He who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything. The dream of living a good and healthy life makes you see every moment in the most positive way and paves the way for a better tomorrow.
48-year-old, Bandu Mayekar is our ex-colleague, a dear friend, and a warm human being. A people’s person he loves to spend time with friends and family. With a great sense of humour and a penchant for music, he is a very likeable personality.
He and his family are now undergoing a traumatic experience as he has been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and they need financial help to get over it.
The Background:
It all started this MARCH when Bunty (that is how we call Bandu) started having difficulties with swallowing food. He and his wife visited a doctor in Dombivili and after a few visits were requested to do an endoscopy.
After endoscopy they approached a doctor in Dombivali who got the PET/CT scan done which confirmed the presence of tumour along with few lymph nodes at cervical region. After carrying out further investigations these lymph nodes were concluded to be related to tuberculosis. Then we approached the Tata Memorial Hospital where all the investigations were again repeated.
Earlier the case was under Thoracic department but later got transferred to the GI (Gastro) section under Dr. Shailesh Shrikhande. Staging Laparoscopy was performed in the first week of June. That's when we had a shocking revelation, as a tumour was confirmed in the pancreas by the team at Tata Memorial hospital.
All this happened during the end March period of 2018.
Post the diagnosis there were further complications and he was now in urgent need of surgery and supportive care. He was complaining of dual vision, loss of balance and breathlessness and was admitted to the ICU on an emergency basis in the 2nd week of June. Within 24 hours, a major surgery was performed to remove a massive infection in his abdomen. He was now weak from this and after a week they needed to do another procedure to eliminate more pus and to clean the infected area.
Bandu is currently at the TATA hospital as he is still recovering and too weak to even walk.
He has lost 50 kgs of weight since then.
The doctors need to perform more surgeries to treat the tumor/ cancer around the Pancreatic area. They will do that in a few weeks once he recovers sufficiently to have the strength to go through another surgery.
His family is in a tight spot financially as his 42-yr old spouse Seema B. Mayekar, who was working in an educational institution as an administrator had to take a break from work due to her husband's health issues. They have a daughter who is 9-yrs old and studying in the 4th grade.
Initial diagnosis and treatment costed over INR 10L and this has sapped most of their savings and funds. We are raising funds for his immediate surgery as per the Tata Hospitals treatment plan. The initial estimate is about INR 5L (which is the goal of this campaign) but with post-operative care and other medical costs they would need closer to INR 10L.
We are attempting to collect INR 5L at the minimum. The funds we are raising will possibly be enough for immediate treatment. However he definitely will need to spend much more money on medicines and other costs. So please continue to fund till the last day as we would like to raise over INR 10L for him ideally.
The more we collect the more breathing space he and his family will get financially. So please do continue funding even after the campaign goes past its goal. The least we can do as colleagues, friends and fellow human beings is give a little so that together we make some difference to his life and support to the family.
About Bandu Mayekar
Bandu with his wife Seema in happier times
About Bandu Mayekar - He has worked at well known media organisations like Midday and is currently employed at Network18. Bandu, popularly known as Bunty, is a soft-spoken, calm, helpful and fun loving person. Dedicated and committed to his work, you could rely on him to get you out of stressful and tricky work situations and hence was very popular within our sales fraternity.
Originally from Ratnagiri in the Konkan area, he was born and grew up in Girgaum, Mumbai. He currently resides in Dombivli.
ABOUT US:
We are both friends and colleagues of Bandu Mayekar and are doing this crowdfunding campaign as we feel it’s the least we can do for a friend in need. A little about the two of us.
AMIT KABRE:
I am a media professional working with Pudhari Publications Pvt Ltd as Marketing & Sales Head Mumbai. I have worked with organizations like the Mid-Day, Hindustan Times, Big 92.7 FM, Ankit Advertising over the last 20 years and have been based out of Mumbai all along. I live in Malad currently.
RONALD SEQUEIRA:
I have worked in the marketing and media side of the business. Am currently a Director at Brand Box experiential marketing LLP and am a marketing professional with Multi-faceted experience in Rural Marketing, Distribution, Promotion, Branding, Merchandising etc. Worked with Mid-Day, Express Group, Times Group and India Today Group. I reside at Mira Road and had earlier done my Masters in Marketing Management.
THE DIAGNOSIS
FAQs
How does crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding in India is a relatively new concept & is growing very quickly.
It’s a concept that allows a large number of funders (like you) to fund an Idea or a cause or event or help others by giving small amounts of money online. Fueladream.com is a crowdfunding platform in India that allows for such a pooling of funds. You can fund innovations and ideas on FuelADream and be the first to get these products . You can also do a good turn by funding charities and causes through crowdfunding. When you fund a charity or a cause or a campaign like this, it’s more like a donation & you get small rewards like a shout-out on an FB page or a thank you email.
Whom do the monies collected go to ?
The monies will be transferred to Bandu Mayekar's account approximately after 10 days of the campaign ending.
