AT the beginning of January a poor woman came me about her little boy who was suffering from a minor complaint, the real patient was herself. She came hobbling in, almost bent double, leaning on two sticks. “Hullo,” I exclaimed, “what have you been doing to yourself?” “Oh,” she answered, “I have got rheumatoid arthritis and the doctor at the hospital says I cant be cured, it can only be relieved with electrical treatment. As I have not time to sit and wait at hospital I must just get on as best I can.”.
I persuaded her to let me have a look at the offending member. On uncovering the legs I found both knees. very much swollen. It took three of my extended hands to go round the knees, they looked red and inflamed and stiff; in my opinion there was certainly serious trouble in both the joints. On the other hand, I did not agree with the prognosis, that is with the conclusion the hospital specialist had drawn.
I asked a few apparently senseless questions, which yielded the following result: the trouble started five months ago in her right knee, it then attacked the left knee as well; she always felt much wore in the afternoon, she was of a yielding nature, rather timid, and really I did not need any more.
The veriest tyro in homoeopathy could guess the right remedy; so one dose of Lycopodium in the 30th potency was given to her and she was instructed to present herself again in a weeks time. There was no attempt made to diet her. I was promising myself to go into that more fully at the next visit.
Several weeks passed by-no Mrs. B. arrived! After six weeks she was seen accidentally by one of the staff, minus her two sticks, “Well, no need to ask you how you are,” said the sister, “you look heaps better, and walking quite upright, too, without any support,” Oh,” she replied.” I can walk all right, but I have still got some pain in the knees.”
She was then persuaded to present herself for a further examination, when I found her knees had almost returned to normal size, there was not redness, just a little stiffness, and some slight locking of the joint. She was then reassured that everything was going on as well as, and better than, I had expected and that, as a matter of fact, she was well on the road to recovery.
Poor thing, she was rather overwhelmed, “But the doctor at the hospital said I could never get better,” she kept on repeating, “he could do nothing more for me!” So there she is, after only six weeks, walking upright without any artificial aid whatever, only a little pain and some locking of the joints.
And in few more weeks that also will be gone. Is it not worth while to study a system of medicine which can do things like this without any effort and so little outward show? And I must add, the sticks were thrown away as being superfluous-within two days-yes, I repeat-two days and, oh! she was supposed to be incurable.
