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The doctor there had a look at all my reports and did his initial diagnosis and gave us an affirmative that I was curable 95% but would take about a year. I was game as I had nothing to lose. All targets were blown in the wind. It was around June 2015 now and I just wanted to back to normalcy a.s.a.p. It was around now, we decided to stop the other attender too, which my school buddies had organized. I thanked them profusely. While they acknowledged my thanks, they also told me to “FO’. Now, those are buddies.
We started the ayurvedic treatment with the mandatory warm medicated oil massages, steam baths, etc. It was now during one of the sessions, when the therapist/masseur yanked my left arm to straighten it, I thought – if a tandoori chicken or a thanksgiving turkey had feelings, I know how they feel when they have their limbs pulled out of the socket. OUCH! I just screamed in pain. The guy must have been so used to it that he just patted my back and told me to calm down.
He did the same with my left foot. But lo and behold with the pain subsiding in a few minutes, I felt so much relief that I thought I was good to go. But no, the shoulder, elbow and left ankle were straightened to an extent from their curled-up position and was a tad easier to move. There were a lot of dietary restrictions and the list of NOs was longer than the Yes. To name a few, white rice, wheat, tamarind, fermented foods, non – veg foods were in the No list. Now, as a South Indian – all staples like steamed rice, idlis, dosas, sambar, etc. were off the list. Mummy! Why? None of the comfort foods.
Sheesh!! My diet consisted more of boiled vegetables, pulses, lentils, fruits, etc. This went on for about 10 months and during this time, I got a temporary assignment as a management consultant for an office furniture dealership. Coincidentally, the assignment and the diet ended around the same time. There was remarkable improvement in my movement and general outlook. Yes, there were several bouts of depression, mood swings, etc. but I learnt to keep it in check with the help of Kavitha and the kids. I cannot thank God enough for the support they provided despite all the burden they had to undergo on account of me (a 50 + year old overgrown baby!!). I owe my very existence to them now. Around this time, I connected with some of my school buddies from Class 10 via WhatsApp but did not mention my condition to them. Social media was helping to keep my wits about me. Though nobody understood that. They just termed it addiction. Kids were doing fairly well in school inspite of the late hours they kept because of me. I was getting emotional over silly things. There was an instance when WWE was going on TV and Stone-Cold Steve Austin came on screen. When I saw that, I was trying to recollect who it was and quizzed if it was Steve Austin with tears running down my face. The kids were shocked and hysterical at the same time. That is when Keerthi commented “Papa, we have never seen you cry. You always kept your emotions bottled in. Now, let all that emotional garbage come out”. That, coming from a 15-year-old was profound! For the life of me, I did not why I was crying! There were several such instances post that. Though the frequency was reducing, I started noticing it was more when topics were relating to family or old memories. This could be during a conversation or even while watching a movie and a piece of dialogue or even some part of the screenplay that triggers a memory from childhood. For example, while watching the movie ‘Dangal ‘, tears were flowing like a river because it reminded me of my disciplinarian/strict Dad. May his soul rest in peace.
A lot of people (only the ones who knew of my condition) and well-wishers (including strangers who saw me on the street) were suggesting a variety of treatments, but I decided to stick with Ayurvedic for the moment as I saw and felt improvement. My entire contact list was still not aware. The physiotherapy sessions at the clinic were stopped as I could not handle everything at one time. I tried to do whatever little I could do in physiotherapy, at home, whenever I could though not on a regular basis.
Around September 2016, I was introduced to this lady who practiced Sujok. Although skeptical, I decided to give it a go. After just the first session, I could feel the blood flow in my wrist and fingers. She practices Sujok combined with Magnet therapy, Seed therapy, Moxa and Colour therapy.
After just 4 sessions, I was sitting watching TV one day and I felt something on my back of my left hand. I hadn’t felt anything in the entire arm for over 2 years. Turned and noticed a housefly crawling on the back of my left hand. I let out a hysterical laugh and everyone from every corner of the house/apartment came to living room wondering what was going on. When I related about the house fly everyone was as elated as me. I decided to continue with this treatment though painful. This was in addition to the ayurvedic medications. I am continuing this in addition to physiotherapy at home by myself. I remember all the exercises that were taught earlier on as I related them to my gym sessions much earlier in life.
I got a regular job in a software start up in December 2016 but left them in July 2017 as I could not handle the job pressure/stress as before. During all this time, I was reading and researching a lot on strokes and related matters. I have become an voracious reader and will read about anything that catches my fancy. By now, 4 mobile phones had died on me due to over use. Hmm!! That is life! Told all concerned that I could not handle a regular job like before as I was not able to take on additional stress/deadlines. Incidentally, I have also been advised by my doctors/therapists to avoid taking on additional stress. It was during one of these readings that I found out that certain statistics illustrated that the survival rate of people who had ‘a paralysis attack in their sleep ‘like I had were very slim. I thank God for keeping me alive and am still wondering what my purpose in life is. HE/ SHE will show the way.
Between July 2017 and now, I am able to move the left shoulder and elbow to a large extent, the left wrist and fingers, as with the left ankle and toes, are yet to come up for all the fine movements. Smaller muscles, you see. We will get there.
Please be aware that a stroke patient has to ‘re-learn ‘ all the movements (depending on severity of the stroke) of all limbs ( which were perfected over countless repetitions throughout their lives) till the stroke, as well as concentrate on maintaining their balance. That’s twice the work with lesser resources they have to do as compared to a normal person. So, please be patient and understanding of their situation. Frustration/Disappointment is bound to kick in on all concerned. Be patient. All my life I have lived by the following:
- Believe in Yourself
- Never Give Up
- Live for Today
- Everything happens for the good
- What goes around, comes around (Do good and good will come back to you)
- You are just a puppet in God’s hands
These have helped me immensely to tide over this adventure/experience (ordeal) and face all the societal negativity. They have only been re-affirmed and re-enforced multi-fold over the past 43 months.
So, here I am, in May 2018, venturing into something totaling alien to me (Digital Entrepreneur) in the hope that I will be able to provide for my family myself instead of living off other people’s (family & friend’s) savings. God help me.
Incidentally, I recently came across an article on the internet that stated that the month of May is ‘Stroke awareness ‘month. So, I guess I have got an auspicious/ relevant start.
After trying out affiliate Marketing via this website between 2018 and 2023 and failing miserably, I have decided to ” pull up my socks ” and try out other avenues that have come up over the past several years. This would include writing books ( an inclination that came up during the Covid lockdowns). The two books I authored and published are available in the Books Tab on this website.
Your support in raising stroke awareness by promoting this website and our support group : www.strokesupport.in will be of immense value.
The support will act as extra motivation to strive for more.
I intend using this platform to create awareness on strokes, its symptoms, actions to be taken and post care. This will be in the form of researched material, my own experiences and videos.
Trivia: September 24, 2014 was also the date that the Indian satellite, ‘ Mangalyaan ‘ entered the orbit of Mars.
