The damage seemed to be permanent, but she recovered

The problem affected her hands first, right after she gave birth to her son in 1995.

She was only in her twenties.

She was nursing at the time and certain tasks became increasingly difficult to perform. Simple things like carrying a tray, holding a cup of tea or even lifting her child.

She went to a general practitioner who advised some vitamin injections. But the problem got worse and her family took her to Banswara in Rajasthan to try alternative medicine.

Though her joints got swollen from time to time, which was restricting, she was not in a lot of pain. But two months later, when her fingers started looking deformed, panic struck.

She visited a rheumatologist in Delhi and was put on medical treatment and splints. But the deformities kept getting from bad to worse.

Finally, she visited me in 2005.

She was already very apprehensive, as none of the earlier medication had worked. Her joints were perpetually swollen, her feet deformed… the damages were severe and seemed irreversible, even with today’s scientific knowhow.

But soon, I realised that along with treatment, what Meenu really needed was an attentive ear.

She had a young son and having been an active, sporty person, she found it hard to accept that there were certain things she could not do anymore.

Taking stock of her situation, we advised her to get a knee replacement surgery. Since she was quite young, it was possible that she might have to undergo another surgery in 15 years’ time. But she agreed and in 2006, we went ahead with it.

A few days after the surgery, I was happy to see Meenu walking into her room with the help of a walker. Over the next two days, to the immense joy of her family and her doctors, she was able to walk in the hospital corridor.

Sometimes Meenu would come to see me, and we’d talk about all sorts of things… dealing with old problems from the past and working them through in order to move forward.

She used to do it quite frequently and I realised later how therapeutic that process was for her. It was just as much a part of the healing process as the medication and treatment she was prescribed.