Testimonials

I am convinced that the role of Integrative Medicine is responsible for more than 50% of the success of my 12-year cancer journey. For me, this journey was guided by Amy Matecki, M.D. to whom I am overwhelming grateful. As a registered nurse, I have the highest level of professional respect for Dr. Matecki. You can discuss concerns and theories with her, she listens and most important, she cares. With Dr. Matecki, in addition to acupuncture, we worked with a nutritionist to determine nutritional supplements and worked with my oncologist to develop a therapy plan after absorption problems apparently developed after over 100 intramuscular injections. Dr. Matecki also provided me with the opportunity to attend lectures and symposiums to learn about my disease and new developments.  This was so important in helping me make good decisions about my care.    

Two months into my cancer chemotherapy, in spite of all recommended supplements, I developed significant neuropathy in my hands. My oncologist felt that acupuncture (one discipline of Integrative Medicine) was having some success and referred me to Dr. Matecki. Acupuncture assisted me in controlling my nausea and depression, aided my body in maintaining my immune system, and over the next 12 (yes 12) years, was used to promote liver and kidney function, relieve infrequent joint dysfunction, and, in spite of metastasis 5 years ago,  helps me maintain a tolerance of therapy and a high degree of quality of life.

The simple name “Integrative Medicine” does not do justice to the multifaceted disciplines and services involved. In addition to acupuncture and nutritional therapy, I invited other disciplines to assist. I participated in a support group, massage therapy, chiropractic therapy, Yoga, chanting, music, and one of my favorites, line dancing with a cancer group.  

Western Medicine is important in cancer therapy, but emphasizes (1) poison it, (2) cut it out, and (3) radiate it. All of these modalities target the cancer cells but are also harmful to my body and greatly increase the designed task for the various body organs. If you had side effects, the solution was to give you more chemicals, thus creating more work for the body to detoxify and eliminate the byproducts. 

I believe Eastern medicine seems to recognize the wonderful and powerful ability of the body to try and care for itself. Eastern medicine is there to assist all systems to function as intended or at least to the maximum they are able. Any blockage of energy to its intended site creates more work for a body trying to deal with current disease and treatment. Acupuncture assists in opening the channels of energy flow. Herbs and nutritional supplements provide the body with the necessary nutrients to function as intended. 

– Bonnie Bouey

Radiation for breast cancer left me with extraordinary fatigue, depression, and pain and swelling in my left breast (lymphedema) for over a year after I concluded my treatments. And then these symptoms were compounded and augmented with weight gain, digestion problems, insomnia, anxiety and leg and feet cramps when I started taking Tamoxifen. When I first met Dr, Matecki, I felt so beaten down and hopeless, I cried during the entire first session. She said to me, “Cara, I will give you your life back,” which I did not believe.

But a day or so after the first session I noticed a huge improvement in my mood. I felt noticeably less depressed and more energized. And as I continued to get weekly sessions, I began to feel better and better, my nocturnal leg and feet cramps disappeared, my naps shrank down to 45 minutes from 2-3 hours every day and my breast swelling and pain started to recede. In fact, after several months of bi-weekly sessions, I fit back into my regular bras, though sometimes I swell up toward the end of the day. With continued sessions I have lost my Tamoxifen weight, maintained a more energetic state and find my anxiety and depression far more manageable than even when I took Psych Mds Dr. Matecki, did indeed, give me my life back.

-Cara Kagan, 46 – Beauty and Health Writer

I received my diagnosis of stage 1c ovarian cancer right after Valentine’s Day of 2011. Since then I have had complete removal of my reproductive system with staging biopsies and 10 rounds of chemotherapy. My surgeons and oncologists did their best for me, but the physician who really seemed to be healing me was Dr. Amy Matecki. Surgery and chemotherapy were necessary evils; each had notable, unpleasant side effects from which I had to recover. Dr. Matecki’s therapies – acupuncture and nutritional support – were in themselves healing, and helped cure the side effects of the conventional therapies.

Surgery and chemotherapy weakened me. I lost about 10 lbs from surgery, over the course of a week. Chemotherapy suppressed my bone marrow and my appetite, further sapping my strength. The drugs also began to damage my peripheral nerves, resulting in numbness and tingling and affecting my balance. One of my oncologists recommended acupuncture for the nerve damage.

I had never had acupuncture, and was a bit skeptical – I am a western-trained physician, after all. But the nerve damage frightened me, and there didn’t seem to be any serious side effects to acupuncture. I began to see Dr. Matecki twice a week. I realized that I was recovering nerve function between chemotherapy treatments, rather than relentlessly progressing as I had feared. Now, 13 months after my last chemotherapy treatment, I seem to be neurologically intact, and my balance is good enough to do one-legged yoga poses!

Dr. Matecki’s nutritional supplement and herb prescriptions have been tremendously helpful as well. My strength and stamina, so depleted by surgery and chemotherapy, have been restored. I have returned to running and hiking. A few of my hiking partners, impressed by my energy, have consulted Dr. Matecki as well, even though they are not cancer patients!

While I appreciate the care of my surgeons and oncologists, I believe that Dr. Matecki has done the most to restore my health. Unlike surgery and chemotherapy, her acupuncture and nutritional modalities, as well as the qi gong and meditation practices she encouraged me to try, have offered benefits with no unpleasant side effects. Rather than just waiting for possible future recurrence, I am living a happy, active life in the present.

– Dr. Matecki’s patient: A. Stoloff MD

In April 2009 I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. I was 59 years old and leading the stressful life of a litigation attorney in the Bay Area. Since triple negative breast cancer is thought to be an aggressive cancer that is not treatable with hormone therapy or other less intrusive approaches, my doctors prescribed a rigorous treatment of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. I was frightened at the thought of going through this highly toxic treatment but also afraid not to follow my doctors’ recommendation. For many years, I had been interested in holistic alternatives to traditional Western medicine and so asked whether anything like that was available. My oncologist recommended that I meet with Dr. Amy Matecki, the Medical Director at Alta Bates Comprehensive Medical Center in Berkeley. She pointed out Dr. Matecki’s unique training as both an M.D. and a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

I will never forget that first meeting. My partner, Donna, was with me and we both were immediately drawn to Dr. Matecki’s charming and caring personality. We remarked later on her wonderful energy and warmth and I felt very encouraged about working with her. My first acupuncture treatment was on my 60th birthday. Although I had started chemotherapy only a few days before, a process that is scary for most people, I felt excited and grateful to be in the care of a person who I recognized as a true healer. The alternative treatments I received from her while going through radiation and chemotherapy greatly reduced the negative side effects.

I have been under Dr. Matecki’s care for over 5 years and so far my cancer has stayed in remission. I fully acknowledge and appreciate the good care that I received from my surgeon and oncologists but I feel especially indebted to Dr. Matecki for providing health care that is so different from the disjointed and stressful experience that seems to predominate in this country. Her holistic approach of acupuncture, nutritional support, and energy-boosting meditative practices such as Qi Gong has not only kept me healthy it has improved the quality of my life in every respect.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met Dr. Matecki and to have had the benefit of her care. She is a visionary healer who has courageously worked against overwhelming odds to transform the health care system from its narrow, dysfunctional, and business driven model to a system that is compassionate, patient-centered, and built on truth not dollars. She is not just my doctor; she is my hero.

-Dr. Matecki’s patient: Barbara Dickey. Esq (Attorney)

“The ICIM residency program for Integrative Chinese Medicine was outstanding. There is no other place that offers this type of program currently. Before I joined the residency program, I had limited experience communicating Integrative Chinese Medicine to MDs. Being able to talk with medical students and the supervising physicians helped build my confidence and my understanding of how and what to communicate. Cycling through the different treatment teams with the residents gave me a profound understanding of the training of MDs in a hospital setting and a genuine respect for Medical doctors. Rotations like cardiology, neurology nephrology and Gastroenterology all enriched my experience and taught me valuable insights into modern medicine. My experience in ICIM’s program provided the foundation for working in a hospital setting and informs my current work in a teaching hospital regularly.”

-K Scott Phelps (2018 – 2020), Lead Inpatient Acupuncturist, UCI Medical Center, Orange, CA, 92868