Life would have been monotonous if not for multiple myeloma. It has been a life changing experience that has changed me for the better.
It’s been a fantastic journey during the last 11 years. After my treatment at a corporate hospital , my life was filled with lots of events , experimenting with different Complementary and alternative remedies, meeting angels in human form, my spiritual quests, life lessons i learned , getting to understand the laws of nature , and pursuing my passions.
It is all about the power of hope , faith, and willpower.
I had this strong wish to share all that I learned during the last 11 years while managing Multiple Myeloma. My wish manifested, and I hope the contents of the book will help others to lead a better life.
This book is to inspire patients and their caregivers to help each other during the healing process.
My last post was in December 2021 and there hasn’t been a single post here since then. I had been posting on random events from my life during my journey with Multiple Myeloma. For some reason I began to feel that my journey till now should be available in one place and not spread out in multiple posts in this blog. That I should writing a book.
It has been 11 years since i was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.I had this strong wish that I should share my experiences and learnings with others in the form of a book.
Since my childhood , I would admire authors and was always fascinated about writing a book.
However, I had no clue as to how I should go ahead. I did read up on Publishing houses and the lengthy process involved in getting a book published.
This wish was stuck in my head for a few years and then one fine day I bumped into ‘Beeja Publishing House’
Thanks to Beeja and their Team, I have successfully completed writing my book and it is ready to be published.
Finally , recovered from another bout of sore throat and Bronchitis. It’s been a few years since I suffered from Sore Throat and Bronchitis of this severity wherein I required Nebulisation.
During this Pandemic , every sneeze or cough is looked upon with suspicion and the individual is treated as a potential COVID patient untill the symptoms subside or proved COVID negative after a test.
Thankfully, my symptoms have subsided after 3 days with medication using Allopathy as well as Alternative treatments.
If interested , you may check out my blog posts from the last three days on the details.
A herbal cough syrup , a herbal powder and nebulisation helped me recover in 3 days. I was able to avoid taking Antibiotics which is the default treatment for a sore throat.
I am now back to my normal diet since morning. However, due to all the coughing , the muscles around my waist are hurting whenever I cough a little.
I was getting a phone call everyday ,during the last 3 days, from Mom and Dad. I told them about my condition on day one casually and since then they have been monitoring me. They are glad that I recovered quickly
Decided to take more precautions whenever any part of the house needs to be cleaned .
Update on my garden :
This is the best season to sow vegetable seeds. So, I planted a few Okra seeds in one container today. Checked the condition of all other plants and found that all of them are affected by ‘Powdery Mildew’ and the leaves are turning yellow and falling off. This is caused due to humid weather from the recent rains. Will wait for a couple of days , so all the leaves drop off and will then spray an Organic pesticide.
Why I avoid buying Country Eggs :
One guy selling eggs, on his modified bicycle, rang the doorbell to check if I wanted some eggs. My neighbours are his regular customers and so I began buying . I had bought a couple of times earlier . I took some eggs from him today and complained about the Country eggs that he delivered on his previous visit. Some of them were rotten. I then decided never ever to buy Country Eggs from anyone . I usually avoid, but this time I was tempted to take. I stopped taking meat or eggs but buy for the guys at home. Country Eggs are tastier and healthier compared to the ones that we get from chicken farms. Though some farms are rearing free range hens ,their freshness is doubtful. Such farms are located far from the cities and the delays in transportation can affect the freshness. So , no more country eggs till I find a reliable source closer home.
Cap/Crown replacement for my tooth :
Looking forward to a message from my Dentist. I am due for the final step in my Root canal treatment. They said they would message me when the cap/crown was ready.
If interested , you may check my previous posts on the Root canal Treatment .
Delivery of vegetables from Farmizen :
Every Tuesday , I receive a bag full of fresh naturally grown vegetables from Farmizen. My son soaked the vegetables in salt water , drying them under the fan, packing for them and storing them away in the refrigerator. This is his duty every Tuesday.
Glad that my sister finally subscribed to Farmizen and she too received her first delivery today. She is happy with the quantity and I am looking forward to her feedback on the taste of the veggies vis a vis the store bought veggies.
I have been taking Ayurveda Medication for Multiple Myeloma from my Ayurveda Doctor every month. I have been prescribed several types of medicines with different dosages during the day .
This month too my medicines were delivered , but I opened the parcel only after a few days of receiving it. You know the virus thing and not to touch parcels for a few days and leave them outside the door thingy 🙂
When I opened the parcel I found that the required dosage of tablets/capsules was missing from a couple of medicines. I then messaged my Doctor informing the same. He said I should be reducing the dosage of medicines. I refused to accept what he said and said that I prefer to continue the same medication for ‘some more time’ .
He then said that I should reduce my dependence on Medicines and that I should be more confident and do meditation also.
I said OK and then …..
My Ayurveda Doctor : According to me, you are Cancer Free !!
I couldn’t believe those words. Those were some very precious words that any patient would love to hear from a Doctor. I was feeling overwhelmed and my eyes were welling up.
While it is true that my last test reports , few months ago , were all normal , I didn’t want to rush and reduce the dosage.
I do believe that my new ‘Natural Lifestyle’ along with Ayurveda is doing wonders for my body. I do feel good and able to manage most stuff on my own at home and at work too !! . I do get a lot of help from hubby and son 😛
Its been more than 5 years since I started taking Ayurveda Medication and No chemo since then.
And its been 5 months since I started following the Diet prescribed by ‘Natural Lifestyle’ . Surely the combination is working for me 🙂
Thanks to the Almighty for showing me the right path.
I hope and wish more and more people give up wrong eating habits and spend more time on improving their health by eating wholesome food that comes directly from Mother Nature, by exercising, Meditation and most important to have a free mind by letting go , being grateful, by forgiving self and others , giving up resentment and being compassionate to all .
The last six years have been the longest years in my life. Extremely grateful for being given a second chance to tread our lovely blue planet .
Been living each day with gratitude and lots of hope. Doing my best to share my experience with Alternative treatment via this blog. Have been able to manage my condition (Multiple Myeloma) successfully. It’s been 2 years since I stopped Chemo. So far so good. Was able to help and guide other patients with MM who came across my blog and got in touch with me . Gives me immense happiness.
Learnt a lot about the importance of diet , fasting etc for preventing and treating Cancer. Most importantly , I have experienced the Miraculous healing properties of Curcumin , for managing my condition. Curcumin has powerful healing properties which can treat several diseases.
Nothing else in this world is more important than being alive. Everything else is a bonus 🙂 . Yes, it does sound like I am selfish 🙂 . Take utmost care of your health and love yourself a lot. Be healthy so you don’t have to trouble your near and dear ones if you fall sick.
I am so thankful to my Doctors , family , friends , colleagues and other well wishers who have been supporting me throughout.
I am one of those who are highly allergic to all kinds of dust and frequently end up with a Sore Throat followed by Bronchitis. A visit to the Doc , followed by Antibiotics and Nebulization … a ritual that was inevitable.
I was able to successfully get over a recent episode with Ayurvedic Medication and no Antibiotics. I am extremely happy that I can now manage my problem without Antibiotics. Thanks to Dr Nithin, Ayurveda.
However, I still did not get an answer as to why only some people are affected by dust and pollution. Millions of people around us are unaffected and continue to live/work in highly polluted environments. How are they managing ?
Here is a beautiful article that explains how and why a person ends up with Cough/Cold/Asthma. Understanding ‘Cockroach Theory’ will help in understanding how the Immune System works in our body .
I had to read this article a few times before I fully understood the how and why and what has to be done to prevent an occurrence of Sore Throat and Asthma.
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Here is a summary of what I learnt from that article –
Cockroach Theory : A panic reaction to a situation , whereas the solution is to respond in a calm and composed manner. An example : Customers in a restaurant get panicky and react clumsily on seeing a cockroach whereas the waiter , on whom the cockroach finally lands , stays still , is able to catch hold of the cockroach and throws it out.
The above theory will help us understand how the Immune cells in some bodies overreact instead of responding , when rogue viruses/bacteria enter our body. This overreaction results in excessive production of mucus which clogs the respiratory system. The body then tries to expel this mucus by coughing resulting in a Sore throat. The reason for this kind of reaction by the body is ‘Aggravated Pitta’ .
‘Pitta’ has to be reduced by the following methods (from the article):
Recipes like sesame seeds boiled in milk or pumpkin pulp roasted in homemade ghee or almond porridge, halwa etc can be taken.
Liberal use of turmeric either in milk or dal to be encouraged as Turmeric reduces inflammation and also breaks rigid bonds of thick mucus which can be expelled easily.
All asthmatic and allergic rhinitis patients should take herbal tea of ginger, black pepper, Tulsi leaves, clove, and coriander seeds.
They should eat less of wheat and rice and should consume more of millet like Jwari or Bajri .
Once in a week all asthmatic should take Kulthi (Horse gram) dal.
Patients of allergic rashes can try having mixed powder of black pepper- 1 or 2 pills + ginger 1/4th teaspoon and candy sugar one teaspoon, once or twice a day.
All of them should strictly avoid all kinds of fast or junk food, pickle, sauces, milkshakes .
They should not consume curd, non vegetarian food, heavy , fried food at night time.
All asthma, allergic rhinitis and urticaria patients should religiously do pranayam, as deep breathing will reduce hyper activity and will relax smooth muscles of the air ways, thereby reducing spasms in the air ways and reduction in the episodes of Asthma. Plus deep breathing also helps in reducing inflammation in blood vessels thereby reducing allergic rashes.
My Plan of Action :
I have started consuming Herbal Tea (ingredients mentioned above) . Will write a post on how I prepare this Herbal Tea.
I just bought Horse gram and looking for recipes on the Internet.
I have to further reduce intake of rice. I rarely consume wheat.
I include Turmeric in the Herbal Tea.
I avoid junk food and don’t consume curd/non-veg at night.
I had been resistant to Antibiotics much before I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2011. My frequent bouts of sore throat would not go away in spite of using Antibiotics prescribed by the ENT Doctor. He would often tell me to meet him and give feedback after using Antibiotics. At times there would be an improvement and at times I would not get any relief. When there was no relief he would give me another set of medications which I would promptly gulp down . The pain and symptoms were so bad that I would not think twice about what I was gulping.
I was diagnosed with MM in Oct 2011, underwent a Stem Cell Transplant in Jan 2012.
I continued getting these attacks and as usual I was taking Antibiotics. These attacks are always triggered due to any kind of dust. I reduced my visits to Malls, Supermarkets , clothes stores, theaters, exhibitions and other public places . But dust finds its way into my body some way or the other 🙁 . There is no way I can completely isolate myself from all kinds of dust. Another trigger for an attack is eating/drinking cold foods like ice cream or any cold drink which I stopped having anyway.
Had another attack recently and this time I consulted my Ayurvedic Doctor about my condition and whether I should take this new set of Allopathic medication. He said that I should not be taking Antibiotics as they affect the Bone Marrow and that the new set of medications were Steroids which are an absolute No-No.
What do I do now ??! , I was very sick …I had a very irritating wet cough , a runny nose , had fever that went up to 102 deg and my bronchitis was also severe. I continued the nebulisation with Levolin and Budecort. I was afraid I would end up with Pneumonia. Meanwhile my Ayurvedic Doctor recommended that I do a Sinus X-ray, Chest x-ray, LDH Serum and Urine Culture . Had to wait for two days before all the reports were out. Was glad that all the reports were negative :).
Meanwhile he recommended a herbal tablet for the runny nose and ‘Kantakari Lehyam’ for my Bronchitis. This Lehyam is like a paste ..a sweet , pungent paste similar to Chyawanprash. My symptoms slowly reduced. A lot of patience was required as each painful hour went by very slowly. Took 5 days off from work . Felt like a dead person during those days and finally when I was ready to go to work I felt as if I was reborn and like a bird that just got out of a cage 🙂 .
So glad I was able to escape from using Antibiotics and Steroids, for the first time in my life.
Meanwhile my Ayurvedic Doctor also sent a ‘Mishran’, which I am supposed to take with Warm water.
The meaning of the word Mishran is ‘a mix’ , a mix of several herbs in a powdered form, for improving immunity.
Am almost normal now but continuing the new Ayurvedic medications along with Curcumin, Ashwagandha , Satavari etc.
I am envious of people who are able to dig into ice creams and soft drinks and are able to withstand any kind of pollution/dusty environments.
Looking forward to a day when I can move around without fear of another attack. A day when I can eat an ice-cream and have a cold drink 🙂 … hmmm , I know I am asking for too much 🙂 .
I am in love with Turmeric, the Golden spice. A lot of research has been done on the health benefits of Turmeric and a lot of people the world over are experiencing positive results.
My being alive on this planet is primarily due to Turmeric.
Turmeric is widely being used to treat several illnesses from minor to major chronic illnesses of the body and the mind. There is a lot of information on the Internet.
Everyone is aware that prevention is better than cure but how many actually take the effort to be healthy. We don’t even know what to do to prevent illnesses. With the kind of diet and pollution levels ,most people should be worried about ending up with some kind of illness, but are clueless as to how to prevent.
By consuming Turmeric we can greatly reduce and even delay the probability of occurrence of illnesses.
Almost all Indians consume Turmeric via their food . Turmeric powder is one of the key ingredients in most Indian recipes. However , the quantity and quality of the Turmeric powder that is used should be increased so as to get the maximum benefit.
Turmeric can be used in the form of a powder or as raw turmeric. It is preferable to use Raw Turmeric .
The store bought powders may be adulterated. It is best to prepare the powder at home using dried Turmeric root. First crush the root into smaller pieces and then grind it in your mixer grinder.
It is best if you can get hold of raw Turmeric root. You can also grow it in your garden.
It is 3 months since I had my Bone marrow test .My results were -ve , No M-spike was seen.However , my Oncologist wanted me to be back with my CBP , LFT and RPT reports after 3 months. I actually expected he would say I can come back after one year 🙂 but he didn’t want to take any risk. So I complied. I remember him saying that after 5 years of having the Transplant (Bone marrow Transplant) , I will have to take the Bone Marrow Test once every year. For the past 5 years I have been doing the test every 6 months .
My Hb touched 11 for the first time in decades. The range for a healthy woman as per my report is 11-14. This is an achievement !! A record break !!
Yayyyy !!
My Globulin Serum too is 34 which is well within the range. A bigger achievement !!
He was very happy on seeing the reports 🙂 and exclaimed ‘you are off all medication isn’t it ?!!’.
I said “Yes Doctor, but I am continuing to take Curcumin and I am sure it is helping me “.
It is one year since I stopped chemo and taking only Ayurvedic medication.
He then asked me , “Do you think people should go for a Bone Marrow Transplant”.
I was confused.
I immediately said “yes, there is no other option “.
I then reminded him about the advise he gave me , after my Bone Marrow Transplant (in Jan 2011) , about using “Tinaspora Cordifolia” , to improve my immunity. Later on , it was this advise that motivated me to look for alternative treatments and I finally found the way.
Having started using Curcumin 2 years ago ,followed by good results , I had been very eager to push Curcumin and I wanted my Oncologist to prescribe Curcumin along with Tinaspora Cordifolia to all his other patients.In fact, I started using Curcumin, two years ago, just when I was advised to go for a second Bone marrow transplant .
The right time had arrived and I blurted out ” Doctor , you can also recommend Curcumin to other patients. I have read a lot on the Internet and it prevents and treats all types of cancers.My ayurvedic doctor gives me Tinaspora Cordifolia too ,along with Curcumin and some other herbs”
He nodded and I felt relieved that I finally said what I wanted to say :))
It is a delicate situation wherein a patient suggests an Allopathic Doctor to prescribe Ayurvedic Medication to his other patients . I am so glad that my Oncologist is open to try out other forms of treatment and encourages his patients.
Hopefully more patients will benefit and will be encouraged to try ayurveda , the way I did.
My sincere thanks to Dr Kochar, Ayurveda and Dr Suresh , Oncologist.
I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in Oct 2011. I Underwent Autologous Stem Cell Transplant in Dec 2011.
I was on Thalidomide from June 2012 to Dec 2014.
In Dec 2014 my plasma cells started increasing and my Oncologist suggested that I go for another Transplant. I was put on Lenolidamide.
After some research on the Internet I started taking Ayurvedic medication. After three months my condition improved. I met Dr Kochar in Apr 2015 and started taking his medication along with Lenolidamide.
On the advise of my Oncologist , I stopped Lenolidamide in Feb 2016 , as I was in remission.
That was the most miraculous moment in my life 🙂
I continue to take Ayurvedic medication prescribed by Dr Nitin Kochar, Mumbai.
I am currently taking the following Ayurvedic medicines :
Curcumin Ashwagandha Tinaspora cordifolia Satavari I also take another tablet which is a mix of several herbs.
I also take allopathic supplements like Renerve (Mecobalamin), Antoxid HC (Selenium+Copper+ zinc ) , and a tablet whenever my uric acid levels are on the higher side. I also take Folvite daily.
I fast one day every week.
Exercise is always recommended but I was unable to do any form of exercise all these years as I felt weak. I now feel strong enough to go for a walk . I started going for walks since one month and I am enjoying. I currently walk a distance of 1km in 15 mins, straight after work before I go home.
I do pranayama and meditation along with few simple yogasanas in the morning before I go to work.
