The Andrew Square Miracle Man

The other day I was in South Boston, walking around Andrew Square area after my dentist appointment. I had some time to kill; so I was kind of just going in and out of some of those little mom + pop type places that dot the Southie area with no particular direction or reason. I stumbled upon a little Chinese Herb shop, like the kind you normally see in China Town. I get acupuncture done pretty regularly, and Chinese Herbs are definitely something I would like to learn more about. I walked in and took a look around.

The owner greeted me, but seemed a little bit cold at first. I asked him about his herbal remedies, which were lining the wall of the store front. He was hesitant to speak with me, as if to be wondering what exactly I was doing there. I explained that I would one day like to become an acupuncturist, and that I was very interested in learning more about Traditional Chinese Medicine.

After showing that I was already familiar with the subject, he began to open up. He brought me downstairs to see his workshop. There, he had bags and bags of powdered herbs labeled in Chinese writing. Hundreds of capsules, lots of scales, and a whole wall lined with shelves full of binders. He took one of the binders down and placed it on a table before us. He smiled, and said that all of the binders held information about his studies that would soon be published in his book. Every single page began with a picture of a large tumorous growth, numbered "1". The next would be the same tumor, visibly smaller, with a date labeled "2"...and so on until the tumors disappeared. I was a little bit shocked and sort of didn't know what to think of it.

I took his card and thanked him for sharing his work with me. Ever since I left the shop I have been doing loads of research on this guy. Who is he? Is he selling some kind of snake oil? Is it possible that this guy is curing cancer out of a Chinese Herb shop in Southie?