Monday, March 24, 2008

Kruthika needs help

Please read the previous post for the details of Kruthika's cause. Please view the video, a news item telecasted in Kasturi, a Kannada channel.



One can contribute by sending cheques to Anand directly. He holds a syndicate bank account in Chamarajendra zoo branch, Mysore.
Savings account - 1720 2210001087
Anand's Address - No. 4161, 10th Cross, Gandhinagar, Mysore - 52, Karnataka. Ph. No. (+91) - 9341463820.

Alternatively one can contribute online to Asthe's account.

We will need another Rs 120,000/- for the remaining cycles of Chemotherapy. However we have time to arrange for the same.

Please spread the news to your friends, colleagues and whoever you think will help this cause. Your small contribution can make a big difference to someone's life.

Let us do it together.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The untold story of Kruthika

Kruthika's story is not actually untold. Her story was first published in December 3rd edition of Andolana, a local paper of Mysore. Prashanth Shivakumar of Asthe group noticed the news item and referred the same to Asthe, after due verification of the genuinity of the case. Following is the brief introduction to set the context.

Who is Kruthika?

Kruthika is 10 year old girl studying in 5th standard. She is the second daughter of Mr. Anand, who works as a security guard in Mujarai department of Mysore Palace.





Why this special post about Kruthika in your blog?
Kruthika is suffering from Ewing's Sarcoma or bone cancer. The treatment for Ewing's Sarcoma is a chemotherapy combined with local therapy (surgery and/or radiotherapy to the main tumor). Kruthika is advised 17 rounds of Chemotherapy over a period of around one year. 6 rounds are already over and 11 more round will cost between Rs 110,000 and Rs 150,000.

Kruthika is also advised of Prosthesis, since there was a delay in getting the proper treatment on time due to lack of funds. This will cost another Rs 120,000 to Rs 150,000. Prosthesis should occur within next one month or so. Kruthika's family have exhausted all their financial sources and now they need help from generous contributors like you and hence this post.

Kruthika hails from an economically backward family. She is going to face many travails after a prosthesis, in our societal set up. No explanations are needed for that, I guess. We may not be able to help all that, but we can ensure that she gets most reasonable medical help.

What is the case history?
Kruthika was initially diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in K.R. hospital of Mysore. Since it is a government hospital, family approached Bharath Cancer hospital for a better quality of service. There they were advised to remove the limb of the child. Family then approached Kidwai hospital to see if the limb can be saved. There was no progress in Kidwai even after 15 - 20 days and the family approached Vydehi Institute of Oncology & Research centre, Whitefield, Bangalore. The prosthesis was recommended by Prof. Mayil. V. Natarajan

What are the alternatives explored?
We are also in touch with Suparna (a fellow blogger and a member of Asthe) who works in Manipal hospital. We are trying to see if there are any opportunities for us to gain medical/financial advantage by shifting the case to Manipal. We will come to know of this in a week or so. However, the shifting of the case will be considered only if the following criteria are met :-
1) There should be no medical risk to the Patient.
2) The family should agree for the shift. We are not going to force any decision on them.
3) We should gain at least some financial advantage.





She is still smiling....For how long?...She needs your help

The amount required is too huge. Will we be successful?
Yes, I believe that we can take this case to its logical conclusion. We need to arrange for Rs 120,000/- minimum in another month and rest of the money needed for Chemotherapy can be arranged over a period of time. We have already contributed Rs 20,000 to 25,000/- for the initial 2 rounds of Chemotherapy. Since the amount needed is too huge, we are planning to get this news item published in Times of India and FM Radio. We encourage you to explore in your network. We will try to give the best possible information to you and keep you regularly updated.

How do we contribute?
Please become a member of Asthe yahoogroup by mailing http://us.f545.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=aasthe-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . Alternatively, you can reach us through e-mail.

Who is the primary contact for any information/ clarifications needed?
This is a primary case from Asthe's perspective. Santhosh is the primary contact for this case. He is in constant touch with the family and has already accompanied the family to Vydehi hospital on multiple occasions.

Let us do it together.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

WE DID IT!!!

WE DID IT!!!

We have achieved our target of Rs 100,000/- collection within March 10, 2008 towards Sridhar Heggodu's stem cell therapy.

This re-inforces our belief in collective effort. When we started this collection drive, we were skeptical. However, finally we achieved the target well within the set deadline. This is the 3rd biggest collection drive that we have conducted. Previous one was for the open heart surgery of Anusha followed by another similar one for the surgery of Gururaj. We have received wonderful responses from few of the fellow bloggers/blog readers and we thank all contributors.

We have formed a yahoogroup to streamline these activities and we request you to be a part of our group by mailing - aasthe-subscribe@ yahoogroups. com , if you are not already.

Please keep watching this space for regular updates.

Let us do it together.