acupuncture for Todd MacC

[Guest guest]

http://www.delcotimes.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675 & dept_id=18170 & newsid=10226204 & P\

AG=461 & rfi=9

CARYL KAUFFMAN , Special to The Times 09/26/2003

When the 76ers announced last week that center Todd MacCulloch would

join the team for training camp, some people took a leap of faith.

" Since that was published there’s been a lot of people who’ve called me

from Winnipeg and they’re like, ‘This is great. You’ll be ready for

training camp,’ " MacCulloch said. " I’m like, ‘What are you talking

about?’

Basically, what I told them is I’m optimistic that I’m going to be

feeling better.

In a phone interview yesterday, McCulloch said he has hope because he

has seen " small signs of improvement " in his battle against a nervous

system disorder that has attacked his feet and hands.

" My balance isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be and my ankle strength

seems to be somewhat improved, " he said. " Some of the tingling is not as

intense, but there are still strange things that I feel in my feet.

" I feel like I want to try and be ready (to play) if I continue to

improve. It’s been really slow. There’s no way I’m ready to jump in on

the drills. Some people, I guess that’s what they want and that’s what I

want, and I wish that was the case. "

MacCulloch was diagnosed last year with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a

degenerative condition of the peripheral nervous system for which there

is no cure and no real treatment.

But because he has seen improvement, however slight, MacCulloch isn’t

entirely convinced that C-M-T is causing all of his symptoms. He feels

that perhaps there’s an underlying cause that will respond to treatment

and he’s been exploring various alternatives.

" I’ve been trying to make my body as healthy as possible with health

stuff and I’ve been doing stretches to try to strengthen the interior

muscles in my feet so they’ll be better able to support pounding, " he

said.

He’s also undergone accupuncture treatments with Dr. Gangyi Dong of West

Chester.

" I’ve been doing that, and the guy I’m seeing has had some success, "

MacCulloch said. " He’s worked with people with peripheral neuropathies.

" From what I understand there are different meridians and your body has

its own energy and they sort of tap into that. If there’s energy

blockages, it (the accupuncture) gets the energy flowing and helps to

promote healing. ... They’ve been doing it in China for 10,000 years so

there’s got to be something to it. "

Generally speaking, the quality of MacCulloch’s life has not been

drastically affected, although if he walks too much or stands too long,

his feet begin to bother him.

Running is out for now.

" It takes a few steps of running before (the symptoms) really get drawn

out and they get drastically increased, " he said. " That’s one of the

things that’s obviously important to play basketball and that’s why

there needs to be more improvement and more dimming of these other

symptoms so when I do (run) it’s not going to exacerbate them. "

For now, MacCulloch will do with the Sixers pretty much what he did in

the last half of last season. He’ll be with the team in camp and go

through stretching and other forms of conditioning. He won’t take part

in drills.