Help Vinay & Sameer

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to update everyone on how Sameer is doing. Since he finished his first round of consolidation chemo a few weeks ago, he’s been settling into a routine in his Mercer Island family home. He’s under his mom and dad’s tender, loving care! He goes back and forth to the clinic almost every other day. When I’m not physically with him (because I’m always emotionally with him!!!), he goes alone to get his blood draws. More often than not, he needs some type of blood product, either blood transfusions or platelet transfusions. They tell us that his “machinery” isn’t functioning properly anymore. This will all be fixed once he undergoes his transplant.

When a “normal” person has low hemoglobin levels (red blood cells that carry oxygen), one can feel tired and low energy - not our Sameer. He barrels through his day, going to appointments, managing his care, catching up on emails, making sales calls, etc. as if he’s perfectly healthy! He overcomes all of the physical effects of his illness with a strong drive to live as normally as possible. We love that about him, although it makes us worry and watch him carefully, but we realize this drive is what makes him special!

Overall, he’s our energetic and independent Sameer! It has been frustrating and worrisome to learn almost every other day that he needs more blood products, but that is par for the course. We’re glad that he’s been feeling well otherwise - much of it due to the blood products!

All of you are in our thoughts daily as we hear about the momentum around increasing donor registrations.

Love!

Reena

By: Reena Bhatia

Do you know what it feels like to be carried through the crowd at a huge gathering on top of peoples’ hands? Where you have to trust the hearts of the people below you to keep you going. Well, I didn’t know how that felt before Sameer was diagnosed with AML, now I do. It’s all those hands that are taking us to our goal of 50,000 new registrations. Both Sameer and Vinay are being carried by those hands, and Rashmi and I along with them.

We have been tremendously moved by the stories of people wanting to do drives, people that do not personally know any of us, people that love us - all putting valuable efforts into what is most necessary for us right now. You are all changing the face of this need. Hopefully all of the efforts these past few months and the awareness that you’ve helped bring to the issue will make it unnecessary for anyone who is diagnosed with a blood cancer to have to wonder if they’ll find a match in time.

All those hands are making a huge difference in how we solve this problem for future patients. There aren’t enough words in Webster’s to describe how much gratitude and how humbled our families, Sameer and I feel when we think of all of your contributions.

Let me give it a try with a simple, “You Rock!!!”

This guide is designed to help you set up a bone marrow drive at work. It is easy! Just follow the simple instructions and reach out to the right people within your company. Sample emails are also included, which you can customize as needed.

Hosting a bone marrow drive at work.doc

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