Tests and trials in life often carry hidden wisdom, even when we can’t see it at the time.
From early childhood, I watched my dad suffer from chronic gastritis, which eventually developed into a benign cancer. His table was always covered with medications, and he could only eat soft, cooked foods. His smile meant everything to me, so at nine years old I learned how to make pancakes—his favourite—just to brighten his day.
By the age of eleven, while my mum was at work, I was the one caring for him. I massaged his back and legs, did fire cupping, prepared his food and medications, and often cried and prayed for his health.
At school, my German teacher noticed that I was doing well and encouraged me to focus on improving my German, even suggesting that I take part in Language Olympiads. She was right — learning languages (Russian and German at that time) and using them always brought me joy. My results in the Olympiads were consistently strong, and seeing my parents proud gave me even more motivation. Around the same time, my dad’s health was also improving significantly.
After graduating from school, I sat the state exams and earned a full scholarship to study at the World Languages University for the six years.
Fast forward: after completing my Master’s degree, I got married, moved to London, and gave birth to our first child. My husband and I hoped to have a second baby before our daughter turned five, but it just wasn’t happening for several years. Eventually, we decided to visit a local acupuncture clinic. After a brief consultation, we began weekly acupuncture sessions along with herbal treatments.
Funny enough, during that first appointment, neither of us mentioned that we were trying for another baby. I told our acupuncturist a few weeks later, and she looked at me in surprise. “Oh! Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” she said — then rushed back to needle my husband a bit more. Poor thing!
Six weeks later, we found out I was pregnant. The pregnancy went smoothly, and we were blessed with a baby boy.
When he was around two to three months old, he began developing eczema. The various prescribed moisturisers and steroid creams only offered temporary relief, but I continued using them. A few times a year, his skin would flare up — inflamed, infected, and bleeding from constant scratching. Seeing him like that broke my heart every single day. I used to pray constantly for his health.
Long socks instead of tiny baby mittens, carefully trimmed nails, an impeccably clean house, gentle clothing, and non‑bio washing powders became my daily routine to prevent flare‑ups. This continued for years, until one day we met Professor Batechko from Ukraine through a Russian acquaintance (this was years before the war in Ukraine). He happened to be visiting the UK on a short trip.
He saw my son and recommended a long list of lifestyle changes and dietary adjustments, along with some supplements. From that day on, we followed every piece of advice and implemented the changes as a family. The first big step was removing processed foods, sugar, and gluten from our diet. It wasn’t easy at first, but we were determined. And we didn’t have to wait long for results. After just a couple of months, my son was finally able to sleep peacefully, play freely and laugh — without scratching himself.
I was so encouraged by his progress that I began learning more on my own, reading books about naturopathic healing and sharing everything I discovered with other parents. Knowing I could help others made me feel like I was truly making a difference.
Even with all the improvements, my son’s eczema would still flare up occasionally, seemingly out of nowhere, before settling down again. These ups and downs made me hesitant to take him to gatherings, especially where there was easy access to the foods we were working so hard to avoid.
One birthday party still makes me emotional and grateful that I have such caring friends in my life. My friend Nargiza invited more than 30 guests for her daughter’s birthday and baked a big gluten‑free, egg‑free, low‑sugar cake from scratch so my toddler son could feel included too. Baking a cake with those ingredients is hard work on its own, and she still had to prepare so much food for everyone. The best part is that everyone loved her cake. I can never thank her enough.
During those years, my husband was working under extreme pressure and carrying a lot on his shoulders. He kept everything inside and tried to appear fine at home, but hidden and suppressed emotions always find a way to surface. Eventually, he began developing psoriasis that spread rapidly across different parts of his body. Nothing we tried — dietary changes, supplements — made a real difference, so he started using steroid creams prescribed by his doctor. As we had seen before, they helped only temporarily. Even becoming vegan for two full years brought some improvement, but it wasn’t the solution we hoped for.
With all these challenges, I often found myself asking,
“Why are they facing these issues?”,
“What are we meant to learn from these tests?”,
“Why aren’t they fully recovering?”, and
“What else can I do to help them?”
Then one day, while I was giving my son his vitamins, something unexpected happened. My daughter picked up one of the supplement bottles, read the label, and asked, “Mum, are you a practitioner? It says you’re not supposed to take this unless it’s prescribed by a practitioner.”
Her question hit me deeply. Even though the supplement had originally been recommended by Professor Batechko years earlier, what she said felt like a sign — the push I had been waiting for. It was as if she answered all the questions I had been asking myself with a single sentence. It brought me back to my childhood dream, formed during the years when my dad was so unwell: I wanted to help people heal.
For years, I had strange recurring dreams of sitting in exam rooms where everyone around me was writing quickly, while I sat frozen, unable to understand what exam I was even taking, staring at a blank sheet of paper with rising anxiety. My daughter’s question suddenly made sense of those dreams too. I needed to study. I needed to change my career direction — immediately.
After weeks of online searching, I told my husband that I wanted to study naturopathy and acupuncture properly. He was happy that I wanted to focus on my education again and fully supported my idea. From that day onward, the recurring dreams about exams stopped immediately. I took it as a sign of God’s approval of my decision.
Going to college didn’t happen right away, as I was homeschooling our son after my daughter to prepare him for the 11+ exams. Once he entered a grammar school, I finally began my studies at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) in London. When I joined, I met so many other students who, like me, had their own personal stories about why they chose this path — it was incredibly inspiring.
At CNM, I studied Biomedicine for a year, followed by two years of Naturopathic Studies and Principles, three years of Acupuncture, and finally a Postgraduate course in Iridology. The workload was intense, but I loved discovering new information every day from such knowledgeable and experienced teachers. When it came time to put everything into practice, my family happily volunteered to be my guinea pigs. Seeing real improvements in the people I loved gave me the confidence that I was truly on the right path.
After graduating from CNM, I jumped into another chapter and began studying Chinese Herbal Medicine at the White Crane Academy, learning directly from some of the UK’s pioneers — Andrew Flower, Simon King, Michael McIntyre, Trevor Wing, and many others who are experts in their fields. Practising and treating patients with various conditions under their supervision every week throughout the course was the most rewarding part of the journey.
Studying in my 40s with teenagers at home may not sound easy, but I hope I’ve shown my children that they can achieve their dreams as long as they put in the effort, set their intentions correctly, and remain steadfast. Even now, I ask my parents to pray for me, and I remind my children never to underestimate the power of their parents’ dua — it gives an extra boost in everything they do. By the way, my dad, husband, and son are all doing well. Thanks to God!
Looking back at the tests and challenges we faced, I now understand more clearly why we had to go through them. They shaped us into who we are today and guided us toward the path we were meant to follow. Leaving all my loved ones behind in my homeland and coming to the UK with my student‑husband in 2005 brought its own challenges too.
One day, a lovely elderly English patient of mine asked, “Don’t get me wrong, just out of curiosity — why did you come to the UK?” I smiled and replied, “To treat and help my dear patients.” He smiled back, raised his eyebrows, and nodded.
My intention was always to gain this medical knowledge in the UK before continuing my studies years later in China (which is a story for another time). I’m hopeful that I can continue to be of benefit to the people around me — and even to those further away — by sharing as much useful information as I can.
