Baba made no reply. Years before, after reading about Baba's life and how difficult the mandali would find it at times to carry out simple orders from Baba, Harry Dedolchow had vowed that if he ever got the chance, he would teach the Easterners a thing or two in this regard. Well, Baba had given him his chance, and his failure was a crushing blow to his ego. He was afraid that if he delivered Baba's message, Joseph might get a shock and pass away — and he would be blamed for disregarding what the nurse had said. Dedolchow discovered that implicit obedience to the Master is not as easy as it sounds.
At the time, Kari Harb was convinced that Joseph was about to die, but Baba assured her he would recover, which he did.
At one point, the doctors suspected malignancy, but Baba assured Joseph, "I tell you, you do not have cancer. As a matter of fact, it is I who have cancer. All of you around me and the whole world are my 'cancerous growth' , and so I suffer continually."
Baba's own physical suffering continued in Poona. His headaches had not stopped, and nothing Goher tried seemed to alleviate the pain. She speculated that they were perhaps due to the alcohol injection Dr. Ginde had given Baba for his herpes. She wanted to call Ginde to Meherazad to ask him about this, but Baba refused. When they arrived in Poona, Baba also forbade her from consulting Dr. Ginde.