Dad says son aided by herbs
By Michael Clement, 1993-05-22 Toronto Sun

DuoSuccess.com

The father of a boy whose blood disorder is in remission after treatment by a Chinese herbalist wants people to know about alternative medicines.

Ringo Wu's son Gordon, 31/2, first got sick in the summer of 1990 with a rare blood disorder for which he needed a bone marrow transplant.

Some 23,000 people in Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Hong Kong donated blood for a marrow test, but no match was found.

In 1991, while the bone marrow match was being sought, Gordon was also on chemotherapy through the Hospital for Sick Children.

Ringo Wu said the chemotherapy was not to cure, only to suppress the disease, until a match became available.

But from April to Sept. of 1991, in addition to chemotherapy, Gordon was also given Chinese traditional medicine, prescribed by Wei Quan Long.

Long, 35, told the Sun through a translator that he trained in western medicine at a medical college in Canton, but after 11/2 years of practice in surgery, he turned to traditional Chinese medicine.

Long, who has been in Canada three years and is waiting for his citizenship, said he respects western medicine and he doesn't suggest that he "cured" Gordon.

Wu and his wife, Barbara, 35, would mix 10 to 12 different herbs and roots for their son, prescribed by Long, boiling them down to a bitter half cup drink.

 

Blood tests normal

The lad's blood tests have been normal for the last 11/2 years, Said his father, 40, a computer network analyst.

Long feels the Richmond Hill boy may have been helped by the combined effect of the chemotherapy and the Chinese traditional medicine.

Wu said Gordon's Chinese herbal medications were stopped because Long felt he didn't need them any more.

However, he must now eat occasionally certain food, such as pork liver, lung or intestine cooked as a soup.

"He's running around the house all the time like a normal-three-year-old," said Wu.

He said his son will attend junior kindergarten at St. Joseph's Catholic School in Richmond Hill starting in September.

The once-doomed lad will be four on Sept. 5 and goes to Sick Kids every four months for a blood test.

Wu said according to a Sick Kids blood specialist, his son's tests have been fully normal for 11/2 years.

Dr. John Doyle, a blood specialist at the Hospital for Sick Children told Canadian Press:

“I can't answer whether the herbs played a role, but I cannot endorse their use as there is no scientific evidence of their value.