Cooks4Cure

Last week saw the first fundraising effort thru catering by the Richmond families. The "Cooks4Cure" team of Meena Sankaran, Chitra Ravindran, Vanaja Narayanan and Sreelatha Parasu made a great effort and it was a huge success. They cooked for the Richmond Tamil Sangam's Pongal program and RTS Executive Team graciously allowed them to sell the food as the proceeds were going to HelpRajesh.

The ladies sacrificed a few hours of their valueable family time on saturday, and pulled it off. The food was great and appreciated by all. Sankaran made a last minute dash to Costco and purchased soft drinks and water. That was well worth the effort.

The emphasis was to keep the cost low and the ladies achieved that objective. The total sale was over $560 and the net to HelpRajesh should be $400+. You can see some of the pictures from the food stall in the slideshow on the right.

The momemtum is picking up and word is spreading around like wild fire in the community about the quality of the food and the cause it supports. The Cooks4Cure team has already bagged another huge order for a Bharatanatyam Arangetram in Richmond on March 1st. This is a bigger undertaking as they will be cooking for 300 people. The amazing part is that a few ladies from the local community are chipping in and have signed up to volunteer and help the four principals.

Kudos to the Cooks4Cure team.

Team HelpRajesh

Update on Rajesh

The four of us from Richmond got together and had a long chat with Rajesh on Saturday night. He is currently getting treatment for the fungal infection. The surgery on the femur bone will be done after 10 days depending on the outcome of fungal treatment. Rajesh told us that the problem with his femur is away from the ball and socket joint and is now less likely to require a joint replacement. He might still however need some kind of metal insert to stabilize his bone.

And the following is not for the weak-hearted. They have drilled a hole thru the bone below the right knee when he was awake and talking to them. A metal rod thru that hole in a traction keeps him straight. Because of that, the pain is less now. But 'less' is here is relative. From spasmodic, gut-wrenching pain, it has dropped couple of notches.

The donor search is underway at NMDP and let us hope for the best.

The last week had ups and downs for all of us. The good news is that Sonia Kumar, another AML patient, found a matching donor. And we also received the crushing news that we lost Bevin Varughese to this dreaded disease. May his soul rest in peace.

So plan your next drive soon to stop further losses! ITS NO TIME TO SIGH.

Update on Rajesh's leg situation

The exact medical facts may differ in the following but this is Nagu's understanding of the situation based on a call with Rajesh and his father:

Rajesh's leg problem has worsened. They saw some fungal infection on the femur(thigh bone) and opened to take a sample for analysis. In the process, the bone was scraped causing a small crack and that disturbed the hip joint. Now, the bone is out of the joint and he is bed-ridden. And in a lot of pain. He has been on morphine continuously. So if you call him, please do not talk to him that much and have the conversation with his father.

In another 10 days, he would be heading into a surgery for replacing the hip joint. The next round of chemo will not start until this is taken care of. The silverlining - if there is one in this - is that the fungal infection has been identified now and not in the middle of a chemo round.

Why do all these happen to this guy....

Anyway - he is battling it out and is in immense pain. He wanted to talk but had to hand over the phone to his father as he could not withstand the pain.

His wife Padmaja and his kids come everyday in the morning at 11am. She brings the food. Kids play in the play area. After spending some time, Padmaja leaves with kids after 1. That has been their schedule. Padmaja has her hands full with the little ones and looking at ways of continuing Rishi's studies. A friend will be bringing Rishi's book soon.

Keep them in your prayers and do what you can to help them.

Update from Shashi - Rajesh's brother-in-law:

Visited him on 2nd and 3rd of February. Leg situation bad and will continue at this level till 20th. He is on an Antifungal for curing of the bone infections. After that they will schedule a surgery to correct the problems. Which may, in the worst case, be a hip joint replacement or otherwise a Metal jointing. This can be evaluated by the doctor only during the actual surgery. He is on traction and cannot move out of the bed. Has spasmodic pain attack on and off inspite of the morphine. Most of the time he is in a drowsy state on account of Morphine.

Help Rajesh Ramanathan

Many of you may know Rajesh Ramanathan who was in Bahrain from 1993 to 2002 working with Intercol (S+I Division). He left Bahrain in 2002 to work for KSoft in Dubai and has been there since then. Earlier Rajesh worked in Semi Conductor Complex in Bangalore after graduating from BITS, Pilani.

Rajesh was diagnosed with Blood Cancer (AML) in the year 2006 and underwent treatment at CMC Hospital in Vellore for over 6 months. After 3 phases of intense Chemotherapy, Autologous Bone Marrow transplant was done and he attained full remission towards the end of 2006. Rajesh comes from a middle class family and this treatment drained out the resources of the family, including his father’s retirement benefits. Rajesh does not have any siblings to whom he can look for support. However, being the positive and confident person that he is, he did not give up hope. He was back at work and was looking forward to rebuilding a future for his family.


Unfortunately, towards the end of November this year he had a relapse of the disease and is back in CMC Vellore for treatment. Since it is a relapse, he has to undergo a more aggressive treatment coupled with Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) of a different kind compared to what was done earlier. It may even be necessary to take Rajesh to the US for this BMT as some types of BMT are not done in India. The estimated cost of such a treatment is likely to be around $ 500,000 or 2 crores in Indian Rupees. The family is shattered with no means or ability to raise such funds.


Rajesh is aged 41, has a wife and two kids (aged 7 & 1) and a father aged 70. The family is completely dependent on Rajesh. Those who have been fortunate to know Rajesh would strongly agree that no stone should be left unturned to help this wonderful human being. Rajesh is a person who helped people even if he did not know them very well. He was there for anyone in need. During his first chemo treatment in CMC Vellore, we have seen him going around the cancer ward, consoling other patients and asking them to remain positive. That’s the way Rajesh is!

Friends, such a humane person needs help from all of us now. Though Rajesh has said that he does not want people to go through trouble to generate funds for his treatment, we will be failing in our duty if we don’t do so.

Any contribution big or small will go a long way in meeting the treatment costs. Please consider this appeal in a humane manner and help a family going through terrible times.

To contribute in the U.S., please mail a check payable to Rajesh Ramanathan to
11313 Country Oaks Circle
Glen Allen, VA 23059

The contribution to the above is not tax-deductible but we are exploring options to work with a non-profit organization. When that happens, your contribution may be tax-deductible.

Contributions can be sent in the name of R. Rajesh.

1.Account No. NRE-SB 20070004
2.Account No. SB 4826

SWIFT code: CSYBIN55
IFSC Code: CSBK0000001

Both accounts are with
Catholic Syrian Bank
88/2 Ida Scudder Road
Opp. CMC Hospital
Vellore, Tamil Nadu. 632004
India.


If you are sending money from your NRE account in India or transferring from overseas, use the first account. If you are transferring from a local account in India, please use the second account.

Another account that you can send contributions is in the name of Rajesh Ramanathan to

State bank of Travancore , Vellore Branch,
SB AC.NO: 67050946813
Swift No.SBTRINBB405

Cash contributions can be handed over to the person through whom you received this appeal. He/She will ensure that amounts collected are converted into a draft and sent to Rajesh.

Stand up and be counted for a cause!

Sincerely,
Friends of Rajesh.