The doctor’s words gutted me: ‘Mrs Naidoo, there are so many lesions in your brain and spine and your symptoms are relentless. It is highly unlikely that you will walk again!’
Four years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune syndrome including Multiple Sclerosis. It is through Divine grace that my journey to ‘hell’ and back has positively transformed me on so many levels. The pain of financial ruin when our wellness spa, Makybe Diva Day Spa and Wellness centre burnt to the ground was nothing compared to the shock of a dreaded diagnosis. Medical science has no cure and has no idea as to what causes the condition. Feeling helpless and hopeless I opened the door to a monster called depression. I spent eighteen months dragging myself in and out of hospital with drugs so toxic we had no idea if I was suffering from the side effects of the drugs or the condition itself. I lost my independence, my self-esteem and my self-worth.
Steeped in spiritual knowledge and having the background of a master’s degree in chemical pathology, I dug deep within myself to muster the energy to learn as much as I could about the condition. My passion for quantum physics and the power of the human mind to change its biochemistry awakened in me the will to heal and get my life back. Many of the symptoms were silent ones, meaning others could not see it but I could feel it. I experimented on myself. I fell many times but I was also relentless with picking myself up. As I made changes, slowly my days became brighter, the symptoms were subsiding. I created a Wellness Formula for myself. The diagnosis certainly taught me the meaning of discipline. There is no room for negligence or a ‘cheat day’.
My greatest healing came on days that I focused on gratitude. Adopting an attitude of gratitude allowed me to focus on something other than myself thereby lifting the depression. The experience has taught me what relentless pain feels like. Introspection was the order of the day. I was forced to address my inner desires and beliefs. In the grand cosmic stage of life what was I chasing. When life stripped me of everything, I found my joy that was once buried under a pile of past negative experiences. As I let go of the past, I began to heal in the present. My family praised me and encouraged my programme. My two sons lit up on my pain-free days. Keeping my attention on the joy of the present moment lifted my energy and catapulted my healing. This experience has given birth to my book: A Flaming Challenge – Extinguishing the Stressful Emotional Fires of Life and Changing Our Perspective on Chronic Autoimmune Disease.
The woman I am is evolving into a woman that I am proud to call me! I follow a disciplined lifestyle with conscious awareness of my thoughts and actions. Empowering people on stress management, chronic disease management and redefining our attitudes on autoimmune disease is shaping me into a woman who epitomises, ‘Nothing is impossible’.