trying to see them. I really felt sorry for Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow that afternoon because I did not think they felt comfortable or relaxed when they had their treatment.

Since that time, I understood that celebrities need a special place, policy, and service not because they are famous and rich, but because they need to receive natural treatment without any tension and stress. Celebrities should feel completely relaxed like ordinary people who step in the office, and not worry about strangers who ask questions about their health concerns. Celebrities do not want to come to the office dressed up and wearing makeup to take pictures with patients.

Shortly after Brad and Gwyneth’s visit, I moved the Queen’s office out of my home and into a professional building. Now, there is a special room set up in the clinic for celebrities to have privacy.

At the Manhattan office, where Bill Cosby comes frequently for treatments, all the doormen, tenants, and visitors ask him for pictures and autographs. Mr. Cosby is very kind hearted and makes a tremendous effort to accommodate their wishes. However it also makes him very tired when he comes in for treatment. That is why I established a house call service for celebrities like him to receive treatment outside the office. Now there is a special room with more privacy in our new office that will make better service to them. The environment is very important for patients to receive Chinese medical treatments in a natural setting.

Natural in Spirit and Natural in Heart

Celebrities become famous, not only because of their talent and of their ability in certain fields, but also because they have the good fortune to meet people at the right time and place. The Chinese people call this fate.

Celebrities are really like everyone else if you consider their physical aspect. In their special position, celebrities experience more stress and pressure even if they are successful and affluent, especially because they lead very stressful lives with hectic schedules. They cannot relax like ordinary people when they want because they are always under the scrutiny of the public eye. As I had mentioned already, they need healing treatments in natural ways for their delicate bodies.

For the Chinese medical doctor, there are two considerations when treating celebrities. The first is that we cannot assume that we work hard on them because they are rich and famous. This is not in accordance with Sun Si Miao’s teachings of treating patients equally in nature. The second is that we cannot hesitate on the treatment out of fear that the celebrity might blame the practitioner if there any risks due to the power and status of the celebrity. If these thoughts arise, the practitioner cannot devote his or her effort to help them heal.

Therefore, when we treat celebrities, our thoughts should be natural in spirit and natural in heart. This is very important. The Chinese have a saying for celebrities, “the highest place is also the coldest place”. I always tell people, if you stand up higher than the ordinary people, everyone who looks at you has to raise their head. It is difficult to find genuine friends, genuine friendships and loves around you. The Chinese say when you are poor the people who help you are your real friends. When you are rich and famous, this is difficult to determine. For the doctor who treats the person in the “coldest place”, the most important thing is to make the person feel natural.

Respect and Understanding

When treating celebrities, respect their special religion and work position and understanding them is very important. The treatment process should be designed very carefully to fit their needs.

When I met Goldie Hawn, I was very surprised. I had seen Goldie Hawn’s movie, but she is even more beautiful and youthful when I met her personally. I can say that she is a naturally youthful person. I first met her at her house by her front door. As you step inside there is a statue of the Kwan Yin Buddha. I assumed Goldie Hawn was a Buddhist or followed Buddhist teachings. So each time I go for a house call, I always light incense and offer a prayer to Kwan Yin for healing energy before I give the treatment because I believe that if Goldie Hawn believes in the healing energy of Kwan Yin, I can respect her beliefs and help her feel comfortable.

Goldie Hawn is a very nice person, with a natural, pretty smile. She always said, “Life quality depends on the outlook. You should be very happy and appreciate whatever you have in life.” She is knowledgeable about Chinese medicine; she practices Buddhism, meditation and yoga. She understands a lot about the natural healing process, on how to put the spirit, body, and mind together to meditate, and how to live in accordance with nature.

She is a very healthy person. Even though she is a very famous celebrity, she tries to live naturally. On the other hand, she has adopted several children in China and supports their education. This moved me very much. When Americans help Chinese children so much, I think about how I can do the same thing for Americans. So that is the reason that when working with celebrities, it is important to respect and understand them, and in the process the doctor can learn also.

When I saw Wesley Snipes, it was 1995 when he was playing a drag queen in the movie called “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.” Wesley had an allergic reaction to the makeup in his eyelid. Whenever he put on makeup, his right eyelid would swell up. The producer called me right away. “Ming, do you have any way to avoid Wesley’s eye from swelling up?”

I went to the shooting location in downtown. Wesley was wearing a long skirt and a ig that gave him very, very pretty long hair just like a glamorous woman. When he took off the wig and dress, I saw a big bald head and big eyes, which shocked me a little bit.

I had Wesley take some herbal pills, and then we started doing acupuncture. Ten minutes after the treatment, he had makeup put on and the swelling was under control. The allergic reaction had subsided.

The producer said to me, “You can’t leave now because the actors always keep refreshing their makeup after each shooting. So you have to stay and each time they reapply makeup you have to give him a treatment.” That night I arrived at the studio at 8:00 p.m. in the evening and worked until 4:00 a.m. in the morning. I gave Wesley three treatments.

I remember that night they shot one scene four times. Each time it was the same thing and it took six hours. When I went to the premier, the scene was only several minutes long out of the whole movie. So I began to appreciate the difficulty of being an actor on a movie set.

Actors work several hours for only several minutes of film. If it is a two- or three-hour movie, there are so many professionals who work together to make movies and television shows. After my experience on the movie set, I prepared a special program for professional actors to prevent allergic reactions to make up, to relax the nervous system, and to fight fatigue because the strenuous work hours can make actors tired and sleepy. In addition, natural treatments can helps actors and actresses’ appearances look energized and refreshed on the screen through natural facials and cellulite treatments with acupuncture and herbs.

Love and Trust

The TCM practitioner should use his or her natural heart and spirit to care for patients as him or herself. For this reason Traditional Chinese Medicine is a natural approach to healing, and the heart and spirit of people who practice this medicine should be one with nature. Sun Si Miao said, “When you treat patients, you have to think their bodies are the same in nature; that way, you can help them and heal them, and then, your spirit and technique can really work for your patients.”

As a Chinese medical practitioner and medical professional, opening your heart to the patient is very important. We can say this is affection because the patient is not a stranger, but a parent, sister, brother, or child, a part of your family.

When Steve passed away, I felt very sad, and even now, the sorrow stays with me and I miss him very much. Steve had late stage lung cancer, and people around him knew that he did not have too much time left. His oncologist had said that after three lung surgeries and two years of chemotherapy, it would not work for him any more.

Ruth came to my office and said to me, “Ming, Ming, if there is any way you can help him, let us try to help him.” Ruth was Steve’s massage therapist and through her eyes I could see the genuine concern she had for Steve as she tried to find a way to help him.

Even though I knew that for late stage cancer patients there is no way to cure them, TCM could help ease the pain, relax the mind and body and help improve the quality of life. That is why I went to his home to start treatment on Steve. Donna, Gabby, and all the people around him had big hope for a miracle to try to keep him alive longer and better.

I have been doing acupuncture on Donna Karan for almost six years now. Six years ago I heard from Donna that her husband, Steve, had lung cancer. He had several surgeries to remove the cancer, but the tumors came back. There was no way to do surgery again because chemotherapy could not control the growth of the tumor, and the blood count dropped down to a very low level. Steve was upset and depressed. Donna wanted him to try acupuncture for a very long time, but he refused in the beginning because he did not understand how acupuncture worked for cancer patients. But after two and a half years since the Western medicine treatment worked less and less on the lung cancer, he was willing to try acupuncture and Chinese herbs to help his symptoms.

When we first met, we talked a long time about the treatment: the cause of lung cancer, the particular type he has, the different treatment approaches with drugs, herbs, acupuncture, and chemotherapy, and his chances of recovery.

I did not tell him that acupuncture and herbs can cure his problem, but I did tell him that they could balance the body and strengthen the energy and help him relax. The symptoms like shortness of breath, pain, and edema can all be helped. I also prepared research papers on acupuncture and Chinese herbs conducted in China for him to read, and I mentioned the herbal formula, jin fu kang, from Shanghai, China had finished phase two clinical trials to be applied as a cancer treatment drug. I thought this was a good herbal formula for Steve to try even for late stage cancer.

I checked with Steve to see if he wanted to do acupuncture or combine acupuncture with Chinese herbs. Steve was very intelligent; he read all the laboratory reports about the herbal formula and then asked several questions that the report did not answer, then asked me to get him detailed information before we started treatment. He started taking jin fu kang, which was only used in China to treat lung cancer. This herb formula have been approved IND from FDA in the United States and will start the clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

I went to China with Steve’s case study, and checked with Professor Liu who developed jin fu kang, and got detailed information and treatment plan for him. Dr. Liu told me that he treated cancer patients for almost forty years. Many patients who have used jin fu kang have lived longer by more than two years, and one patient has even lived more than 10 years. I went back to New York and told the news to Steve and said, “We have to make every effort to hold on to you. You have to give your best effort to cooperate. Only you and I working together can make things happen and bring hope to thousands and thousands of patients who live with cancer.”

“Do you really think we can win?” Steve asked me. “Yes, yes. We will win each day if we don’t give up.” I replied.

Cancer patients face enormous pressure, stress, fear, and hardship. Their life is counted by each day and by each hour. They make me so sad sometimes that I even cry for them. They have to suffer physically with shortness of breath, pain, fatigue and nausea, like Steve. He constantly suffered from coughing and pain in the chest. Cancer patients cannot enjoy food because the treatments make them lose their appetite. They spend their days going to the hospital for treatments, examinations, and check-ups. At night, they suffer from sleeplessness, hearing the ticking of the clock and the snoring of their loved ones, waiting for the next day to arrive.

Many patients cry and question why God has unfairly treated them. For cancer patients, their spirit is far more sensitive and weak than their bodies from physical suffering. Steve also had a difficult time. Donna had to go leave out-of-town to prepare for 2001 Spring fashion show. When I would go their house to give Steve’s treatment, the treatment table was so small compared to their spacious house. We lit the candle; it was so dark. I can still see the tears streaming down from his eyes.

One time I went to the house call, Steve came out of the bedroom with shortness of breath, his whole body covered by sweat. His face turned white from the lack of oxygen. I put the oxygen mask on and started acupuncture and spent more than twenty minutes to help his breathing returned to normal.

He looked at me and said, “I’m so afraid. I love the family, and I love Donna. If I go, what will they do?”

This memory always stays in my mind. I cannot hold back my tears when I think about him. I hoped the medical practitioner really has the capability to treat and help people alleviate suffering and disease and to make their life longer and better. When I thought of Kwan Yin, I remembered there was something that the Buddhists believed about life and death.

I told Steve, “For Buddhists, when people live in this world, one part exists in your body, one part with your spirit. When you die, your body may have passed away, but your spirit is always present for you to be with your family. If the body is alive, but the spirit departs, the body will weaken without the spirit to give it hope. That is why in Chinese medicine, if your spirit is vibrant then your body is present; if your spirit fades away, so will your body. We have to do whatever we can to keep the best outlook for the spirit. You have to keep a positive outlook because you love your family; you love Donna, your kids and all your grandchildren. Please keep a good spirit. Leave it for your family.”

Steve had a very, very great love. When he suffered from lung cancer he had many severe symptoms, but he thought about his family more than himself. Maybe he realized he wanted to leave them with love and a happy spirit. They hardly saw his sadness, stress or tears again. He got stronger through the acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and diet. He appreciated every minute of the day he could spend with family members. Each treatment, he told me about his happiness, how he played with his grandchild on the beach, how happy he felt talking with his son, how happy he felt when he and Donna renewed their wedding vows.

“I am not afraid of death anymore. I hope every day I live will be rich, happy, and meaningful in spirit,” he said.

He kept working in his art studio until three days before his death. I really miss Steve very much, even though we only knew each other and worked together for eight months. His death gave me a lot of thought. He was a celebrity who was wealthy and powerful. His family was affluent but their wealth did not help prolong his life. He was so young and should not have died so early. If he did not work so hard or carry too much stress, would he have gotten this disease? Steve did not smoke and he did not have a family history of cancer, so how could he have acquired such a low immune system? I think a lot of pressure from work may be the most important reason. Celebrities actually need more care, more love, and more trust than an ordinary person. This is an important lesson I learned during my eight years working with them. We should treat them as ordinary people and give them love, and gain their trust for the treatment plan. The most important thing is to give them the chance to return to nature and heal.

I always hear complaints from my colleagues who think that it is very difficult to work with celebrities because their life is worth so much money and they have difficulty trusting medical practitioners. But from my perspective, if we can really give our love to them, we can really gain their trust, no matter how long they live, no matter how difficult the case, we can still win their trust because we are using our true hearts to work with them and try to heal them in the natural way.

Appreciation

When working with celebrities, I have to have a great deal of appreciation for what they have given to me especially Mr. And Mrs. Cosby, who are truly compassionate and have helped at the very beginning when I first started my practice in America.

In the early morning on January 8 1996, I hear the phone ringing, and picked it up to hear Mr. Cosby’s voice, “This is Mr. C. calling my doctor.” His voice was filled with usual sense of humor. “We have arranged for you to go to the south of France to see one of our best friends who wants to lose weight. We want you to come with your husband. Besides work, you can go out and see all the mountains, the ocean, and the beach in France.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you so much!”

I was as happy as a child. When I sat in Mr. Cosby’s private plane, my heart felt like a little girl on her first flight. Since I came to the United States from China, I worked in the clinic everyday and never had a day to go out and see such beautiful sights like the south of France. Captain Beverley showed me the instruments he used to fly the plane and I saw that he had such freedom flying the plane safely and smoothly; it seemed much easier than driving a car.

Southern France is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It looked like paradise or even more beautiful than any picture I have thought. When we arrived in Nice, there was the black stretch limousine that was waiting to take us to the very renowned Hotel Du Cap, which is built along a very beautiful beach. Three gentlemen were waiting for the limousine to pull up. They opened the door and helped us out. They took my luggage out of the trunk. This was the thing that embarrassed me because my luggage had two of the four wheels broken, making the three men carrying it up the beautiful path that leads to the hotel. I hated myself for not fixing the wheels or buying a new one for this trip. I never thought people would carry my luggage for me.

I thought I should tip the three gentlemen, when a man approached me and said, “Dr. Jin? Mr. Cosby would like you to go to the room he stays in.” He gave me the card and showed me where to go. I ran to the second floor; my shoes clicked on the hotel floor making loud noise. I knocked on the door and went in the dining room where Mr. Cosby was sitting. He asked if I had eaten. “Yes I did. I just want to know what time I can start to work.”

“Hey, hey, slow down. Look, your whole head is full of sweat. How can you go to work that way? Go back and rest. Today you have no work.” He said to me. And then he pointed at a big gift box that was placed on the dining table. “Open it. This is a gift for you.”

“Wow! It’s such a beautiful, beautiful bag!” I exclaimed. When I opened the box, there was a beautiful red bag and briefcase.

“The big bag is for you to carry when you go to work. Put all your equipment, your cups, your needles, and alcohol in that bag. The other bag is for your husband because he accompanied you. We have to be fair with him too.”

“I thank you, sir. Thank you so much. I wish I could pay for it myself.”

He laughed loudly, “This is a gift I am giving to you for your work. Go back and rest. You’ll start work tomorrow. Today, go to the beach and rest.”

The gentleman carried the gift to my room. My husband had unpacked the items we had brought and placed them on the bed. There was rice, water, instant noodles, oil, fish, and canned food we brought with us. When the bellman saw the things, his face was surprised. I suddenly felt very ashamed. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a little countrywoman from the farm with a plain forehead covered with sweat. I remembered putting lipstick on my lips but it was gone. My dress had flipped around my body when I had sat on the flight and my shoes were so big and made so much noise. I thought to myself that if I went to a house call in France, the patients might not think I look professional. Suddenly I realized why Mr. Cosby wanted me to rest the first day and see Nice a little.

I have known Mr. Cosby since 1992. He helped me tremendously in my practice. He taught me many things about working with patients in the United States, understanding American culture, and being a professional practitioner. He never said to me directly that I should do this or that, but he used different ways to let me understand what I should do when I practice in the United States.

He recommended many patients to my office, and solved numerous problems I had, and he took me to the Regis and Kathy Lee Show and let me demonstrate acupuncture on his body. He recommended Chinese medicine, herbs, and acupuncture to many other celebrities. He treated me kindly and always tried to help me become a better practitioner so that I may help more people. I was one of the many people that he had helped, but because of it, he had helped my whole life.

That afternoon I went out with my husband to the beach and saw such beautiful clear, blue water. We walked down the street and saw many different famous shops. I tried to remember all the names of the stores but found them difficult to read. Suddenly, I saw the bag in the window that Mr. Cosby had given me. I looked up at the name of the store called “Louis Vuitton” and stepped in to look at all the bags. I was so surprised to find out that the two bags were worth over $1,000.00. I remembered telling Mr. Cosby that I would pay for the bag myself. How could I pay for it when I didn’t have that kind of money on me?

Mr. Cosby probably did not buy the bag for me because he wanted me to become a glamorous woman. During the three years that I worked on him, I never wore make up or cared about my clothes or what I wore. He and his wife were very casual around me and made me feel very comfortable when I stayed with them so that I could concentrate on my work and not feel stressed. Now that I had come to France, the culture and customs were all different. French people cared about fashion and paid attention to the appearance of a doctor. If I worked with them and appeared like a woman from the farm, I do not think I would have been welcomed. I realized this and I thought I should spend some money on myself to change my appearance. I stepped into the Chanel shop and bought a beautiful outfit, sunglass, and a pair of matching shoes. I think these items were the most expensive things I had bought in my whole life.

I believe my heart was still that of a simple Chinese doctor who was concerned about my patients and my work, but I learned to work with different populations so that they would benefit from Chinese medicine. That night I went back to my room. I put my hair up to my head, dressed up and put on make up. I looked at myself in the mirror again and saw a different person. When I opened the bag that Mr. Cosby gave me, I found a beautiful Chanel scarf, which Mrs. Cosby had given me. I felt overwhelmingly thankful for Mr. And Mrs. Cosby not only for the gifts they gave, but also for their love and attention.

One week later, I left Hotel Du Cap. I threw away the luggage with the broken wheels and bought two new suitcases. I thought about my mother who would blame me for being a wasteful woman. From her point of view, the wheels could have been repaired and the luggage used for several more years. But I could not let those gentlemen carry my broken luggage and send me back on the plane. I felt a little sorry for myself for changing and becoming concerned about material pleasures, but I justified my expenses as tuition for learning about my practice.

Mr. and Mrs. Cosby waved good-bye to me. I almost wanted to cry to them; my eyes brimmed over with tears of gratitude but I could not say anything. The Chinese have a saying, “when you meet people who truly help you, you will spend your whole life indebted to them for their kindness.” In my life I hope that I will have a chance to return my thanks to them. In my heart, Mr. and Mrs. Cosby are like my parents, my brother and sister, and my guardians who have taught me and helped me how to practice in American. I am obliged to use my skills and knowledge to take care of their health and do whatever I can to reciprocate their kindness.