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Swami's Healing Hand Mrs. Dee Lampman,
Yachats, Oregon, USA
I have been asked to
write an article for your newsletter, which explains how myself and my
family came to know Sai Baba. I hope that through His grace, this
story may bring hope and inspiration to others.
I am 38 years old, a
mother of two sons, ages 12 and 16, and a wife to a treasured husband.
Two years ago, in September of 1994, I was involved in an accident
while riding my bicycle. A diagnosis was made two months later, that I
was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. The accident brought about many
symptoms that had previously been dormant. Up until this time I had
been suffering since my teens, with depression. In the past ten years
my mental concentration became affected, and also I developed various
subtle physical symptoms as well. It is possible that I had this
disease since eleven years of age. After this accident, I had
developed uncontrollable pain, and quickly began to lose the ability
to walk. By December, I was using crutches, and we purchased my first
wheelchair. The following spring, in May 1995, I was admitted into the
hospital to have my gallbladder removed. It was seemingly a simple
procedure. Once again the trauma to my body caused a serious worsening
of the Multiple Sclerosis. My pain medicine was switched to morphine.
I became weaker, and after spending six weeks in the hospital, I went
home to a hospital bed in our living room, with home skilled care.
I was a candidate for
nursing home placement at that point, but my family took the burden
for my care. Six months went by with some improvement, although I was
still taking morphine for uncontrollable pain. I was starting to use a
walker again, but was primarily wheelchair bound most of the time. I
had decided to take my younger son and his best friend for a shopping
trip at a local mall. We used a public disabled transport bus for this
excursion. On our way home, we were involved in an accident. The boys
were unhurt, but I was badly jostled. As a result of this accident
which occurred in January of 1996, the Multiple Sclerosis began
affecting the "autonomic nervous system". This is the part of the body
which basically controls all life functions, so my health was in
serious trouble. The end of the next month, in February, I found
myself truly dying from the disease and complications. I was unable to
move, raise my head, barely swallow, had limited vision, heart, blood
pressure, and liver problems, and unrelenting pain. I remained at
home, as this was my wish.
During the next two days,
at the beginning of March, I made a few brief phone calls to friends,
saying good-bye. I have kept in contact with many friends over the
years, and they knew the seriousness of my illness. Now I needed their
support and prayers more than ever. I had become a name on so many
different prayer lists: individuals and entire groups of people.
(After my recovery, I realized that this number amounted to over 2,000
people praying for me, who were from all different faiths and
backgrounds.)
During late February,
another close friend, whom I had known since my teen years, was in
India, on her first trip to see Swami (Sathya Sai Baba). I knew that
she had taken a trip to see her "guru", but at that time, I was
totally unfamiliar with Sai Baba. On her first day, she was seated in
the front row during darshan. She handed Swami a letter, which
included a request for help for me. Two weeks later, she and her group
were granted a personal interview. She again remembered me to Swami,
asking for his help for my suffering. She was not anticipating a
healing or a cure from my disease.
I experienced a "near
death" episode during the first week of March. I went through an
agonizing recovery period, but it was a very rapid process. Soon, I
was no longer on my death bed, and began to have urges to get up and
walk for a few feet, from my wheelchair. My body no longer required
all the medicines I was taking, and the healing was underway. I did
not know exactly what was happening to me, nor did my family or
physician. On April 18, 1996, I walked into my doctor's office, and
after a complete physical exam, I was declared in full remission from
the disease.
The very next day, a
package arrived in the mail from my long time friend who had returned
from India. She sent us a package of Vibhuti, a book about Swami, and
the "healing" photo of him, holding the golden heart lingam. Both my
husband and I at once realized that Swami was the receiver of all
those prayers going out for me, and that through His divine grace, I
had been cured from this terrible disease, for which modern science
acknowledges, "no known cure." Our family attended Bhajans for the
first time, a month later.
There is an overwhelming
sense of "coming home" for me, since I have known of SathyaSai Baba.
He has filled my emptiness, and spread his love and grace over me, and
over my family. Some day we hope to travel to India, to see His
physical form, but for now, we have already experienced His touch and
Love, in a most powerful way.
Sourced: Canadian Sathya Sai
Newsletter, March, 1997
http://mypage.direct.ca/s/sairam/mar97.doc
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