Vinay and Sameer, we will remember you for your strength and courage. You are role models for all patients and families suffering from cancer. You remain in our hearts forever.

Please visit www.helpvinay.org for a message from his family.

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

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

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 enquired 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

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

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

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