Entering Nanowrimo Challenge: Art Thief Cracks Healing Code for Parkinson's Disease

Art Thief Cracks Healing Code for Parkinson's Disease Author: Kimberly Burnham Genre: Mystery / Health

Goal: to Write 50,000 words (16,000 done so far) in November for #Nanowrimo Challenge

Premise: Part of a clinical study on Parkinson's disease in Spokane, Washington, a beautifully painted Chinese medicine book is stolen and never returned but in the hunt for the colorful book, Robert and his brother Mark discover other healing treasures. Mark Jacobson, MD is on a mission to help both his brother and his wife recover from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. He will stop at nothing to do it.

Synopsis: A thief, a stealer of hope and art but his heart is in the right place. A rich art collector desperate for healing and redemption. Robert Jacobson is on a journey that crosses paths with both of these people. At 63, a doctor in a white coat with impressive degrees on the wall diagnosed him with Parkinson's disease. That was five years ago. At the end of this year-long journey through the world of art, he has none of the symptoms of his disease and comes close to cracking a centuries-old mystery. Walk with him. See what he sees. Experience a change in your world whether it is near or far from his home in Spokane, Washington.

Excerpt: Prologue, Present Day

Hi Mom,

      I saw a client today who told me the most incredible story that I thought I would share because it might help you and dad.

      In the 70's when Nixon went to China, a rich 35 year-old woman was part of the entourage. She wasn't a politician but rather interested in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She was looking for rare books with pictures that she could look at without having to understand or be able to read Chinese. Through interpreters as Nixon did his business, she bought several beautifully artistic old books on acupuncture and when I say old, I mean hundreds of years old. An artist hand drew these books, kind of like medieval monks copying the Bible. She bought them and that was the last the world heard of those books. The details of how she "acquired" them didn't come out for years. They were in her private very exclusive collection until last year when one of them was stolen.

      Since they had never been sold in the United States no one knew anything about them until the woman was talking to her doctor about some recent headaches and he did some screening and it turned out she had early stage Parkinson's disease. Usually, she would be very careful about not talking about her collection but the doctor was so insistent that she go on medication and so arrogant that she told him she had been treating the symptoms for years with these Chinese books.

      What did she mean treating with a book? He asked.

      She said when she was in her late 60's, so maybe 20 years ago, she had developed a tremor and trouble walking. A friend had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's and so she knew that's what it was. Over the next year or so the symptoms got significantly worse but she was a very reclusive person and had had a bad interaction with the medical system as a child so she didn't go to the doctors.

      Anyway, she started thinking about the books she had bought in China and got one out. It was all about the Wood elements, which are the liver and the gallbladder. There were mostly pictures of the organs and wood things like trees and plants and green things like green birds and reptiles, etc.

      She would meditate as she looked at the pictures. Not meditate in a serious structured way but rather just kind of relax and let her focus soften as she looked at the paintings in the book.

      She felt good while she was looking at the books, kind of peaceful like and then her friend, the one that also had Parkinson's, said one day that her, the rich woman's tremors seemed better.

      She said, "really do you think so."

      "Yes, you don't notice it?"

      "Maybe, now that you have pointed it out."

      It took a while to figure out but she felt like looking at the books was helping so she invited her friend over to look at the books with her. And they both continued to get better till neither one had any symptoms.

      She told the story to the doctor who of course didn't believe her at all and thought she might be hallucinating.

      As far as she can tell, he was joking about her and her crazy books at a barbecue with another doctor and, I guess, after one too many beers he gave enough details so that the second doctor figured out who it was. I know a HIPPA violation, right.

      Anyway, the second doctor was much more open-minded. He approached her about seeing the books and asked if he could do some tests with them and maybe a clinical trial. She said, absolutely not but somehow he convinced her.

      That is how my client ended up in a clinical trial with this book. There were 20 people diagnosed with Parkinson's in the test group and 20 people diagnosed with Parkinson's in the control group. Each group had 10 women and 10 men. The control group looked at a book with European art from the 1600s in it.

      On a separate note, the client's nephew has been named Legoist-in-residence for the Brisbane airport. Remember I told you I had seen an ad for the position. He is having a blast. I have seen postcards of a few of his creations, which are just awesome. Jack would love that job.

      The test group sat and looked at the images in the Wood elements book for 20 minutes a day for a month. And they all started feeling better except for one man. It turned out later that he had been misdiagnosed and had something else going on, not Parkinson's. There were a few improvements in the control group but nothing spectacular.

      Everything was going amazingly well until the book was stolen from the hospital.

      The FBI was brought in because the book was so valuable. The hospital staff was interrogated. A friend of mine is a physical therapist there and when I say interrogated I mean they were very serious. My friend didn't even know anything about the study or the book or the theft and she wasn't even working when it was stolen and they talked to her for three hours about every detail of her work and time spent at the hospital.

      Then a month later the book just appeared. It showed up wrapped very carefully in a special paper at the front desk. It was a busy day and the front desk intake staff didn't remember anything unusual. There had been some courier deliveries and several packages but one of the nurses just notice this large package addressed to the doctor doing the study but no other markings or address.

      Inside was the book in perfect condition and a note that said, "Sorry for the trouble. It was vital that I have this for 30 days."

      Well, he shouldn't have left the note because that is how the FBI caught him. It turns out his wife or some family member had Parkinson's and was not selected for the study. She was doing very poorly and he felt desperate to try anything. She is doing much better and while he had the book, she looked at the pictures for an hour every day but he also had each page reproduced like a museum print in the gift shop. Then one of his artist friends enhanced each page of the reproduction with paint. An energy healer was also involved in the reproduction and they felt that the woman, the thief's wife, could just look at the reproductions and continue her healing, which she did.

      Kind of like homeopathy. They took the energy from the original book and without destroying the book they made copies.

      They still don't know how the original book was made to contain such energy but one of the neurologist's was talking about how various sensations change the brain and maybe that is what it is.

      There are several academics who are trying to find out more information about the Chinese artist and the way he painted.

      Almost the most interesting thing is that they did a separate study where the study participants stood for a couple of minutes in the postures of the people in the images in the book. And they started to walk better and move better.

      I know it is a crazy story, which I would not have believed myself, if I didn't know a few of the people involved.

      I just got a painted reproduction of the book and I am sending it along for you and dad to look at. You don't have to do anything except relax and look at the images. Let me know how you feel.

      Researchers are also looking at the other four books and as you might imagine the market for ancient Chinese books has skyrocketed. Makes me wish I had bought acupuncture books when I was in China in 1985.

Love, Kim