It was 2015 when my eldest daughter, then 19, first showed symptoms of an unknown disease that was to bedevil her for seven years. She was in the second year of her college when the disease struck in the form of a growth in her nose, a pimple. She ran a high temperature for a few days and was kept in the ICU, after which the New York hospital doctors decided to do a biopsy on the pimple.
The biopsy indicated the affliction was life-threatening, and I was advised to pull my daughter out of college. There were six biopsies done over the next four months, yet there was no firm diagnosis. There was a growth, but it was not cancerous. Meantime, my daughter lost around 50 pounds of weight and felt increasingly week. She then began gaining her weight back and the growth in her nose stopped. The doctors felt at a loss and could only monitor her condition.
I prayed, I chanted and got my daughter to do sundry therapies. Over the next few years, while her disease remain undiagnosed, the growth calcified and she had breathing issues as her nostrils changed shape. In year 2021, my daughter suffered a sinus infection that wouldn't go away. She had headaches and colds and much congestion. The doctors in the NY hospital decided on a biopsy. They diagnosed a rare disease of which there were very few documented cases and which had no treatment. However, a course of steroids was mandated for her.
Over the next two months, there was not much improvement. Rather the steroids were hard on her and her eyes began getting affected. The doctors in New York City did not want to risk anything by treating her and a specialist panel had no suggestions either. They sent her to a hospital in New Jersey, where a surgeon had some experience with her type of ailment.
The tumor board in the New Jersey hospital did not know how to treat her. One doctor suggested surgery to ensure the growth did not progress towards the brain. With Christmas round the corner, doctors wanted to go ahead with the surgery even as there was talk of dire possibilities. I was against the invasive surgery as it came with complications and side-effects, none of which seemed remotely good for my daughter.
At this point, my cousin came to know about my daughter's illness. He was an ardent devotee of Guruji, the spiritual master whom I had heard about in passing. My cousin committed to praying with my daughter and me daily till the time she got better. He asked us to get Guruji's picture printed (as we had no
swaroop) and start to at least receive His blessings in the form of His blessed water
prasad. We began offering daily prayers to Guruji.
As our devotional journey got underway, the doctors changed their minds about the surgery. They decided to go for another round of steroids and then get an MRI that would help them decide on the type of therapy. A course of medicine all the doctors agreed on felt right to me and was a huge relief. We had crossed one hurdle and since we had avoided the surgery, my daughter and I began to have faith in Guruji.
As Christmas neared, one day my cousin asked me to make some
halwa, offer it to Guruji and use that as prasad for my daughter. He added that Guruji had told him so. As I stood in front of Guruji's picture, I believed that Guruji was instructing me to give a little of the prasad every day. That it was my daughter's medicine. I shared this with my cousin, and he agreed that these were indeed Guruji's instructions and as such needed to be observed.
The MRI was set up for the first week of January. But I was infected with Covid-19 and it was delayed. When we went to the New Jersey hospital, a bunch of communication issues meant the scan could not take place. We returned later and again ran into roadblocks with the order for the MRI and the machine itself. My daughter had finished her course of steroids, but it was frustrating to see that the MRI, a typical yet vital imaging test, could not take place. I felt that something very weird was going on.
By this time it was February, and my cousin, following Guruji's command, said that the
pooja and the prasad should be stopped. As we stopped the devotional offerings, the MRI got scheduled—and the MRI report came clear! Clarity came to me, too: Guruji had been buying time to work His blessings on my daughter.
The doctor from the New York hospital called, sounding happy and relieved. The disease had reversed, the doctor said. Initially hesitant, she now took charge of my daughter's case and became helpful. She recommended my daughter to specialists in NYC who worked with rare diseases. The New Jersey doctor scratched his head and added that we need not come back.
None of them knew how my daughter's condition had changed for the better, but we knew it was due to Guruji's blessings. Thanks to His grace, her nose is better than before, the nasal bone doesn't look crooked and my daughter has already started the next steps in her treatment. We have become devotees of Guruji for life and are grateful for His blessings. Jai Guruji!
A devotee
July 2022