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Meenakshi Bandekar, Meena to a few of us, her dear, dear friends, is facing the most challenging test of her life.
Meena, who has always been an indomitable spirit for those of us who have known her intimately, has been diagnosed with early stage Pancreatic Cancer, medically referred to as adenocarcinoma (Head of the Pancreas).
This is the good part. The best part, in fact.
For Meena who is barely 52 years of age, neither has great family support nor the resources to fight this dark and lonely battle. Her financial background is impossibly modest. She works in a loss-making small scale unit run by my father-in-law and also works part time, and together she draws not more than Rs.18000 per month post taxes. Her Mediclaim amounts to a mere Rs.3 lacs only.
But what is worse, is that she can draw upon next to nothing in terms of raising money for her treatment, which amounts to a sizeable 20 odd lakhs and more.
As some of you would already know, Pancreatic Cancer is not an easy foe to fight; either physically or monetarily. And without the latter, the first becomes a veritable impossibility.
She is under the very capable treatment of one of Mumbai's most renowned and humane Oncologists, Dr. Boman Dhabhar, at Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
We are most fortunate in the fact, that unlike most pancreatic cancers where early detection happens but rarely with the cloud of mortality hanging overhead, Meena's has been detected at a stage where she has every chance of getting her normal life back. And we intend to make the most of this fighting chance.
This fightback can happen through a combination of two to three cycles of pre-operative chemotherapy followed by an operation for removal of mass, and then at least 6 to 7 cycles of chemo along with radiation therapy.
This is intensive treatment, any which way one looks at it, and she just does not have the financial wherewithal to cope with it. Every cycle of chemo (Folfirinox) will set her back by a good 1.4 lacs at least. The operation will cost another Rs.3 to 4 lacs. There will also be the cost of drugs and periodic hospitalisation which we cannot account for at this stage.
In addition, her physical state will not allow her to go about her daily work or routine either. All in all, we are looking at a very grim 8 to 9 months scenario.
But the only thing that keeps Meena, and the rest of us, her friends, going, is the prognosis; that if we do this right, just as the doctors and the surgeons advise us to, we can actually beat the dreaded C.
And that's why we are here.
Meena is that brave soul, who is the last person on earth to take favours from anyone, but just this once, she doesn't have an option. We friends will obviously be doing the best we can to help her overcome this difficult hour with our money, advise, time and resources, but we just cannot do this alone.
We desperately need to rely on the kindness of more friends and strangers to see us through this heartbreak of a phase. For we cannot afford to lose this wonderful gem of a human being.
Thank you for reading through this appeal and being with us so far. Please do share this appeal by circulating it in your WhatsApp groups and fb pages, talking to your networks and/or contributing in whatever you can. We can never thank you enough for your kindnesses. May God or whoever you repose your love and faith in, be with you always.
On behalf of our dear friend, Meena Bandekar;
Vistasp Hodiwala
Anahita Hodiwala
Meena, who has always been an indomitable spirit for those of us who have known her intimately, has been diagnosed with early stage Pancreatic Cancer, medically referred to as adenocarcinoma (Head of the Pancreas).
This is the good part. The best part, in fact.
For Meena who is barely 52 years of age, neither has great family support nor the resources to fight this dark and lonely battle. Her financial background is impossibly modest. She works in a loss-making small scale unit run by my father-in-law and also works part time, and together she draws not more than Rs.18000 per month post taxes. Her Mediclaim amounts to a mere Rs.3 lacs only.
But what is worse, is that she can draw upon next to nothing in terms of raising money for her treatment, which amounts to a sizeable 20 odd lakhs and more.
As some of you would already know, Pancreatic Cancer is not an easy foe to fight; either physically or monetarily. And without the latter, the first becomes a veritable impossibility.
She is under the very capable treatment of one of Mumbai's most renowned and humane Oncologists, Dr. Boman Dhabhar, at Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
We are most fortunate in the fact, that unlike most pancreatic cancers where early detection happens but rarely with the cloud of mortality hanging overhead, Meena's has been detected at a stage where she has every chance of getting her normal life back. And we intend to make the most of this fighting chance.
This fightback can happen through a combination of two to three cycles of pre-operative chemotherapy followed by an operation for removal of mass, and then at least 6 to 7 cycles of chemo along with radiation therapy.
This is intensive treatment, any which way one looks at it, and she just does not have the financial wherewithal to cope with it. Every cycle of chemo (Folfirinox) will set her back by a good 1.4 lacs at least. The operation will cost another Rs.3 to 4 lacs. There will also be the cost of drugs and periodic hospitalisation which we cannot account for at this stage.
In addition, her physical state will not allow her to go about her daily work or routine either. All in all, we are looking at a very grim 8 to 9 months scenario.
But the only thing that keeps Meena, and the rest of us, her friends, going, is the prognosis; that if we do this right, just as the doctors and the surgeons advise us to, we can actually beat the dreaded C.
And that's why we are here.
Meena is that brave soul, who is the last person on earth to take favours from anyone, but just this once, she doesn't have an option. We friends will obviously be doing the best we can to help her overcome this difficult hour with our money, advise, time and resources, but we just cannot do this alone.
We desperately need to rely on the kindness of more friends and strangers to see us through this heartbreak of a phase. For we cannot afford to lose this wonderful gem of a human being.
Thank you for reading through this appeal and being with us so far. Please do share this appeal by circulating it in your WhatsApp groups and fb pages, talking to your networks and/or contributing in whatever you can. We can never thank you enough for your kindnesses. May God or whoever you repose your love and faith in, be with you always.
On behalf of our dear friend, Meena Bandekar;
Vistasp Hodiwala
Anahita Hodiwala
Zarineeta Gandhi
Sachin Gandhi
Ashish Medhekar
