Till now, Gaurav has had 2 rounds of chemotherapy; as a result of which, he is currently in remission. Till early this week Gaurav was resting in his house; however, due to the sharp fall in white blood cells (WBC), his body’s resistance dropped substantially and unfortunately, he contracted an infection on 1Jan09; consequently, he was re-admitted to Hinduja on the same day. I am given to understand that the doctors have now been able to control the said infection.

While Gaurav was resting at home, his wife (Anuradha) has been actively discussing his case with various senior doctors including Navin Khatry (Tata Hospital), Mehboob Bhasade (Jaslok), Hari Menon (Tata Hospital), B. A. Agarwal and Prof NK Mehra (AIIMS, Delhi) regarding various options going forward. Anuradha is also traveling to Vellore & Chennai (hopefully next week; once Gaurav comes back home) to meet doctors in Apollo Hospital, Chennai and Dr Mammon Chandy at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. Any assistance in providing Anuradha introductions in these 2 hospitals would be most appreciated.

Simultaneously, we are awaiting Gaurav’s latest cytogenetic reports from Tata (within next week). Post receipt of this report, we will request the operating doctor to register Gaurav’s case with the Global Bone Marrow Donor Registry for matching purposes. Once the bone marrow donor is available (may take 30-45 days), the doctors would be able to provide us a clear road map.

In order to broad base our efforts; Gaurav, Anuradha and Aditya had also got in touch with the Cancer Patient’s Aids Association (CPAA), Bombay to seek their assistance and advice. We have received good support from CPAA; who have also placed Gaurav’s case on their website (http://www.cpaaindia.org/casefile/index.htm#top) to seek aid from donors and raise awareness about Gaurav’s condition.

I am also extremely proud of the overwhelming support that Gaurav and Anuradha have been receiving from the SPJIMR Family; not just in the form of financial aid (Over INR 500,000 received in contributions till date) but also in the form of valuable suggestions, recommendations and moral support. Our sincerest thanks to everyone for the same.