My Excellent California Adventure

Wednesday, August 12

Made it to LA after flight delays at Kennedy: Plane was supposed to take off at 6:15 PM, waited 2 hrs on runway for westbound weather to clear, a passenger got "sick" and had to be returned to the terminal, we taxi back and are then informed that JFK is "closed", we then wait 2 more hours for takeoff, we're airborne at 10:30 and arrive LAX 1 AM. I'm in my hotel bed at 2:30 AM local. Office to destination 15 hours.

But . . . the next day, I'm up early of course, because I'm jet-lagged, and then I start making my round of seeing friends. Among which is Dr. Michael Galitzer, an excellent holistic MD who has an office on Wilshire Blvd in West Los Angeles.

Michael and I cross-refer many of our "bi-coastal" patients, and so I wanted to see his operation up-close.

I get there, and Dr. G comes out and greets me heartily, and I share my tale of the previous night's woes with him, so he turns to his nurse and says "Give Dr. Hoffman here a TREATMENT!"

I say "No thanks, no need to bother with me, I know you're busy with patients," and he says "Nonsense, it's no bother, you need an energy re-balancing!" So, a little sheepishly, I accede, and his lovely and talented nurse Kim sits me down and hooks me up to an Ondamed machine, which is a German-developed electronic device that diagnoses electrical imbalances in the body and applies gentle, imperceptible corrective currents.

I had heard about the Ondamed before, many patients and practitioners rave about it, and so it was interesting trying it out. I felt no different after about an hour (it's not instantaneous) after which Kim moved me to another room where I was directed to lie on my back on a water bed where a device was placed on my chest and abdomen and a curved shield covered my eyes. Hey, this is California, right?

Kim told me to close my eyes and relax and turned the gadget on, and I was surprised to feel a deep vibration through my torso in synch with pleasant rhythmic musical tones and wave sounds. Meanwhile, a light show played above my closed eyes creating a Fillmore West effect.

After about a half hour, the music, vibration, and light timed out, and my treatment was over. I thanked Dr. Galitzer and his staff for their hospitality and got in my car and drove off. And, while a little skeptical at first, I have to admit, I felt relaxed and energized, and my jet-lag really was banished. A day later, I thought I was due for a crash, but I woke up early and made my way to the Santa Monica "Y" for a swim and logged 2500 yards. Maybe there's really something to West Coast-style holistic medicine!