Mahanth is Editor

Editor’s Note: The time feels right for a written update for myself and those following along on my difficult adventure. I made the decision to change the future titles of these chapters from “My Long Dance with Cancer” to “My Journey of Healing” in order to shift the living energy of the word; to pivot from the darkness of this lengthy road full of bumps, to the light at the end of the tunnel instead for the sake of my own mindset. It all started with Chapter 1 and so much has happened since St. Patrick’s Day in March 2023 as we approach the 1 year anniversary of an unwelcome lymphoma diagnosis.

As previously chronicled in chapters 1-5, till today I was doggedly determined to flip the script by converting my lymphoma battle into a blessing. Somewhere along the way in late 2023 I achieved this goal. Since then I am experiencing some setbacks on the journey to healing, which I had mentally prepared for to the extent one can. And I shall overcome. But now that previous goal is not ambitious enough for me and I am restless. Now, I am going to try and attempt to turn this nefarious health condition into not just a blessing, but a superpower to turbocharge my life, specifically by making a bigger difference in this world while I am here.

Honestly I am not there yet though I want to be very, very badly. The struggle is real. It’s going to be pretty damn hard to turn this into superpower mode. I am hoping that mindset, above physical endurance, is what gets me there. Along with writing it down.

In the grand scheme all of us are on this planet for but a brief blip in time at least under our current identity and ego, depending on what our religious or spiritual beliefs may be. There has only ever been one Mahanth Joishy in the universe we know of, and there has only ever been one of you too. In my case I was forced to confront my mortality at an earlier stage of my existence than expected in my grand life plans. None of us can be sure exactly how long we have to play this game, but we can control what we do with that time on the mortal plane. And now I feel an increasingly urgent need, as many others in similar dire situations have throughout history, to accelerate some shit. To get more done, more quickly, better, more obsessively. To bend the universe with a “reality distortion field” as Steve Jobs used to say. All the while balancing against driving myself mad in the process.

Helping keep me sane (barely) in the worst winter of my life, where the cold of Wisconsin wreaked havoc on my health condition, were timely escapes to the humid beach climes of Colombia and Vietnam which I chronicled here, trips I only took because of my illness. Thankfully spring is now in the air along with some renewed optimism. I completed 5 months of Romidepsin infusions in November, an effective treatment for the lymphoma but with debilitating side effects, and switched that month over to Vorinostat, an oral prescription with less side effects. In January upon returning from Vietnam, my biweekly bloodwork went the wrong way after 9 months of steady progress, matching my worsening symptoms especially noticeable on the way my skin looked and felt. Thus in the last few weeks I started a fascinating high-tech treatment called photopheresis to attack my disease from a different angle, and this involves pulling my blood out of one arm, treating it in a machine, and pumping it back into the other arm. I just had my latest session this morning, and we’ll find out soon if it is working. More on this in the next chapter. I am also headed for a second opinion to Northwestern University in a few weeks, reputed as a top institution nationally for lymphoma treatment.

THE 2024 SUPERPOWER ACTIVATION PLAN, DANG IT

(1) Putting in the Work. There’s no way around it. From the work, come the results. In my day job (we are hiring by the way!) I am a self-appointed climate warrior part of the time. Unfortunately I am being forced to miss a lot of work time these days due to a wide array of medical appointments and issues, and burn through my sick time week after week. I have to turn a lot of projects down. Navigating through the medical system of three types of doctors, frequent blood tests and other tests, many nurses, appointment scheduling, bills, insurance, prescriptions from three separate pharmacies, and online research feels like a full-time job in itself, every piece of it critical to the delicate orchestra I am trying to conduct, even with my retired oncologist dad guiding me. I am redoubling my efforts in the more limited time that I do have at my day job, toward being a productive manager and effective leader within those constraints, never ceasing to dream big. I have accepted public speaking roles at large conferences in Dallas and Washington, DC now that my health allows again. My team is growing, developing, and kicking major a$$ in a time of historic challenges in our embattled auto industry, and we have gone through a lot. I’m attempting to do this while limiting my anger and frustrations in the office by letting things go. I yell at people less lately, I promise. I am learning to accept limitation, because I do not have the same capacity as a part timer in effect. Despite that I am happy to report that my career is going better than ever, and I love my job. Credit is due to the motley crew making up my internal team that I would put up against anyone anywhere, supportive colleagues in sister agencies, and an extraordinary set of external partners. Therein is smeared the secret sauce to success. I am more grateful to be gainfully employed because it keeps my mind occupied. Without these foundations I would truly not have the strength to even get out of bed in the morning.

(2) Leveling Up at Writing. An unexpected side benefit of my health condition is all the extra time I have because I don’t have the energy to socialize much anymore. Most weeks my only outing might be a Sunday lunch with close friends or my cousin Rahul. Many weekends this frigid winter I stayed home alone like a hermit from Friday evening to Monday morning to avoid the nightmare of the cold outside world. Those of you who have ever known me are aware what a radical departure this is from my past. My nightlife speed has gone from 60 to 0 with the notable exception of one special night in Da Nang, Vietnam in January. Much of that new extra time is being spent on honing my writing as I’m doing this very second. When looking back on my articles on usindiamonitor over the last year, for example, I believe these are the best pieces I have ever written in my life. Who knows how much of that is because lymphoma opened up new realms of ideas, focus and alacrity in addition to time? I don’t know. Some for sure. Hopefully, 2024 is also the year my techno-thriller novel finally gets published, a creative adventure that began in 2017 with a fiction contest and has gone through hundreds of re-writes and restructures. Superpower of scriveners, come to me. I need you now.

(3) More Side Hustles. During my months-long world tour in 2012 that included both India and Pakistan, usindiamonitor has been my primary side hustle and I’m proud of the hundreds of thousands of page views from over 100 nations and counting. On average since 2012 more than 50 people a day read my words on geopolitics and many other topics, and this brings me endless joy and motivates me to keep writing. I also continue to be a restaurant columnist for the Madison news outlet Capital Times, typically focused on ethnic food small businesses, and interestingly some people in town know me better for this and not my role as a local public servant. But these side hobbies while enjoyable are not enough anymore. This month I am working with partners on a revamped podcast and YouTube channel (PLEASE, PLEASE view, subscribe and like here right now!) with bigger, better, and more ambitious content than ever with amazing guests and topics. I am in fact in the middle of an online course in creating YouTube content. In today’s age audio/visual media is eclipsing long form essays, which has been my jam till now. This new channel idea has for years been mired in a “I’ll get to it whenever I get to it” procrastination mentality rut that I am now trying to overcome because of a renewed sense of urgency. Urgency to become a better version of my best self, less lazy, and to help people through knowledge and entertainment. From this channel I am developing an idea for a spinoff business. For anyone who is interested in helping, PLEASE, PLEASE do take a moment to visit this undeveloped skeleton YouTube channel with only a few admittedly dated videos, and I promise more great audio-visual content is on the way on major geopolitical topics, soon.

The human condition is filled with sorrow and struggle- but also solutions and solace. In this I am not unique and this applies equally to all sooner or later. Don’t you ever dare feel bad for me. We are all in this boat together. The spiritual side of me believes that God, the universe, or whatever has brought me here for a purpose, then threw these wicked challenges in my path for a reason. If I am able to prove worthy of that overarching purpose by jumping over those hurdles, then a full recovery is on the way in the form of a permanent cure I am working towards when the time is right and the conditions are in place.

At the most naked, crass level I am that child praying at the bedside for Santa to bring me toys on Christmas Eve if I promise to be good. The world is a screwed up place, and maybe I will one day have the power to unscrew it just a little if that’s part of the cosmic plan. I don’t think my work here is done yet, so I am going to fight like Hell not only to satiate my selfish desire for a long life, but to use that bank account balance from a new lease on life to make a global impact, and validate my continued existence. To prove that I belong here for the long haul after all. For this have I been chosen.

From this well shall spring my superpower.