Hey people, Kavya Poornima here!
Sharing the insights about my life, with the hope that it leaves a drop of positive impact.
In the month of August 2017, I was diagnosed with a rare Neurological disorder called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension due to which I lost vision in both eyes.
That was the time when I was doing my final year Architecture in Mumbai.
Right from my childhood to college days, I have been the star performer of all dance forms, music and anything related to arts. There wasn’t a kind of extracurricular activity that I didn’t excel at. The kind of travel freak I was, who had a bucket list like any other teenager.
The sudden, life changing health challenges in my life were a big blow to my family and few close friends as many of my friends are still not aware of it.
Long story short, during the following year 2017-18, I underwent 5 major surgeries among which there were repeated spinal shunt revision surgeries as a part of management of my Incurable condition. For those of you who don’t know, shunt is basically a device that is surgically placed in the brain or the spine to help drain cerebrospinal fluid and redirect it to another location in the body, such as abdomen.
Yes, it’s as painful as it sounds but life has taught me the art of acceptance well.
After endless visits to the operation theatre, I am finally surviving with my hopefully forever VP shunt baby since August 2018 and taking care of it each passing day. Although it limits my mobility and activity throughout, it gives me so much in return.
These 4 years have been a challenging time physically, but in return, this new phase of life has given courage, positive attitude, and tons of confidence to me as a gift for a lifetime.
When I first woke up in a doctor’s clinic after being unconscious for hours, I didn’t know such a wild ride was awaiting ahead.
The 21-year-old me had nothing but time with myself and my thoughts. The period slowed me down and helped me to be more mindful, minimal, embrace solitude and to find happiness in the dark.
After 3 years of quarantine due to Osteoporosis and surgical recovery, I resumed my final year of B. Arch in early 2020, when the University and my college finally agreed, the Covid happened and made the entire world to go quarantine, to be my company 😊
After spending many sleepless nights, hard work, ups and downs, fighting health challenges, struggling with disability and pain, I have successfully completed my graduation in architecture.
Amongst all the pain it has given me, my health condition has truly been a blessing.
It gave me a perspective- It’s more about putting the negativity that surrounds us at bay, to benefit from my personal traits and enriching my inner world.
I want to build a purposeful life for myself, where I contribute to self-development every day.
And fortunately, I got an opportunity to work and contribute for an Inclusive Society as a fellow at NCPEDP Javed Abidi Fellowship on Disability.
Image 1: A picture collage of me with the pictures from my childhood since a months baby till the age of 10.
Few pictures are with my brother, grandfather, awards and prizes received for my dance performances, etc.
Image 2: A picture collage of my dance performances ( Bharatanatyam mostly) right from the age of 3 to 20.
Image 3: A picture collage of teenage me shows college days and places travelled over those years.
Image 4: A picture collage shows the phase of vision loss, hospitalisation, surgeries, shaved head with incisions, using a wheelchair, etc.
Image 5: A picture collage of me shows Post disability life from chopped hair, shaved head to fully grown shoulder length hair now with a bright smile on my face in all the pictures from 2017 to 2021.
“Slowly is the fastest way to get where you want to be" -André De Shields.
Believe me, it works!
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P.S. Kavya Poornima is a Peer at SoulUp. If you have had a similar journey and would like to have a conversation with Kavya, you can book a 1-on-1 online conversation with Kavya here.
