Help Vinay & Sameer

Sameer celebrates his birthday at home

From Kumar, Sameer’s father,

Sameer has had a challenging time for the last couple of weeks. This was expected and fortunately his side effects while quite uncomfortable were less severe than the average. The chemotherapy and the radiation had caused his mouth to become sore and the immuno-suppressants had caused his throat to get constricted. As a result, he suffered from mucositis (http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/mucositis.html) where the mouth produces large quantities of mucous causing him to cough and spit frequently into a paper cup. The cup was getting full in 2- hours and the nights were particularly difficult since the mucus interfered with his sleep. The throat constriction made swallowing difficult and he had to be fed liquids via the IV hooked up to his Hickman line. Talking caused discomfort and pain. His right shoulder was quite painful and the left shoulder was slightly painful. It was difficult to see him suffer like this even though we knew that it was fortunate that he did not have any fever or diarrhea which are not uncommon in his situation. It seemed to me that all the prayers, blessings and love form everyone were allowing him to ride the ship of prayers and blessings through turbulent waters which otherwise he would have had to swim through on his own.

I was with him on the early morning of the transplant (Oct. 3 ) and then I visited him that evening. I realized that I had developed a cold which turned into a mild infection in another day. Therefore, I could not visit him and only could talk to him and Reena on the phone. Prashant was visiting each evening to give them company. Also, my friend Eli was visiting them almost every other day. Several other friends came by as well when they were either visiting Seattle or making a special trip to see Sameer. Reena was looking after him with much love, and making sure that he was as comfortable as he could be. Sameer also was managing his care by making sure that he was getting the right medications at the right time as the nursing staff rotated each day. Among Sameer, Reena and the nursing staff, he was being looked after very well. The medical team was monitoring him closely and adjusting his dosage as necessary in response to his symptoms. The medical team also told us that his Peripheral Blood Cell Transplant (PBCT) contained close to 10 million cells. They are generally satisfied with 5 million cells and the increased number of cells improve the chances for a successful engraftment. Once again, we thanked the anonymous donor who generously provided this wonderful gift.

I was better by Monday, October 8 and was able to go to work with slight remnants of a cold. Since I still could not go to visit Sameer, I decided to go to Detroit for a conference leaving on Oct. 10 and returning on Oct. 12. I was able to follow Sameer’s progress over the phone by talking to Reena and Sameer. I was finally able to visit Sameer on Oct. 13. His blood counts had reduced and his neutrophil counts were hovering around zero as intended. At this point his immune system was almost non-existent

We had been told that the engraftment takes place between days 12 and 16 after the transplant. We therefore looked forward to the day when his blood counts would start to recover. The medical team had told us that the patients notice the engraftment even before the blood counts start recovering. The patients feel their mouth sores improving and feeling more comfortable due to the immune system rebuilding itself. It happened as expected. Sameer started feeling some improvement in his mouth and was able to swallow with less pain than before. The mucus was also starting to decrease. On Thursday Oct. 18, the neutrophil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrophil_granulocytecounts) were showing an increase, and the medical team was thinking that he could go home the next day. However the neutrophil counts dropped the next day instead of increasing. The medical team explained that sometimes the neutrophils get used up by the tender areas such as the mouth and actually can show a drop. We were a bit disappointed but at the same time did not want to have Sameer come home prematurely. The medical team indicated that he might have to stay the weekend and might be able to go home on Monday. However, on Saturday (Oct. 20), the neutrophil counts increased significantly and they decided to allow him to go home.

Saturday, Oct. 20 was the annual Durga Puja celebration at the Vedanta Center retreat where Swami Bhaskaranandji conducts a traditional worship. Reena and I went to Durga Puja in the morning while Sameer was still sleeping. Before we reached the retreat, Sameer called us to tell us that he can go home that evening. We were really happy. When we returned from the retreat to Sameer’s hospital room, we found Sameer with 5 of his friends from San Francisco who had flown to visit him and surprise him just before his birthday on Oct. 22. Robert, Dayal, Brady, Nick and Nick’s fiancé Caroline were in the room and all six of them were very happy. I knew that Robert , Dayal and Brady had planned their trip and bought their tickets in August. It was fortuitous that they came on the day Sameer was leaving the hospital. We all came home and all had a good time playing a word game till late night (I did beg off and go to sleep early!).

Sameer went to the clinic for a check up today, and his blood counts have improved further as expected. He will be closely monitored at the Hutch clinic by the transplant team for 100 days following the transplant. He is not allowed to travel or even go to any crowded places. Even though his neutrophil count will be close to normal, his new immune system is like a new born baby’s immune system since it does not have immunity to viruses. This immunity will be developed over a year similar to how babies develop their immune system during the first year of their lives. Sameer has been very careful and intelligent about taking precautions to avoid the chances of infections. I am sure that he will continue to use the advice of the transplant team to stay healthy. We expect that there will be some Graft Vs. Host Disease (GVHD) effects but we are fully confident in the transplant team’s ability to manage these with the least possible discomfort to Sameer.

Oct. 22 (today!) is Sameer’s birthday, and for me it is a day of thanksgiving for Sameer’s recovery and cure. I pray for Sameer and Reena to continue their life together as ideal Hindu Householders.

Once again, my sincere thanks to each and every one of you for your prayers and good wishes for Sameer. Please pardon us for the delay in responding to your nice emails and phone calls. Please feel free to write and call, and we will definitely respond even though we might be late. If you happen to be in Seattle, please let us know. We will love to see you. Take care.

With Best Wishes,

Kumar Bhatia

October 22nd, 2007 11 Comments »

Sameer receives his transplant

See video of Sameer receiving his transplant. A happy day.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

October 15th, 2007 2 Comments »

Update on Sameer from his father

Dear Friends of Sameer,

Sameer is scheduled to start the pre-transplant procedure around Sept. 25 with the actual transplant to take place on Oct. 2. We have no new updates on the donor and presume that everything is fine. Sameer’s treatment team has opted for chemotherapy and total body irradiation (TBI) for the pre-transplant process during which his immune system will be essentially wiped out to be ready to be replaced by the transplanted system. He is expected to remain in the hospital for about 3 weeks following the transplant. This is a crucial period in the treatment where the doctors balance the graft versus leukemia (GVL) and the graft versus host disease (GVHD). GVL is considered to be necessary to eliminate leukemia cells from the body while the GVHD tries to attack the internal organs such as the liver, the GI tract and even the skin. Both GVL and GVHD are manifestations of the graft versus host (GVH) characteristic of the transplant. Therefore the doctors carefully balance the beneficial (GVL) and the harmful (GVHD) effects of GVH. GVH is the reason for seeking at least a 9 out of 10 match for the transplant. We will be praying very hard for the transplant to fulfill its intended purpose of freeing Sameer from leukemia while keeping him from the harmful effects.

Sameer had a nice visit yesterday from his Stanford room mate and friend Carter Lipton, and his son Adelai. Adelai is 10 months old and was able to use the nice deck and green lawn in our yard perfect of little feet. All three of them had a good time together and Sameer was teasing me about enquiring about the number of grand kids Carter’s parents have!

Sameer is continuing to do well with the monitoring of his blood counts by his treatment team. He is getting numerous blood transfusions since his blood counts continue to remain low. In addition, he is getting antibiotics and anti-fungal medicines as prophylactics (to avoid any infections). Sameer is taking good care of himself. As an example, I happened to pick up a cold probably on my return flight from New Jersey last week. As a result, I have not been allowed to be in the same room with Sameer. The worst hardship has been that I have not been able to hug him for a whole week. Since my cold is now gone, I am looking forward to giving him a big hug today!

I hope that the bone marrow donor registration drives will continue specially at the college campuses during early fall. Please take good care of yourselves, and continue doing all the good things you always do.

With best wishes,

Kumar

September 16th, 2007 6 Comments »

Sameer stories from his friends

By Sundeep Ahuja

One of my favorite stories of Sameer goes back to when I was interning at a startup company that he’d founded with another guy, Robert Chatwani, back in 2000. The company was called MonkeyBin, and we were launching a ‘beta’ (as in ‘early’, not ’son’, for you hindi speakers) version of the site at Stanford University. There was this big kick-off party planned at what Stanford students affectionately called the “co-ho” (short for coffee house…why coffee house was too long to say I have no idea). We’d flier’d the campus before hand so the co-ho was packed…a few of us were anxiously waiting for Sameer and Robert to show-up with materials we could pass out (the point of the event), and lo-and-behold in walks Sameer in a monkeysuit. Sameer was SO excited about this launch party — SO excited about his start-up in general — that he went out and not only bought a MonkeySuit for the event, but special ordered an “extra-tall” suit for his lanky frame so he could wear it himself. Everyone kinda turned when he walked in…stared for a second…and then got back to drinking (er..coffee, uncle/auntie). Ha…I’m still smiling just typing this out.

Since those days working with Sameer as “Intern #1″ at MonkeyBin, to his wedding when Sameer forgot to ask for a female horse for the Bharat (yeah…don’t ask), to my recent trip to India earlier this year when I stayed with Sameer for several days, he’s been nothing but the warmest, most genuine, and most helpful of friends. I like to use the word mentor because he’s taught me so much, but he thinks that makes him sound like he knows what he’s talking about.

If you’re reading this and are South Asian, please please please get registered as a bone marrow donor. Registration takes minutes, donation takes a few hours, and you could save a life. If you’re already registered, don’t stop there. We’ve got just one chance at this. Let’s win.

August 3rd, 2007 3 Comments »

eBay Drive helps hundreds to register

From Robert Chatwani…

This past week we held a bone marrow drive at eBay and PayPal – what a success! eBay and PayPal employees showed up in large numbers. Luckily, along with the Asian American Donor Program (AADP) there were plenty of volunteers on hand to manage the traffic. The result was a total of 181 registrants!

I’m continuously struck by the power of a personal story can have on motivating someone to register. Here’s an example of one person in particular. He arrived at the drive and was handed a registration form. After asking a few questions, he became very hesitant about registering and walked away. He said that he “wanted to think about it” and that he “needed to grab lunch”.

About 30 minutes later he returned, and I saw him reading a large color poster with Sameer’s story on it. He looked at the poster for at least 3 minutes (it takes less than a minute to read). He then walked over to the registration table, confidently asked a volunteer for a form and he started to fill it out. Even though he didn’t know Sameer, I think that reading Sameer’s story helped create an important personal, human connection.

I encourage all of you to consider setting up a drive where you work. Though it takes a little coordination, it’s worth it. Click here for an informal playbook on how to host a drive at work. I call it the “Dummies Guide” but don’t be offended! It includes step-by-step instructions and sample email messages that you can customize as needed for your workplace.

Thank you to Dolly, DJ, and all of the other energetic volunteers at eBay and PayPal who helped to make it happen. And most importantly, a huge thanks to all of the registrants!

July 15th, 2007 No Comments »

Touching stories from NJ drive

From Milan and Meeta Kalawadia:

We met some amazing people during our drive in New Brunswick this past weekend - People who had no immediate connection to Sameer or Vinay, but came out because they saw the ad on TV or had an email forwarded to them and felt compelled to help. Others who had family members with cancer and wanted to register because they “understood”.

There were people who literally looked like they were praying they would be a match as they filled out the forms. Others who left their numbers because they wanted to have drives of their own. The stories are endless, however one that I would like to share is about an eight year old girl who wanted to register. When she found out she was too young, she brought her parents to the table, all excited, telling them “Mom and Dad you could save a life!”

We later found out while we were registering the parents that the young girl (only 8!) had grown her hair out and recently cut it all off so she could donate it to the American Cancer Society. Overall, the drive was a success not only because we were able to get people registered, but because it was a true story of a community coming together in a time of great need.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and please bring friends to registration at this weekend’s Bay Area Mega Drive.

July 11th, 2007 1 Comment »

One Thousand Paper Cranes and One Wish

By Meeta Gaitonde

31 children in a fourth grade class. What would they have to offer to a person struggling with leukemia? Some pretty special things, as it turns out – hope, optimism, and a reminder of the power of community.

It was a normal spring afternoon in my classroom in Menlo Park, California. 2pm, Social Studies. I was teaching my students about the Japanese tradition of origami and crane making. A student raised her hand, “Like in the book Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes?” Sadako was a 12-year-old victim of radiation exposure from WWII in Japan. Taking heed of a Japanese legend that states that if a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes, the gods will grant her a wish, Sadako began the long process of folding cranes to be healthy again.

My students were so moved by the story that they felt compelled to fold one thousand cranes…but they didn’t know whose health to make their wish for. Tentatively, I told them that I had a friend who they might like to dedicate their cranes to. Eager to help, they pressed me for Sameer’s story.

The result was one of the most touching efforts of creativity and goodwill I have seen in my years as a teacher. My students were addicted to making paper cranes for the remainder of the year. They made them at home, they asked for time in class, they made them during recess. They made each crane with the thought of health for Sameer, for their teacher’s friend with leukemia – someone they’ve never met but who they felt an instinctive desire to reach out to. Over the course of weeks, the cranes piled up until they were delivered to Sameer last weekend.