Dong Quai, my Mother, and Death

One fine morning I was at the local coffee shop finishing up my Materia Medica assignment. Flipping through the pages of my usual reference book, The Energetics of Western Herbs by Peter Holmes, I looked up Dong Quai / Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis) and suddenly I remembered my mom so deeply. I was flooded with emotion. Sadness and grief overcame my being as I stared at the page in front of me. Her pain. Her suffering. The symptoms of her liver disease. It all came back to me as I read the functions and indications of Dong Quai.

"NOURISHES THE LIVER AND THE BLOOD, AND RELIEVES FATIGUE; RESTORES AND PROTECTS THE LIVER AND REGULATES METABOLISM 

blood deficiency: fatigue, white complexion, nails and eyelids; dizziness, palpitations, anemia, vitamin E deficiency" 

As I continued to read the extended Notes, I come to learn that Dong Quai acts as a restorative to the liver and blood, especially metabolic deficiencies centered around the liver (known traditionally in Traditional Chinese Medicine as Blood deficiency). It is infamous not only for being an overall womyn's health herb but also as a blood and chi tonic and hepatoprotective (prevents damage to the liver). As I continued reading, I found myself matching all liver and blood-related indications with that of my mother's liver disease symptoms. At the end of the page, I found myself wishing that I had known about this herb, or cared enough to search for this herb in the early stages of her disease. There are a lot of things I regret in regards to my mother's death. "I wish I could've helped her more. I wish I could have... I wish..." But, I know now that there's nothing I could have done to save her life. Perhaps, I could have tried harder to ease her pain...

Since Dong Quai, I've found myself regularly encountering the memory of my mother and her fatal disease through my research of other herbs. I don't get as emotionally triggered as I did with Dong Quai. But I make a mental note to remember when I encounter these herbs. Perhaps, I can save someone else's life or ease someone else's pain one day with Dong Quai...

You can view the Materia Medica of Dong Quai / Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis) here.

For Joe Hollis' introduction to Dong Quai, watch this video that was lovingly filmed by Jennifer Noll: