Dear friends, here is a note on the Dr Mammen Chandy who handled my relapse & transplant case at CMC Vellore.
A man with childlike enthusiasm and an infectious smile, Dr Mammen Chandy is a true ‘karma-Yogi’. One can say he’s the father of Bone Marrow Transplant activities in India. He and his team at CMC Vellore have saved many precious lives over the last three decades.
A very unassuming individual who believes in simplicity (mostly seen in white half-sleeve shirt he gets up very early in the morning and makes his own tea!), he’s loved & respected by his patients, their families, junior doctors, nursing staff and whoever comes in his contact.
At 60, he can easily outshine people half his age in terms of sheer energy and dedication towards his work (he comes to the hospital at 8am, mint-fresh, even after long international flights which would reach him home at 3am earlier in the day!)
I remember how his smiling face, his reassuring touch & words used to give great relief to my anxious mind during those high risk days of transplant and subsequent the infections & complications. I used to eagerly look forward to his daily ‘rounds’. He would shield me and my family from the stress caused by the die-hard complications and would himself spend sleepless nights thinking about the treatment options.
It’s impossible not to mention another complimentary & harmonizing force that we experienced at CMC Vellore: Mrs Mammen Chandy! A very loving, caring and graceful lady, she is a soothing cool shade for the scorched & weary souls of the patients and their family members. She would make nice & soft idlis, refreshingly cool jelly, oats porridge for me and also bring me movie DVDs. Hundreds of small kids who suffered from blood disorders and their patients would agree with me.
Together what Dr Mammen & Mrs Mammen have done for the patients and their family cannot be described in words, it can only be felt.
Now, Dr. Mammen has been busy with his new role as Director of Tata’s Cancer hospital, Kolkata. He’s building the state-of-art 150-bed cancer hospital from scratch which will serve needy patients from across India, especially the large number of them from the North-East who otherwise would have to travel far away from their home to CMC or AIIMS or Tata Memorial.
He’s Vice Chair at CIMBTR (Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research) and heads it’s Asia operations. CIBMTR collaborates with the global scientific community to advance hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy research worldwide.
We wish him all the best and pray for his and his family’s with health & happiness.
His Favorite:
Book: To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Food: Appam
Hobby: Gardening
Advice to patients & family members: Take each day at a time!
