Help Vinay & Sameer

We understand that quite a few people were unable to view the previously posted video of Sameer’s Memorial Service. Please try this one. Note, that using fast-forward may cause the audio and video to be out of sync.

We will have a live webcast of the Memorial Service for those of you who are unable to attend. The webcast will start at 3:00pm PST Saturday March 29th, which is 3:30am on Sunday March 30th in India.

You can see the recorded webcast here - Sameer’s Memorial Service

Dear Friends of Sameer and Reena,

Sameer’s memorial service will be held tomorrow, Saturday March 29th at Mercer Island High School, Sameer’s alma mater. Please see below for details.

The ceremony will begin promptly at 3:00pm. Please leave at least 15 extra minutes for parking and for settling in to the auditorium where the service will be held.

Program
Swamiji’s Service
Family & Friend’s Eulogy
Memories
Swamiji’s Closing
Refreshments

For the Memories portion of the program, we welcome you to share your favorite stories and memories of Sameer.

If you need directions or cannot find the high school on Saturday, please call Samit Patel at (856) 979-3448.

Location
Mercer Island High School
Main Auditorium
9100 Se 42nd St
Mercer Island, WA 98040

Click here to get directions

Dear Friends of Sameer and Reena,

As most of you know by now, Sameer left us this morning a little before 5 AM for a higher abode. He left after a valiant and positive struggle with leukemia and the subsequent accumulation of issues from multiple chemotherapies. We felt the love of many hospital staff members who had looked after him in their efforts to nurture him to health.

His last rites were performed starting at 3:30 PM by Swami Bhaskaranandaji and Swami Avikaranandaji of the Vedanta Society of Western Washington according to the Hindu tradition, and the cremation followed. The sound of Vedic chants filled the chapel of the funeral home. We know he went in peace and he also looked at peace. We all prayed and continue to pray for God to grant him everlasting bliss.

The last rites ceremony was attended by the family and a few close friends who were able to fly from the San Francisco area just in time. We plan to hold a memorial service for Sameer on Saturday at 3 PM in the Seattle area. We will decide on the venue tomorrow and let you know further details.

Some of you have inquired if you could do something in Sameer’s memory. We request that you do not send flowers or other gifts. If you would like to make a donation in Sameer’s memory, we would suggest that you donate to any one or more of the following organizations:

• Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
  (http://www.seattlecca.org/aboutscca/donations.htm)

• Vedanta Society of Western Washington
  (http://vedanta-seattle.org/pages/contact.html)

• People for Progress in India, Seattle
  (http://www.ppi-usa.org/webroot/HTML/ContactUs.htm)

• Unitus
  (http://76.12.48.180/sections/involved/involved_cu_main.asp)

All four organizations have played a meaningful role in Sameer’s life and growth as a person. If you wish to make a gift in the memory of Sameer, please include his full name as well as the following so our family can be informed of your gift:

The Bhatia Family
8241 SE 67^th Street
Mercer Island, WA 98040

Dear Friends of Sameer and Reena,

This will be a very short update since I need to go to the hospital in a few minutes.

We found out yesterday that Sameer had a stroke while in the unconscious state. The CT Scan shows that the right side of his brain is affected. This area controls motion on the left side of the body, etc. There is also swelling in the brain which can put pressure on the brain stem. We discussed yesterday a surgical option to relieve pressure in the brain and decided that it was too risky because of potential for bleeding due to inadequate blood counts, etc. I think and hope that the swelling was at its maximum when it was discovered yesterday and should therefore go down. He has been stable last night and the situation has not worsened.

The white blood counts are still zero and the rest of the situation remains the same. His vital signs are good due to his good physical conditioning before this illness. In summary, he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Many of you continue to visit to interact with him. We appreciate that all of you have followed the instructions for visitors to the transplant floor: no cold or respiratory symptoms for a week, no contact with anyone with a cold or respiratory symptoms for a week. We also think that it is not a good idea to bring children with you even if they are healthy. We have to be careful not only about Sameer but also about the other patients with compromised immune systems.

We continue to pray and hope for his recovery. I still believe that with the grace of God, he will recover. Thanks for your prayers and good wishes. Take care.

Kumar Bhatia

Dear Friends,

Sameer’s condition continues to remain serious but is stable. His status as of this morning is as follows:

1. He has not yet woken up. He is responding to us from time to time. When I was massaging his legs this morning, he opened his eyes for a very few seconds but closed them again. Later when Reena was holding his hand and talking to him sweetly, he opened his eyes again but very briefly. He is not able to squeeze our hands when asked. While we get very happy to see even a small response from him, we are not sure how much of it is conscious. We hope that he can hear us and the small flashes are consciously driven.
2. His temperature, blood pressure and heart rate are fine. This is encouraging since it (particularly the lack of any fever) implies that the antibiotics are working in keeping the infection in check. All his blood cultures have been negative (no bacteria growth) except for March 3, 7 and 9. They culture a blood sample for five days and generally see the bacteria growth, if any, by day 3 or 4. This means that there are no detectable bacteria in his blood at least since the 12th.
3. His white blood counts and neutrophils are a below the measurement thresh hold (they are practically zero). We need his immune system to start recovering but it might take some time (1-2 weeks) in spite of getting daily injections of GCSF (growth factor).
4. His medical team continues to weigh the risk-benefit of another lumbar puncture which will tell us if the bacteria are eliminated from the central nervous system (CNS). So far they have decided not to do a lumbar puncture due to a finite risk of bleeding and spinal injury.
5. The source of his infection was identified on March. 4 as a common bacterium called coagulase negative staph which all of us have on our skins. It does not cause problems for people with normal immune systems. Because he has no white blood cells right now, the antibiotics need to do all of the work to get him well. He was getting two antibiotics: linezolid and rifampin which have good penetration through the blood-brain barrier. They recently have replaced rifampin with a newer antibiotic called daptomycin since rifampin is known to affect the liver adversely.
6. We are concerned about his liver. His bilirubin level has increased to 17 or so. We understand that there is nothing that can be done to help the liver. We hope that as his organs recover, the liver will improve as well. In the meantime, we are feeding him some fresh coconut water through a stomach tube when possible.
7. He had been on a daily dialysis regimen of 8 hours but they have reduced it to 4 hours since 2 days ago, They are removing 2-3 KG of fluid with dialysis and his swelling (due to fluid retention) is much less. In particular, his face looks much more like him again. The kidney doctors are satisfied with his dialysis and will consider dialysis on alternate days to allow his kidneys a chance to recover.
8. They having been taking a chest x-ray every morning and his lungs are fine.
9. Sameer has a tube inserted to keep his airways clear (intubation) since the normal gag response is absent. He has some ventilator support at night (so that his lungs do not get tired) even though he is able to breathe on his own and maintain a good blood oxygen level. The doctors are pretty sure that they can remove the tube once he wakes up.
10. We have requested the doctors to review again all possible options even though they have tried already many unconventional therapies to treat Sameer. They have assured us that they will review his case again next week and see if there is anything more they can do. I have appreciated their putting up with my questions and patiently explaining the treatment options in detail. The whole medical staff has been very kind and compassionate.

We are essentially in a hold mode waiting for Sameer to wake up. As I wrote in my last update (March 9), his situation is risky due the danger of developing a lung infection which quickly proves to be fatal for most people.

We all enjoyed the Bombay family video Bimal sent to us. We played it for Sameer hoping he could hear it. It gives the impression that everyone likes to party with Sameer! We also shared the video with some of Sameer’s visiting friends as well as some of the nurses. Thank you for sending your love to Sameer and thanks to Bimal for putting it all together.

Reena and I have spent most of our time in the ICU and the hospital. Sunita has come to visit a few times to spend time with Sameer in spite of her own condition not being good. Reena’s mother has been visiting every day and helping Reena. Prashant is still recovering from a cold or flu. He has been talking to Reena and me on the phone to keep abreast, and also to Sameer once in a while. As a precaution, he is not meeting with any of us who are visiting Sameer for the fear of making us sick or carriers. He only meets people who are about to leave town after visiting Sameer. I think it is a wise precaution. He has to wait seven days after his last symptoms before he can visit Sameer.

Many of Sameer’s and Reena’s friends have taken long trips (from the east coast and California) to visit him. Melindah came on March 9 and left on Tuesday. Anamika left on Wednesday. Kruti and Anjali came on Thursday; Anjali leaves this afternoon and Kruti plans to leave tomorrow (Monday). Samir Jathwa came on Friday and is leaving today. Sonia visited for a day yesterday (Saturday). Also, Monica, Sharmila and Shana came yesterday and will leave today. I also met Jay (Bipin’s brother who lives in Seattle) waiting to see Sameer as I left the hospital this morning to go home for a shower. Several of my Seattle friends have visited also. Eli has been coming to visit regularly ever since Sameer has been in the hospital. Doug has been a constant source of support by keeping touch via phone and visits. Other friends who have come are Pran and Santosh, Ram Prasad and MP Singh. Many times we have so many people wanting to see Sameer and talk to him that they have had to take turns waiting outside. Many more friends have been following the web site and praying for Sameer’s recovery. The hospital staff and doctors have been very supportive and empathetic. I thank them all.

Please continue your prayers and keep sending positive thoughts Sameer’s way. I am sure that Sameer will recover. Take care.

Kumar Bhatia

I’ve been in Seattle, spending time with Sameer, Reena and their family since Sunday afternoon. Sameer remains in stable condition but continues to be in the ICU under wonderful, consistent care.

We are grateful and appreciative of the continuous, positive energy, thoughts and prayers all of you are providing him. Please keep them flowing! Many of you are experiencing a desire to visit – please do. Kumar Uncle, Reena, her mother, et al enjoy having you here. However, it is critical that you come with no exposure to or inflicted with the following:

• common cold
• flu
• coughing
• sneezing
• runny nose
• post nasal drip, etc.

With any of those symptoms, and bringing them into the room/ICU floor, it’s not only dangerous for Sameer but most of the patients housed there. Please be mindful of such symptoms and be well for atleast 7-10 days before visiting. Also, for those coming in, it’s important to have your own form of transportation (the easiest is renting a car) and place to sleep.

Till next, keep those prayers and positive thoughts coming Samba’s way!

Best, Melindah

All of us have spent most of our time in the ICU and the hospital. Sameer’s condition remains serious. His status as of this morning is as follows:

1. His temperature was back up to around 100F after being normal for 3-4 days. No bacteria have shown up in his blood culture for the last 3-4 days. We do not have results yet from this morning’s blood cultures. The temperature has come down now to around 99F by now.
2. His blood pressure and heart rate are stable. Both are somewhat higher this morning than they have been for the last few days - probably related to his higher temperature. This is not a cause for concern. In fact a slightly higher blood pressure helps during dialysis.
3. He has been on dialysis for the last 3 days and his kidney-related vitals have been holding steady, although elevated. However he has a lot of fluid retention and they will try to remove some of the excess fluid through dialysis today.
4. His blood oxygen level has been fluctuating in a narrow range since yesterday. Therefore they are giving him some extra oxygen through a small mask over his nose and mouth. They think that the lungs tend to collapse a bit due to a lack of motion. This also is not a cause for concern right now.
5. He has been comfortable and does not seem to be in pain. Prior to today, he was responding a bit by opening his eyes when we were talking to him. This morning he does not seem as responsive.
6. They did a chest x-ray yesterday and his lungs were OK.
7. His bilirubin level has gone up to around 7 (it indicates liver function) from 3 yesterday. This could be indicative of the stress his liver is experiencing due to the chemo he has received. The doctors are reviewing his medicines to see if they need to make any adjustments.
8. His bone marrow biopsy results have shown that there is absolutely no blood cell production in his marrow. This is called aplastic anemia. It is most likely that this was caused by the tremendous amount of chemotherapy he has received to date. Therefore it is not possible to judge the status of the leukemia. We will have a clearer picture when his marrow recovers in two to three weeks.

His attending physician is pessimistic about his recovery. He says that no one has seen as much chemo at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance as Sameer. Even though Sameer is strong, the body can only take so much. We have told him that Sameer is a fighter and we expect him to pull through this one. We also had a meeting with all the specialists in addition to the attending hematologist-oncologist on Friday and requested them to treat Sameer in a multidisciplinary approach by coordinating very closely with each other. They said they are doing that already and will make sure that they continue to do it.

My friend Douglas Adkins, Reena and Reena’s brother Deepesh were present for the meeting. Prashant has been sick with a cold and he cannot come to Sameer’s hospital floor. He has been in constant contact to follow Sameer’s progress. Sunita (Sameer’s mother) visited Sameer last night and was able to spend a few hours with him. She has not been well herself and has not been able to visit frequently. I was concerned about how she would react seeing Sameer in this unconscious state. I have tried to describe to her Sameer’s condition but it is always hard to see your son or loved one in Sameer’s condition. She did well considering everything, and tried to engage Sameer. She also had good help from Andrea (Sameer’s nurse) who answered her questions clearly and with empathy. Andrea reassured Sunita that they are doing everything possible to take good care of him.

Swami Bhaskaranand of the Vedanta Society of Western Washington (Vedanta Center) visited Sameer yesterday. He prayed at his bedside and blessed him. Swamiji has known Sameer since he was 3 years or so old. Swamiji has been praying for him everyday as have several other devotees at the Vedanta Center who have known Sameer for a long time and are extremely fond of him. I know that all his friends in addition to our relatives and even others whom we do not know have been praying for his recovery. We appreciate all of their prayers.

Robert, Brady and Veer were here since Wednesday arriving at different times and leaving at different times. Brady was the last one to leave (early this morning). Brady has collected videos and sound clips from many of Sameer and Reena’s friends. Sameer was able to respond somewhat to them since they were loud and demanding! Deepesh also came on Wednesday and plans to stay through the coming Wednesday. Reena’s mother and Deepesh moved to a smaller (1BR) apartment from the 2 BR apartment they were renting since most of the time the second bedroom was not being used. Anamika has come last night and saw Sameer briefly. Samit is here as well since late last night, and Melindah is coming this afternoon. I look forward to seeing them all.

For any of you who want to visit Sameer, you are welcome to do so. However the infection control makes it necessary that if you have had any cold, flu or other symptoms in the previous week or have been in close contact with someone who has been sick, you cannot come in Sameer’s room. This is important for Sameer’s safety since he has no immune system at this time, and an infection can be fatal. Also, he cannot have any flowers or plants in his room, and is being fed by an IV. Please do not bring any gifts for Sameer, we appreciate your blessings.

The best scenario for Sameer is to avoid any infections or additional complications for the next 2-3 weeks until his blood counts start to recover from the chemo. The nurses here are wonderful. The analogy I have in my mind is that doctors are like gods - powerful (smart) but slightly distant and afraid of raising expectations- while the nurses are like angels. They are positive and very supportive. They bathe him, turn him, keep him from getting infections while administering all the medications, drawing blood, taking vital signs, recording everything, and constantly hovering around him all day. He has a dedicated nurse for each 12 hour period of the day. They rotate and all of them are transplant ICU nurses, which means that they are very senior and experienced. They tell us that they have seen people recover almost miraculously. While the doctors tend to explain all the potential complications and are pessimistic, the nurses deal with each case on its own without presuming the outcome while working optimistically. It is such a nice example of karma yoga in every day life.

Some of you have wondered how we are doing emotionally. Reena has been strong and has been spending all her time at the hospital. Reena’s mother has been there to support her and has been spending most of the day at the hospital. I have spent most of the days at the hospital since Sameer has been in the ICU. Before that, I would return from work a little after 4 PM and spend the evening with Sameer and Reena before going home to sleep. As you can imagine it has been very hard for all of us. I have been praying to the best of my abilities to Lord Shrinathji (Shri Krishna - our family deity) to heal Sameer.

When I go to Vendanta Center, I pray in the shrine of Sri Ramakrishna who to me is another avatar of Shri Krishna. I have been continuing to work professionally even traveling to conferences and meetings. This keeps me from worrying all the time about Sameer with unproductive thoughts. I have suggested to Prashant to do the same and spend as much time with Sameer as he can (when he is healthy) but continue his work. I encouraged Prashant to accept responsibility for a new project with very tight deadlines which now is taking all his time.

My priorities are Sameer, my family, our friends and my work. I have been thinking about the teachings of Bhagvata Gita which has been helpful to me in my life. However, my mind is unwilling to accept any separation from Sameer. I pray to God for Sameer’s recovery since it is hard for me to imagine a satisfying life without Sameer. Therefore, I am going to continue to focus on the right and intelligent action, and on praying or even demanding from God to bring our healthy Sameer back to us.

Please pardon me if I have not returned your calls. I take calls when I can but I find it harder to return calls especially the calls which require some additional work of finding and punching a lot of numbers.

Thanks for your continued prayers for Sameer’s recovery. Take care.

Kumar Bhatia

This a short update on Sameer’s current status. He was moved to the ICU on Monday (March 3) with symptoms of confusion and not being able to speak.

They have done several tests and have determined from a lumbar puncture that he has bacterial meningitis with a steph infection. This means that the bacteria crossed over the blood-brain barrier. We should get the exact subtype of bacterial by tomorrow but it most likely is an internal bacteria from his system. They also did a head CATSCAN and found no bleeding in the brain.

As bad as the bacterial meningitis is, it is not as bad as a viral meningitis. They are giving him several antibiotics to treat it. However, the treatment is complicated by the fact that his white blood count is almost nil due to the chemo. Even though he has been getting GCSF (to increase the blood counts), the doctors don’t know when his blood counts will start to recover. It depends on whether the chemo had essentially eliminated the leukemic cells. They are thinking about a bone marrow biopsy on Friday to assess the status of his leukemia. In the meantime they are watching his vital signs since all are high. He also has pain since he happened to chew the inside of his cheek which now is bleeding. He is getting medication for pain and restlessness.

Overall he is at risk. We are praying and hoping that the excellent care, his strength and everyone’s prayers will pull him through this.

Take care.

Sameer’s Feb. 19 bone marrow biopsy test results came back and the blast count was close to 50%. This was a disappointment since we needed the blast count to be below 5% to proceed with the next transplant. The two doses of Mylotarg did not work as hoped.

It has been a rocky ride. Sameer had to go back in the hospital on Feb. 17th (Sunday) due to a fever. He was home for just over a week (Feb. 8 – Feb. 17). He developed a fever probably due to an infection which is being treated with a combination of antibiotics. The infections were cleared but he still has fevers and a headache. The medical team said that in the case of low immunity, many patients have fevers for which they cannot find any cause. His blood counts continue to be low and he continues to get transfusions.

For the Presidents’ Day weekend, we had visits from friends from Monkeybin collectively known as the Monkeys (Brady, Nick, Robert and Dayal), Liz, as well as Laxmi and Trey, all from the Bay Area. We all had a nice time together over the weekend in spite of the fact that Sameer had to get back in the hospital on the 17th.

Some complications from the past chemotherapies in addition to the fevers and headaches, are showing up. Currently Sameer’s bladder was found to have clots making it painful for him to pass the urine. They are irrigating his bladder to remove the clots. By the grace of God, the rest of his functions are well within the normal ranges.

Sameer is continuing to stay in the hospital. They are trying a new chemotherapy regimen consisting of chlofarbine and ara-c starting today. The current course is for five day. We hope that with this treatment the blast cell count will be less than 5% for a sustained period to allow a cord blood transplant to be successful. They will check the blast count with a bone marrow biopsy on day 14 and then on day 28.

As is easy to imagine, the treatment is very hard on the body. We pray to God to give Sameer the strength to get through this ordeal, minimize the side effects and make the treatment effective so he can recover completely. Thank you for your continued prayers, blessings and good wishes.

Our friend, Sameer Bhatia, was just diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), which is a cancer of the blood. He is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant. Sameer is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, is 31 years old and
just got married in 2006. His diagnosis was confirmed just weeks ago and caught us all by surprise.

Another friend of ours, Vinay, was also diagnosed with AML and also requires a transplant (many of you may already be familiar with Vinay's campaign). We have teamed up with Team Vinay in order to build greater awareness of how you can help.

3 Things You Can Do!

The greatest likelihood for a bone marrow match for both Sameer and Vinay is from someone in the South Asian community - however, very few South Asians are actually in the bone marrow registry. This is where we need your help.

1. Please get registered
Getting registered is very quick and requires a simple cheek swab. Team Vinay has organized a nationwide campaign and we need you to get registered by visiting a local drive. Drives are currently taking place all around the country, including throughout California, Washington, Michigan, Illinois, New York and many other states. Please see the full list of locations here: http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php?q=event.

2. Spread the word
Please share this web page with at least 10 people (particularly South Asians), and ask them to do the exact same. Please point your friends to the local drives and ask them to get registered.

3. Visit Vinay's site
To learn more, please visit www.helpvinay.org. The site includes more details on how to organize your own drive, valuable information about AML, plus FAQs on registering. Please visit http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php?q=node/108 for more information on the cities where more help is needed. Thank you for getting registered to help Sameer and Vinay fight and win against leukemia.

Thank you, Friends of Sameer and Vinay