Hemalatha Pitani, 33 years, Psoriatic Arthritis
“I have spent the last decade crying. My suffering with psoriatic arthritis led to my right-hand fingers getting deformed, and I would lament, isn’t there a cure? It’s better to cut my fingers off than bear the 1000 tons of pressure pains that my fingers feel every single day. I used to wake up, getting suicidal thoughts and doctors confirmed there is no cure for my ailment.
I am 33 years old, from Bangalore, a working mom of a 3-year old- boy, and have a loving husband who is there with me through thick and thin. It seems like the perfect complete family life.
In 2004, I was diagnosed with my psoriasis, which spread all over my body, leading to psoriatic arthritis by 2006. Being in a nuclear family, I had to take care of personal and professional life, and life slowly got hectic. Soon, I was unable to move my joints to do even the smallest of things, like picking up a glass of water.
By 2009 my right-hand fingers started swelling and slowly led to swan fingers, a term rheumatic patients understand well. I went through all kinds of treatments: allopathy, homoeopathy, ayurvedic, nati vaidhyam, puttur therapy OMG whatnot. But there was no relief.
Every time I would complain of pain, all my rheumatologist could say was continue to take Saaz-DS, folvite, depomedrol steroid, yes, which definitely eased out my pain, but there were months when I stopped, and the pains would resurface. The swelling became permanent. Spending money for blood tests every quarter and X-rays to find out how much more damaged my joints were, was getting frustrating. I had had enough, but they’re just wasn’t another option.
Then there came a point one night when I couldn’t wrap a cotton bedsheet around me, as it felt heavy on my fingers. I couldn’t wrap my shawl around me as even a slight sway of the shawl hurt my fingers, even a feather felt heavy for my right-hand fingers. I used to shout at my little one-year-old son as he would come to me calling mamma and hug me and by mistake, his hands would hold my fingers and the pain was unbearable.
I began getting suicidal. I couldn’t see any cure for my ailment, and crying at my fate one night when the world was asleep, not knowing what to do, the gravity pull was unbearable. I opened my laptop and decided to give it one last try, surfing the web for any last hopes which I used to keep doing every day, but as elders always say, everything has to happen at the right time. This was my time. I came across Rachna Chhachhi.
I could hardly see the screen (I was crying while typing ) and I emailed her my issue (with loads of mistakes as my fingers were not able to reach certain alphabets while resting the wrist on the touchpad). Finally, I got a reply on a beautiful Tuesday morning.
Rachna gave me hope that I will get better, and she was clear and to the point of what she was doing and explained exactly where I stood regarding my disease. She kept an eye on my improvement every week. In three days of starting the therapy my right-hand middle finger swelling reduced drastically, the most exciting thing was the pain was gone totally.
Running into my fourth month now, I have absolutely no pain.
Rachna gave me a ray of hope to live again, my moods improved, my helplessness and frustrations evaporated. Rachna explained that these were the symptoms of my disease, they were not ME. The real me would emerge within a few weeks. And that’s what happened. Now, I never raise my hand on my son, never scream at my husband because of pain or frustration. The fatigue has vanished, there are no more saturation points, no more short-tempered outbursts, no more “PAIN”. My family will be forever grateful to you, Rachna. It’s very different when someone who has suffered the disease themselves and then cured you. They understand and know your pain as theirs, and the treatment gets more accurate.
For me, “THIS IS IT.” MY LIFE HAS BEGUN AGAIN.
Loads of love from my son, hubby and me.”