Jamuna Rangachari was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which made even difficult day to day tasks impossible for her to accomplish. She shares with us her trials and tribulations.
Detecting the ailment
I once had an issue with my vision but that got resolved on its own even before I went in for a test. Later, I could not walk comfortably, could not even climb stairs and it was a nightmare for me to look around for washrooms wherever I went as I suffered from severe incontinence. This made me avoid going out and I did not know what lay ahead of me. We knew there was something wrong and this is when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
After the diagnosis, I was distraught at first and then did all I could to learn more about the ailment, what could happen and what I would need to do.
There was no cure in allopathy. So, I visited all kinds of doctors, learnt about many therapies and kept reading and re-reading on all the research that was going on. The fact was the more I read, the more confused I became. If one research said that nothing may transpire, the other would even predict an early death, and a third would warn of total paralysis and the loss of the ability to think.
In Tamil, my mother tongue, there is a saying, “Even nectar when taken in excess becomes poison”. This excess reading and thinking that I initially thought was empowering me was doing just the reverse. Slowly and surely, I stopped doing the kind of things I was doing. I started understanding that knowledge does not necessarily mean wisdom. I started doing all that I could do and focussed all my energy on this instead of despairing on things that were either a wee bit difficult or that had not even posed a challenge for me at that point.
The turning point
I was and am still working with Life Positive, a magazine that asks us to focus on possibilities and positive emotions.
When I was handling my challenges, one of the articles, my editor , Suma Varughese, wrote on Karma and Grace seemed to be written just for me. She talked about how we are always cushioned by divine grace even if we need to face difficult circumstances.
Looking back, I can say it was indeed grace that took me to Life Positive. Now, due to my work with Life Positive, I have come across many books and people who truly made a success of their lives, whatever the circumstances.
One such book that also brings out a similar tenet is Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s, “Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!”
Here, the author asks us to work on positivity, no matter what the problem is. Whether it’s unemployment, poor health, loneliness, fear or anything else that blocks our success, the author says we can turn negatives into positives and shares many stories of people who have done so. One of the stories in the book is that of his daughter, Carol Schuller, who had to battle a motorcycle accident at the age of seventeen.
Among Carol Schuller’s various triumphs, what I completely resonated with then and even now is the point where she says, “I look at you girls who walk without a limp, and I wish I could walk that way. I can’t, but this is what I’ve learned, and I want to leave it with you: It’s not how you walk that counts, but who walks with you and who you walk with.”
Another book that inspired me a lot is “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. Based on the extraordinary final lecture by Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, given after he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, this moving book goes beyond the now-famous lecture to inspire readers to live each day with purpose and joy.
As far as I am concerned, I consider myself very fortunate in various areas. I have a family that has proven to be a rock of support in tough times, I work for a magazine that focuses on positivity and I do have friends and well-wishers from almost all walks of life.
These things helped me a lot. I knew I had an ailment but I could and would be able to combat it. I started focussing on gratitude, building and making relationships robust and doing all that I loved doing. My life came back on track, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
I found a doctor, who was also an acupuncturist. The acupuncture therapy proved to be beneficial among other things.
All my issues are now under control and a fitness routine and a proper diet are a part of my life along with meditation and mind control.
Now, having healed myself, I have written a book and have tried to inspire others. A few more lessons that I have learnt in this process is that people heal only when they wish to heal.
I hope and pray that everyone divorces any ailment or what I would call a challenge so they do not have to remain wedded to the ailment or challenge in this data driven, wisdom-less world and move on.
Those who wish to buy my book on my healing from multiple sclerosis can do so at Flipkart Or Amazon. Users outside India can buy the book here. The eBook versions are NOW available at Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble or Kobo
