On 3 April 1965, Baba's blood count was taken by Dr. Grant. Three days later on the 6th, a blood sugar test was done. Along with the neck pain, Baba was suffering headaches. At the time, there was a new treatment, an oil called DMSO (di-methyl sulfoxide, a controversial anti-inflammatory drug), which when applied deadened the nerve endings and relieved pain. Ginde had tried it on several patients and found it very effective.
Dr. Ginde came to Guruprasad on Friday, 9 April 1965 and informed Baba about the DMSO oil. For the first time, Baba willingly agreed to try a new type of treatment. Ginde twice painted the back of Baba's neck and a small area of the shoulder with some of the oil. That evening, Baba's back and neck where Ginde had applied the oil started turning red and became inflamed. Baba felt a burning sensation and large blisters formed, as if the whole area had been burnt. It looked terrible. Goher was so frightened she was at her wit's end as to what to do, and Ginde had already departed for Bombay. Goher applied a soothing ointment and some banana tree leaves, which are often used for cooling skin inflammation. Baba lay down but could not sleep. He stayed on his side the entire night because his whole back felt burnt. He could not sit comfortably in a chair, also, because if he leaned back the affected part would touch the back of the chair and irritate him.
After four days, this condition worsened. Goher telephoned Dr. Ginde, who was alarmed by the report and came to Guruprasad on the 14th. He applied some soothing lotion and begged Baba's forgiveness, saying that before giving it to Baba he had tried it on many patients and this type of adverse reaction had never happened before.
Baba assured him, "It is not your fault. I had to undergo this suffering."
Baba had willingly agreed to the treatment, knowing what the result would be. This is one more example of how Baba knowingly took physical suffering upon himself. It took two to three weeks for the blisters to heal completely.1
The DMSO oil had helped to reduce the neck pain by 25 percent, but by the end of the month, the pain returned to its full intensity.
Footnotes
- 1.On the same day of the first application of DMSO, 9 April 1965, fighting broke out between Indian and Pakistani troops in the Rann of Kutch.