We were lucky to catch up with Debbie Rodriguez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Debbie, thanks for joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?
Because my specialty is fertility, the journey to conception is often a rocky one. Women often come to see me when other avenues have not worked. One of the first things I tell women is that the goal is not merely to become pregnant but to have a healthy baby. Their spirit often challenged and often question why this is happening to them.
However, Traditional Chinese Medicine has a holistic way of viewing the body so I ask a lot of questions regarding how they digest their food, how they sleep, what foods they eat and are they warm or cold just to name a few. This helps me determine their constitution and the best way I can provide support for them through acupuncture and herbal therapy as well as emotional support.
One gal in particular came in and was distressed because more than anything she wanted to be a mom but thought she was a lost cause. She had been told she had polycystic ovary syndrome. Because of this, her monthly cycle was very unpredictable – sometimes 60 days sometimes longer. Our first goal was to get her to have a regular cycle, which was a challenge. After several months of herbal therapy and acupuncture, her cycle was consistently between 28-30 days. She was thrilled because she now had an opportunity to become pregnant. She had an IUI and on the first try discovered she was pregnant! She was overjoyed! She had a successful pregnancy and now has a beautiful baby boy. As of this date, her cycles have remained regular and she is now trying for her second child.
I believe in this medicine and it brings me great joy to be able to walk with someone through a challenging time and then see them reach their goal.
Debbie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My journey to Chinese Medicine is quite personal. Long ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. At the time, I was in a lot of pain and taking a lot of time off work because of fatigue and pain. Fortunately for me, I was allergic to the medication the Rheumatologist prescribed and all he could offer me was a daily regimen of ibuprofen. All this seemed to do was make me very irritable and didn’t really address my pain. My chiropractor at the time suggested I try acupuncture. It was a life-saver! It took some time but I was pain free. I was so thankful and impressed with the medicine, I decided to go back to school to study. After receiving my Master’s in Traditional Chinese Medicine, I became interested in women’s health. Fertility issues are a huge challenge for the modern woman. After all I had learned about the medicine, I decided to further my education and pursue my doctorate specializing in fertility. The additional education helps me to greatly understand the inner workings of the female body and how imbalances can greatly affect one’s health.
I offer my patients education in how Chinese Medicine and herbal therapy works. I believe that once the patient can understand how and why the treatment is working, it helps to empower them with knowledge. I firmly believe that a good practitioner engages the patient in their own healing. I feel that I differ from others in that I truly listen to my patients to learn their concerns. Everyone needs to feel heard and often times, that seems to be lacking in other disciplines.
The name of my practice is Heart of Healing Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine – the most powerful healing comes from the heart and has its basis in love. That is probably the most important thing anyone should know about me.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
My only regret is that I was not exposed to Chinese Medicine earlier in my life. This is such a rich tradition and there is always so much to learn and delve deeper into theory. Chinese Medicine has its origins about 2500 years ago and it is amazing how the basic concepts are valid today. Sometimes we work so hard to modernize traditions and leave the old ways behind but fail to realize how they can compliment one another. I do not believe one medicine is superior to the other. In the future, I would hope it could just be one medicine.
I definitely would choose the same profession, without a doubt.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I decided to attend Chinese medicine school, I chose a school in Los Angeles. I was also living in San Diego and working full time. There were many sacrifices I had to make. The biggest of which was time. I rearranged my work schedule so I could work from 6 am to 2:30 pm and then drive to Los Angeles for class from 6 pm to 10 pm. One would think I would be exhausted but every time I left school for my 2 hour drive home, I felt exhilarated! This in itself shows my determination; however, there would be other challenges along the way. Part way through school, my mom took ill, my brother had a severe illness scare and I experienced a pretty severe flare-up of rheumatoid arthritis that had me question whether I could continue. My love of this medicine and thirst for knowledge kept me on my path, quitting was not an option. I still have that thirst for knowledge and always strive to learn more and how to integrate it in our modern, fast paced world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heartofhealingacupuncture.com
- Instagram: heart_of_healing_acupuncture
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Heart-of-Healing-Acupuncture-Reproductive-Medicine-167930249786/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heartofhealingacupuncture/
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/hp89acMhnb