Harvey’s farewell party will be in Sedona, on Saturday, July 5th, starting at 5pm Arizona local time (8pm EDT) continuing till whenever. Please contact farewell@clltopics.org to RSVP and for more information regarding location, driving directions, lodging, etc. If you cannot join us in person, please join us in cyberspace and share your thoughts with us by posting your comments on this blog. Thank you all!
P. C. Venkat, 1949-2008
Palasena Chidambar Venkat, husband, father, brother and patient advocate, died at the University of 
Minnesota Fairview Hospital on the afternoon of Monday, June 23rd 2024 from complications of a stem cell transplant to cure his Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. He was 59.
He was born in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on February 7th, 1949. He was raised by his paternal grandparents in Bangalore, India. He attended IIT Madras and was awarded his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1971. There, he met a young Chemistry student named Chaya Rao during his junior year and resolved to follow her to the U.S., where she would be attending graduate school at the University of Michigan.
My parents, Chaya and P. C., were married in The Hague, the Netherlands, on July 12th, 1971. He received his MBA from the University of Michigan in 1973. He worked for several different banking companies over the next three decades, including Citicorp, First Fidelity, Wachovia and Bank of America. His last job before his retirement was as a turnaround specialist at Sales Support Services. The company was successfully sold in 2024.
They retired when they were 51, in the spring of 2024. In June, my father went to India to bring my maternal grandparents to live with them in their new home in Sedona, Arizona. After he returned he noticed a few swollen lymph nodes, initially treated as a “bug” he had picked up overseas. Further testing and consultation brought a devastating diagnosis: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).
As his disease progressed over the next several years, he and my mother decided to do everything within their power to battle this cancer, both for themselves and for the broader patient community. They set up CLLTopics.org, a patient education and advocacy web site, in 2024. It quickly became a major force in the patient community. The non-profit was incorporated the next year, and aimed to raise funds to support important clinical trials in CLL research. As of the end of 2024, they had raised over $310,000 and funded four clinical trials with the Mayo Clinic, the Hutch, U. VA and Royal Bournemouth Hospital.
In the spring of 2024, he and my mother decided that an elective cord blood stem cell transplant was the best option for a cure to his CLL. They went to the Bone Marrow Transplant center at the University of Minnesota Fairview 
Hospital. Therapy was initiated on March 20th, and the transplant was given to him on March 26th. He had reached full engraftment, and it appeared that his CLL was in abeyance from the effects of graft-versus-leukemia.
In a devastating reversal, what had started as a cough turned into ‘a touch of pneumonia’, which turned into Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). He was re-admitted to the hospital on June 14th, and passed away at 4:30pm on June 23rd, 2024 after a terrifyingly fast decline.
My Papa was an immense figure in my world. He was intelligent, he was quirky, and he would give you the shirt off his back. His wit could be punishingly wicked and his personal standards were uncompromising.
He had many passions beyond his advocacy. He was an amateur astronomer and served as the webmaster for the Astronomers of Verde Valley. He spent long hours hiking the hills of Sedona, Arizona with his faithful and energetic Australian Shepherd dog, Jasper. He would come home still full of energy, and she would be whupped. He was a classical music buff and Vivaldi was his favorite composer.
He was the first man I ever loved. He brought me roses when I was fifteen and my first boyfriend broke up with me. I will miss him tremendously for the rest of my life.
P. C. is survived by Chaya, his wife of 37 years, his daughter Radha, his brother Raju, his loyal dog Jasper and countless friends all over the world.
Radha Venkat
June 26th, 2024
Photo taken Prof. Ron Taylor, 2024
If you wish, please make a donation to your local SPCA or animal shelter in P.C.’s memory.
French
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169 comments on "P. C. Venkat, 1949-2008"
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackRadha, this is both the sweetest and the saddest thing I’ve ever read. Bless you, Chaya and your family. PC, we will miss you and all your efforts for the CLL community.
I am very sad about the passing of P.C….since being diagnosed with CLL 1 year ago, CLL Topics has provided both information and inspiration. His journey was a brave one and one in which I will keep with me as I battle this disease. My prayers are with you all
M
Please accept my sincere sympathies for the loss of P.C. Venkat. I had appreciated seeing a site that was so sincerely devoted to offering information on the topic of CLL. It was also such a pleasure to look at the beautiful design. I’m 63 and have had CLL for 10 years. P.C.’s insights and the site will be missed. I’m in Chicago, unable to attend the celebration of P.C.’s life and will be sending warm thoughts your way. May his loving memory and all of the love and encouragement he shared with others be a consolation to your family in this time of sorrow.
Kind regards, Sherry Z
we are all saddened by the death of this lovely man who was personally not known to many of the cyber CLL community, including myself. Radha and Chaya you can take comfort by how many people were helped by CLL topics and how unselfishly Chaya and PC gave of their time and knowledge. PC you are in peace now and you will be missed. Chaya may you forever remember your best friend and help us find a cure for the “dragon.”
Your Dad was a champ. And, your Mom still is. Carry on!
Dear Radha,
We who are CLL patients have learned so much about the disease through the efforts of your Father and Mother. We know this is a tremendous loss for you and your family.
God Bless you all.
JoAnne
Dear Chaya, Radha and Raju,
The moment I saw the topic line on your email, my eyes swelled with tears and a lump came to my throat. Like all the grateful and knowledge-enhanced recipients of CLLTopics, I had followed Harvey’s circumstances with sympathy. All who read about his life will gain at least some glimpse of the ebullient and gallant man that he surely was. A major part of his legacy will be the enormous education and encouragement that through Chaya he gave to the CLL community. Thank you, P.C. I honor you and will not forget you.
Robert Anthony Warrenton, Virginia
My deepest condolences to all of “Harvey’s” family and innumerable friends here on the CLL site. The site has been an absolute Godsend for my family and my father, who is battling the CLL dragon as well. We will all feel a void in our hearts for P.C. May all those who are in this fight continue to be steadfast in the search and someday find the end all of end all’s that will bring the final curtain down upon CLL and other forms of cancers in our world.
What a beautiful testiment to an incredible man! May you and your mother find strength from each other and happiness in all the wonderful memories you must hold dear. We will miss PC!
We are enormously saddened to hear of the loss of PC. It is a huge blow to the immediate family of course, and also to the CLL family as a whole. My wife and I met both Chaya and PC just one time, but it was enough to create a genuine feeling of love, respect and cameraderie. To all of you our deepest sympathy and affection, and our heartfelt wishes for better times to come. We cannot attend the “farewell”, but our thoughts will be with you then and always. Love, Florence and Jay Seligman
Radha
Your parents helped me more than I can describe when I was fist diagnosed with CLL. They gave me an anchor, understanding and hope.
I will always be grateful.
I would dearly wish to be able to travel to Sedona to the farewell but it is a long way from Australia and my health is not the best.
I have donated to the Sunshine Coast Animal Shelter - so Australian dogs are also being helped by your fathers generous spirit.
Radha,
That was so beautiful and the photos were such a special touch.
I am so saddened by the loss and P.C. will be missed greatly.
CLL Topics has been a lifeline of information for me since I was diagnosed in 2024.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I know the beauty of Sedona will surround all of you as you celebrate a beautiful life.
Peace,
Linda
Chaya and PC have both been so generous in sharing this journey - and so thorough and clear in making the medical intricacies accessible. CLL Topics is a wonderful resource for all of us with CLL. Chaya, you have touched people around the world and our thoughts are with you at this time of sad loss. I know PC’s spirit will remain with you and with all of us.
Julia
Chaya
My thoughts are with you and your family in these difficult times. PC lives through your memories and Radha ! Take care
Thank you all for sharing your father and husband’s journey in such a gracious and transparent way. Your generous sharing of CLL understanding has been quite phenomenal and has had an impact world wide, even here in a remote part of Australia. Just know that I along with so many others have been empowered and enabled thorough your clear and detailed work with this disease. Bless you all in your journey and may you know peace as you work through the grief of all that has happened.
Blessings,
Piers,
Mt Beauty, Australia
Dear Chaya, Radha,Raju, and Jasper,
I am sure P.C. is still very much with all of you now and will always be your guardian angel. You were all so blessed to have this extraordinary man in your lives and he was blessed to have such a brillant, loving and dedicated family to support him through this journey. The way you handled P.C.’s diagnosis was remarkable in that you turned the lemons into lemonade to help thousands of other patients.
As a fellow animal lover, I consider it a priviledge to remember P.C. with a donation to an animal charity. I regret not having the opportunity to meet him in person.
Please accept my heartful wishes for all the comfort and strength God can provide.
If only the outcome of a stem cord transplant could have been different for P.C.. If only the very person and family who contributed so much to the CLL community could be enjoying survival. My heart goes out to you for your loss. It is a loss to a very large community. I was so grateful when I found CLL Topics, and finally had information about CLL and treatments. Thank you to P.C. and to Chaya for the contribution of all what is contained in CLL Topics. May the beauty of Sedona, especially at this time, bring you peace. Thank you for providing the obituary and pictures. My sympathy goes to you. I hold you in my prayers.
I was greatly saddened to hear of the of PC. I have been humbled by his courage in the face of this very challenging disease just as I was by Forest Bumps. Forest was my brother.
I believe the journeys of both these brave men have not been in vain and their stories will not only inspire others, but will help provide insight into CLL.
May God care for you, PC’s family, and give you peace in these days.
Lynn
P.C. ‘s body is gone but his spirit will live on. Your family has touched my life and I wish I could carry some of your grief for you. I celebrate the life of a great man who has helped so many. He will not be forgotten.
May you feel peace
Debbie
I am so saddened to read of “Harvey’s” passing. You’ve written a beautiful obituary for a man who has touched so many more people than he likely knew. CLLTOPICS has allowed me to feel so much more empowered in my dis ease, I’ve been able to impress my doctor with my good questions. I had come to assume that PC was well on the road to recovery so his passing came as quite a shock. Man makes plans, god laughs.
Peace & Love, Peace & Love,
Chip
So very sorry for your loss. He fought the good fight may he rest in peace.
My heart goes out to Chaya, Radha, and Raju for the devastating loss of P.C. Words are inadequate in expressing my sympathy at such a time of great sadness. P.C. will remain a giant in the CLL world and will continue to give strength to his fellow CLL sufferers. I am sobbing as I write this, as P.C. was going through his stem cord transplant, I cheered him on, as I went through FCR. Thank you P.C. and Chaya for all you have given to the CLL community. We have benefited greatly.
Thank you……the initial diagnosis sparks fear and so little info is available. When I found your site I found information, courage and hope and the feeling that it was a shared journey. Thank you for making that possible.
I shall always be grateful to you and your family and wish you all well at this sad time.
Jan
Australia
Dear Radha,
It is a sad duty to write of the death of a parent, and especially so when that parent is so young. If it were up to us, the CLL community, he would have lived another 59 years, and then some. The courage and optimism, which your father and mother shared with us without reservation or restraint, was such a noble gift. It can never be repaid. We will continue to cherish and honor his memory. We will always be in his debt.
Be strong. There are a thousand people out here you can always count on.
Love,
Mark & Valerie
My heart goes out to you and your family. Thank you, Chaya for all you continue to do for us. PC is in my prayers.
I feel so saddened by the fact that P.C died while he had the most professional advocate at his side. You both have done so much for our CLL community, Thank you PC and Chaya for all you did for us all.
I wish you strength Chaya and in your dark hours think of the many people you were able to help through PC’s illness.
My prayers are with you.
Greetings Trudy
Very sorry to hear about the loss of your father. My thoughts are with you. I am truly grateful and inspired by Chaya and PC’s efforts on behalf of the CLL community. What a difference they have made to so many lives. Best Jenny
Chaya,
I hope you will be comforted by knowing how many people you and PC have inspired to live with hope, courage, conviction, determination and intelligence.
My condolences. All of our hearts in the CLL community are joined with you in your loss.
My best to you,
Lynn C.
It brought us great sadness to learn that P.C. has lost his battle with CLL, especially after he bravely underwent the most promising treatment created to cure CLL, one which may someday lead to that blessing for people around the world.
When our family was confronted with CLL three years ago, CLL Topics quickly became the place we turned for the most cutting edge information, intelligent analysis of every aspect of the disease, how to think through the choices and decisions that we must now face, plus the tools to watch and chart health changes. Equally important, CLL Topics has been the heart and soul of our patient community, a home for each of us to go when we need advice and loving support.
Thank you Radha for the warm portrait you’ve painted of your dad that’s helped us know how wonderful he was, and to Chaya for remembering us as part of the family who will mourn his loss along with you.
Chaya, we know that you are broken hearted now and will be changed forever by the loss of your life’s soulmate. It will take time to learn how to live again without him by your side each day. Please know that we will be thinking of you and sending our love and hope as you face the challenging months ahead.
Chaya, you and PC have been the guiding light for so many of us. I’m at a loss for words right now. The CLL world had hoped, and indeed prayed, that PC would be the example of how to beat this illness against so many odds. Although PC lost the fight, together you have helped so many of us fight and sometimes win our own many battles. We have all learned from the example the two of you have set for how to really make a difference. PC has a triumphant legacy. Love, Scott
Dear Radha,
I was very sad to find out about the loss of your Dad. Your Dad & Mom are true inspirational to the CLL community. I hope that your Mom, Chaya, will continue on the mission of finding a cure for CLL. I feel very fortunate that my CLL treatment is working for me. Unfortunately, this disease has many legs and there is no single cure yet! However, with the efforts that your Mom & Dad already made, there is a tremendous amount of hope that a cure will be found soon, thanks to them!
Take care and God Bless you and your family!
Ronald Isaacson
Jackson,NJ 08527
Chaya,
I have only known you, through CLL Topics, for about three years, and only gradually learned about PC. What I have learned is that he was, like you are, a very special person.
I have been away, and off the Internet, for a couple of weeks, so was totally shocked and numbed when I logged on to your blog today. Thank you both for sharing with CLLers and helping us enormously. My thoughts are with you and your daughter and son in your time of grief and I am sure your memories of him will provide you with strength and support in the days ahead.
Fare winds and following Seas P.C.
Yourself, Chaya and the entire CLL Topics family are a monument to all that is decent in humanity - your efforts in education, support & research set a benchmark for others to strive to surpass.
While I can’t make the July 5th Memorial, I will share a moment of silence on that day.
Please take strength in knowing so many of us are out there thinking of you every day.
Chris Lemnah
Winter Springs, FL
Dear Radhu, Chaya, Raju, Jaspar, and Chino (who told me P.C. was like an older brother to him),
Our loss is so great. But what a gift to have had him while we did. P.C. and I had so much in common, as I learned from a personal email from him after I discovered CLLTopics, so much in common that it was mystifying. How I looked forward to welcoming him and Chaya on their planned visit to New Zealand. Well, perhaps it will be “someplace else.”
His and Chaya’s contribution to my life, and that of my partner, has been immeasurable. For so much love, wisdom and compassion received, we can only offer a donation to the SPCA in Kerikeri. We love animals as much as P.C. so we understand and appreciate this opportunity to honor him in this way.
Our humble gift, an offering of love, made with gratitude and in sorrow.
I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of PC.
He was a couages man and I thank PC and Chaya for all their hard work in making CLL Topics the best possible site for all of us afflicted with this disease. I have learned so much from the both of you.
Sheila, Ipswich MA
After spending about 45 minutes on the phone with you Chaya days before the transplant, explaining the details of my FISH test, I felt like the most informed CLL patient in the world. I didn’t want to open that email tonight. Others have said they sobbed, and I don’t mind telling you at 73 I cried like a baby with this sad news. Please don’t let your web site flounder. “Harvey” will live through you on the site as you continue to help thousands around the world. I wish I could hug you today. I’m not a praying person, but I’ve been praying for the last hour. Hope I’m doing it right. May your beloved husband, and sole mate visit you, and your family often when you least expect it. He has not left. He is near. Remember that my friend. Chuck Dersher, Toledo, OH.
Dearest Chaya, Radha, Raju, Jasper,
I am very sorry for your loss. Words could never express my sorrow over PC’s passing. I am sad that you, Chaya, have lost your soul mate and dear husband, and you, Radha, your blessed father, and you, Raju, your precious brother and you, Jasper, your walking companion. Please know you are all in my prayers and thoughts. I wish you all calm and strength as you work through this difficult time.
What PC and Chaya have given those with CLL, via CLLTopics.org is immeasurable. Thank you for all your research, knowledge, sharing and dedication to such a disease.
I will be in Prayer with you on July 5th at 5 P.M. via cyberspace and Universal Consciousness. Thank you.
Aho, Maka & ‘Too Tall Blues’, my walking companion.
Dear Chaya and Family,
I am so sorry to hear about PC’s passing. Your work, your site and your determination to deal with CLL will never cease to amaze me. I have learned much from Chaya, and I am sure that many others have as well.
Your efforts have been and are worth the effort to deal with the dragon.
Thanks so much.
Roger Libby
What a beautiful tribute you have written for a man who was truly a light in this world. P.C. and Chaya helped shine a light into the dark world of those newly diagnosed with CLL and for those who were searching for answers of all kinds. They offered hope and no-punches-pulled information.
CLLtopics.org was one of the first places I found and clung to in the first days of diagnosis. Even though it seemed I was reading a foreign language at times with words of drugs, treatments and markers I couldn’t pronounce, their writings made it easy to learn and understand this strange new world I had joined. I in turn directed many others who were newly diagnosed to CLLtopics. When the time came, their website also played a major role in the tough decision I had to make as to what treatment protocol to follow. Through the help of their site and personal email (how did they have the time to correspond with so many of us?)I was able to make my choice and two years later I have no regrets.
I wish I could be there to help celebrate his life however you all will be in my thoughts in the coming days, but particularly on July 5. I will also be making a donation in his memory to the Williamson County regional animal shelter in Georgetown, Texas, where I adopted my special buddy.
P.C.’s legacy will continue to live on for many decades and he will be missed by everyone who was touched in so many ways by a life well lived. Please accept my sincerest condolences to each of you, his family and loved ones.
Dear Chaya and family,
I am so very, very sorry. How brave you all were and are. I thank you so much for giving me the courage to go on and to learn. You have lent me a part of your strength, without it I would be unable to face the future, whatever it may be. CLL is a frightening disease. CLLtopics.org has become my major source of information. I marvel at the work you have accomplished.
With love and best wishes, I thank you.
Betty
Dearest Chaya,
I am deeply saddened to read of the passing of PC, your beloved husband. The loss of a loved one makes for a difficult time ,please know that our thoughts are with you I can say that for all of us at CLLtopics. You and PC have touched our lives and made us informed Cll patients. I would like to make a suggestion, maybe we could set up a foundation in PC’s name so that you Chaya,in the memory of your husband will continue the work.
We understand that you need time to mourn, you are a wonderful intelligent lady and I am sure the day will come that you want to resume the work you both started. Until then,be well take care.
My sincere condolences to you and your loved ones.
Femma, Santa Monica CA
Dear Chaya and family,
Words cannot express the sadness we felt on learning of P.C.’s death. What a brave fight all of you put up during these days. Our hearts go out to you, but as others have said so eloquently, P.C.’s life and legacy is a gift to our entire CLL community.
With love,
Bob & Priscilla
My condolences to you and your mother. The site has been a great help and inspiration to me here in Norway.
Love and prayers,
eisle
Dear Chaya and family,
I am so sad. Please accept my condolences on your loss. Chaya, you and P.C. have had such a great impact on the CLL community. P.C. will never be forgotten . . . he will live on through his great contributions made to CLL Topics and through the many lives he helped take through the maze of information on CLL. One person can make a difference! You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Ruth
Holzhausen, Germany
Dear Chaya,dear Radha and Raju
my wife and me are so sorry to hear about PC’s passing. Our thoughts were with you while the CLL journey of PC and all the more they are with you Chaya and your family after this sad loss.
I am thankful for knowing him, his generous advices and kind manner. We will saddly miss him.
My prayers are with you
Reinhard
Hello,
I want to tell you that I am alive today because of CLL Topics.
I have been a strong advocate for my CLL treatment and after a round
of Prednisone and Rituxan, I have normal counts for the first time in
years. The sudden passing of PC reminds me to make the best of each day
available to me. So very sorry for your family’s loss. The work was
not in vain. Here today to testify. Thanks very much.
Dave in Detroit
Radha, you honor your father tremendously with your words. Your Dad’s courage, which benefited the whole CLL Topics family, now remains with you and your Mom forever. I can’t imagine a better gift to carry in your heart everyday. You know you and your family are assured of the embrace of all of us who share your loss, and we hope you feel joy as you celebrate your Dad - at his farewell party - and everyday.
Dear Radha and Chaya, Thank you for your brave words in honor of your father. How sad my husband Terry(with Cll) and I are to learn of your loss. I’d not been keeping up, so it came as a shock. I went back and read the transplant journal you unselfish ones provided. It is so much more important at this point that you shared your journey on a personal level. The technical will come in time. I join the world-wide CLL community with thoughts and prayers for you as we grieve with you. We won’t be able to travel from the Seattle area to Arizona, but our hearts will be with you as you celebrate your great man’s life. Terry is just a year older than PC was when he bravely fought the dragon. I hate writing was. I wish you both healing and many precious memories.
Linda
My words cannot express my sorrow. My tears are for you and your mother, however, having CLL myself and knowing fully well the reality of the disease, I applaud, respect and say thanks to Chaya as he never gave in, living life as it was meant to be-each day at a time as it may the last one you have on this earth. All of you have been an encouragement, an inspiration and source of knowledge and hope to me personally-such is beyond any earthly worth or any amount of money. As we must all pass away, it is how we live each day, and I thank your father for showing me with CLL how to live life, how to look for the next day, how to alwyas seek a solution. I thank you Chaya. My prayers continue for you, your mother.
I keep Chaya in that special place in my heart and soul. Thank you all for what you have given to so many.
Bob
I know how painful this time in your life is. I almost died in the hospital twice from CLL and I didn’t suffer as I was OK with gods will and I know we all have to take our turn at dying.
However I saw my loved ones in severe pain and fear of the loss. It is the ones we leave behind that will suffer far more than we do. Chaya I hope the memory of the wonderful contribution you and your husband have made to us all will sooth your pain.
Chaya, Radha and Pete,
I am sorry to hear the loss of your husband, father, and father-in-law. From what I’ve been told by Radha & Pete and read here on your website, P.C. was a GREAT man. It is obvious that he has touched and affected so many lives in such a positive way during his time with us and I know he will continue through the foundation you and he set up. I pray for your family in this time of healing. Rejoice in the memories you have of PC and continue this legacy you both created.
Elliott
Dear Radha,
Thanks you for the beautiful pictures and heart touching eulogy. As you have read and am sure you know, your parents have touched the lives of so many so deeply. Though I can’t be in Sedona as you celebrate your dads life, I will be there in spirit offering support over the many miles that seperate us.
Tami
Michigan
My deepest sympathy to you and your family. Through your journey you have helped me and thousands of others diagnosed with CLL. As frigtening as this disease is, you have humanized it through your writings. Please know how you and your family have helped so many others in so many different ways. We grieve with you for the loss of your beloved husband and father. My heartfelt prayers are with you and all your family. God Bless.
Lynne
Dear Chaya, Radha and Raju
What a beautiful tribute to PC. I have emailed Chaya & PC several times with questions regarding Tony’s CLL and different trials etc. PC & Chaya both answered me and gave me tremendous information and always with a personal note. Chaya, I know the pain you are going through right now as I also lost my love & best friend on 4/28/08. There are no words to make you feel better right now but I wish I did indeed have them. For some reason, some of the greatest and brightest stars are taken way too early from this earth to shine on us from the skies. Tony always told me that everyone was on vacation on this earth and that everyone eventually has to go home, just some people get a longer vacation than others. I do know the CLL community is mourning the loss of this wonderful man. Much love & hugs being sent to you as you go through this new chapter of your life. I am sure PC is watching over you all.
Dear Chaya, Radha and Raju:
It is difficult to express the tremendous sadness I feel for PC’s loss. I knew him only through CLL Topics and the times that he so kindly sent me copies of clinical studies that I requested, but the man that I knew was such a hero to me and to the CLL community. He and you, Chaya, have given us the most wonderful gifts — of knowledge, understanding and hope — the primary tools we use in fighting our disease.
I was pregnant with my second child and just diagnosed with CLL when I found CLL Topics, and it was (and still is) my lifeline — the place I could turn to sort through the platitudes and disingenuous reassurances provided by my local doctor while gaining a better understanding of my disease. I used CLL Topics articles to educate my doctor and to obtain prognostic tests which were little known outside the CLL specialist community. Your research has guided my questions and decisions about treatment options. It has given me the confidence to serve as my own best advocate. And the community you have created has made me feel much less alone with my disease.
In his selfless sharing of his time, effort and experiences, PC has given so much to so many. Thank you for sharing so much of him with us, and for providing a more complete, inspiring picture through your words about his life.
My heart goes out to you.
Sara Tully
Milwaukee, WI
Dear Chaya,
There are no words to express our sorrow on the loss of PC.
PC was a dear,gentle man, with a heart full of kindness and goodness.We were most fortunate to know him even at such a distance.
Our deepest sympathy to you, dear friend, special lady, and to your
loving daughter, Radha and all the family.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Love,
Jean and John
Albany, New York
dear Radha
me and all people who were helped by CLL topics are grateful to PC.
I’m sure your father is proud of you as you, family and friends, are of him.
paolo
Thank you for your loving tribute. Your father would be proud. Your parents contribution to those suffering from this disease goes beyond words and we are all grateful. PC and Chaya have been our light through the darkness.
I’ll end with a quote used by RFK on the death of MLK from the poet Aeschylus.
“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
Dear Radha,
Thanks for sharing your Dad’s story. The pictures were a comfort to those who did not meet him in person but cared about him from afar.
PC helped me get through my first bone marrow biopsy by writing me tips that really worked. I admire your parents more than words can tell. Take good care of your Mother and Jasper. Dogs feel the loss as we do and can not understand why their master is gone. Perhaps leaving our beloved pets is the saddest emotion of all for animal lovers with a terminal disease. I know it is for me.
The memory of your Dad will live on. Bless all of you! Colleen F.
Dear Chaya and family: I am truly saddened to hear of your terrible loss. I know from having done this far too often how little one can say in such a time of deep sorrow and how empty most words of sollace are. They stand loosely with heads bowed in the shadow of the numbness that you now all feel for your dear husband, father, son, brother and friend. Only know that PC, you and your entire family did everything to get him through and beat his terrible disease. It is not due to your defeat that he is no longer with us all, but due to your strength that he was able to get this far. Now he needs some peace and you all need to know that we all mourn with you. Even those of us in the community of CLL who know you and PC only through this forum, mourn with you in your sad loss. We cry with you and feel for you. But, we also know that you, and all the rest of us, have gained much from PC’s love for others, inner strength, creativity, warmth and intelligence, as well as the experience and wisdom that he has left with us to continue to fight on to find a truly acceptable strategy for the treatment of CLL! May you at least know that you do not mourn alone and that we all stand with you in your day of sadness and sorrow and we wait for the day when you will again be able to stand with us in this fight! With best and kind wishes to you all - Charles
Dear Chaya, It is hard to believe actually. PC’s passing reminds us all that CLL is not the “easy cancer”; there is simply no such thing. I am so sorry. You both made quite a team and did such good work. May time bring peace in your heart.
Radha,
A beautiful tribute to your Father. You have your Mother’s gift of writing. I have written to your Mother many times, but this is for you, PC’s daughter. What a joy you must have been for him. My heart goes to you during this time of change.
The Roundabout
by Enigma
Life is a wheel of changes, but changes are life.
And someday we will have to say goodbye,
but our spirit will survive.
Love is phasing, love is moving,
to the rhythm of your sight.
In the darkness, I get closer to the crossing point of light.
Reason is lasting, passion is living,
and the dying is teaching us how to live.
Jenny Lou
Dear Radha, Raju, and Chaya
From the comments above, it is obvious that PC’s life has touched the heart of many around the world. I know that he touched my life through CLL Topics. It is with great saddness and with tears in my eyes, I tell you how sorry I am for your loss. I know that the knowledge I have of CLL is through the information Chaya and PC presented. The medical community does not like to give so much information, but at least I know what to expect. I know when I read the news I just could not believe it. It just looked like he was going to make it all the way. Chaya, you are a beautiful person with a wonderful family. PC was a wonderful man. I was hoping someday to meet you. KNow you are all loved and all of us out here have been touched by the website. I will definately be making a contribution here to an animal shelter in PC’s name. You are all loved.
Radha, like everyone else I can’t read this without crying. Your choice of words and pictures are so moving. He’s with you in so many ways and always will be. Keep taking care of your wonderful mom.
The CLL Topic has been my life saver and my depth of knowledge for my disease. It allowed me to become a partner with my oncologist, making decisions on the roads of treatments. It was CLL Topic that took me down to Houston for my upcoming Stem Cell Transplant. I then told my oncologist, here in Canada, what I was planning (he was unaware I was even entertaining this) and he said :”Bravo Anette”.
I just read that PC passed and it brought such a flood of tears and I am saddened my is passing. If anything, next month, when I go trough this transplant, I will fight the hardest fight in my life, for me, my family and my extended family from CLL Topics….AND for PC and Chaya.
Warm hugs,
Anette
Dear Chaya and Radha,
Thank you for your loving tribute to PC. I am typing with tears in my eyes while reading all the sincere comments written about your beloved husband and father. The CLL community grieves with you. I hope that the words written from all of us out here in cyberspace are a warm embrace that will somehow comfort you in this terrible time of sadness. I send my sincerest condolences to you and pray that time will give you peace.
With love and gratitude, I will be thinking of all of you on July 5th.
Cheryl Evers
New Jersey
Chaya:
Please know how sorry we are for your loss. We know that P.C. is looking down on you from Heavan and we pray that you are able to find the strenght to deal with your loss, and through your faith, be able to find peace.
We, as Cll patients have benefited greatly by our association with you and P.C.
God Bless You
Dear Radha
Please accept my sincere condolences on the passing of your father. In his death all cllers lost something of themselves that cannot be replaced.
God bless you and your mother.
May the years of memories you and your family shared with P.C.
bring you peace and a smile to your heart.
I just want to add my condolences to the rest here. Your website and Harvey’s journey have provided me with a ton of information. Since I was first diagnosed your site has been my main source of information.
I thank you both.
My sincere condolences to a wonderful family who have given so very much to those of us with CLL. Our journey together has had many ups and downs and “Harvey’s” battles have inspired us all. May you find comfort in the knowledge that you have all given many people hope, comfort and information that has helped so much in our own journey.
I think PC is in heaven knowing that he and Chaya gave of themselves for others. And one day when the battle to win this disease is won, your family, like Granny Barb and many others will be known as the ones who made a difference to so many.
Thank you.
Dear Chaya,
First let me tell you I am sad for you loss and hope that you find comfort in the days and years ahead. You never get over losing, but you will get used to it. Cry when you feel like it, laugh when you feel like it and if both things happen at the same time how blessed you are. Lori D. has the same disease and I pray for her all the time. Thank you for the work that you have done and shared. I’m grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity she and I have had to find each other.
I will pray for God to comfort you too.
Words fail me. On July 5th to honor and celebrate P.C. we will walk in the northern California hills with our dog Buddy and Vivaldi will play all day. Radha,
your story of the roses your Papa gave you portray such a sweet man!
Chaya & Family
PC was a tremendous man. He was an incredible husband, best friend, Father, soul mate, and he left this material world far too soon. We feel fortunate to have known him & to been graced with his intelligence, personality, & sense of humor. We will miss him terribly & our thoughts are with you & Radha. Although we will not be with you on the 5th in person, we will be with you in spirit to celebrate Pc’s life. We will see you in the Fall for a personal celebration.
All of our love,
Anne & Alan
Dear Chaya and Radha,
I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of P.C.’s tragic passing.
There are surely angels among us. Whenever you see a beautiful Sedona sunset you will feel his presence and know that he watching over you.
During this time of sadness, I pray that your loving memories of him will give you strength and support in the coming days.
Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers and that I will be with you in Spirit on the 5th of July.
Ryan Seaborne
Mercer Island, WA
My deepest sympathy for your loss.
As a newly diagnosed CLL patient, I’ve found CLL Topics to be a crucial source of information and PC’s story to be a real inspiration. I can only hope to face this disease with the same courage, humor and determination that PC showed.
What a tremendous legacy he leaves for us.
Dear Chaya & Radha,
I know there is nothing I can say that will ease your pain—-and so many others have expressed their feelings so eloquently. I can only say thank you—for your kindness in talking to me about my husband; for your encouragement to making tough decisions. I have cried off and on this week for your loss; it just doesn’t seem possible that fate could take away someone who’s given so much to all of us dealing with the effects of CLL.
Our thoughts will be with you on July 5th; I wish we could be there to help celebrate a wonderful life.
Thank you again—
Marilyn & John
My Dearest Chaya
I am so saddened to hear of P.C.’s passing. I know you are just devestated and in shock. Take care of yourself. You need it. At this time you are not aware that the stress yu have been under and it’s effect on you. In time you rise out of it and begin to recover along with some recovering from the grief. So please do what you need to do for yourself. Kenneth and I thank you and P.C. for all you have done to enlighten our community. We can never repay you. Nothing could buy the devotion you have showed to your quest to provide uss with information to help us deal with this ugly disease. Our prayers are with you. Love to you and your family. Sincerely
Disy and Kenneth Yarbrough
Baytown, Texas
my condolences , i am deeply saddened by your loss .ive been folling the site for a few years and greatly appeciate all the updates and progress reports .you shine your lives for all to see thank for every thing you have done.
I cannot believe this has happened. My heart goes out to Chaya and the family. I am personally in shock, tears with saddness and dismay. Even though I never met you all, since my discovery of CLL and Clltopics, I have felt a tie to you all. Your wonderful love has been so apparent. PC will have my prayers. I send my deepest condolences. Peace to you all.
You have given us, your CLL family, strength and wisdom through your writings, explanations and support. Now, we all stand with you in your loss and sorrow, and we accompany you in celebrating the life of P.C. who was truly an amazing and caring man. He did it all. He had courage. When one comes to the end of this path of life and can leave such a momentous legacy, then he has lived well. And, we shall miss him sorely.
Radha, that bautiful tribute to your father could only come from a daughter who was beloved and loving. You are a gift to your mother and we all know you will be there for her.
Chaya, please know how our hearts ache for you. I will light a candle on July 5 and listen to Vivaldi. It, too, is a favorite.
Thank you for being the hand that held me when I felt alone, and for being there in cyberspace all the time when it was dark. Someday, perhaps, you will write a book of your love story. Because, that is what it is all about.
Dear Radha and Chaya and family,
That is a lovely tribute to PC, I remember his special bond with Jasper, his great smile, his kindness, his wit, his love for his family. He was brave and generous. Mark and I will miss him greatly, but my heart goes out now to you and to Chaya, and to Jasper too. I am so sorry for your loss, and hope that your many friends can help you to get through this hardest of times. We would love to be there for the celebration of this good friend, but since we cannot, please know that our hearts will be with you instead.
Love,
Beth and Mark
Chaya and family,
I am so sorry after hearing about your loss. PC and Chaya instilled in all of the CLL community to never give up. Always remember that: Never Give Up.
Love,
Janice
Flowood, Mississippi
Dear Chaya and Radha,
It is so difficult to express the true depth of saddness and sorrow that is felt at this time with the passing of PC. The impact that your family has had to the CLL community is obvious by all the postings and comments. When Ted was diagnosed three years ago, it was CLL Topics along with your encouragement and guidance that lead us to the doctors who are caring for him now. Whenever I had a question, your response was always quick, supportive, and helpful. What a comfort to have what felt like an unconditional love and support system at my finger tips. We are so very grateful for your efforts. We pray for your strength in facing life without PC but know that he will be in your hearts and ours as we continue on. Be gentle to yourselves and know that your extended family grieves with you. Mimi and Ted
Radha
I am B.Tech Metallurgy of the 1971 Batch and to some extent keeping in touch with batchmates .Already we got the info and are very sad -he was easy going and loved by all .We will give a message in website of IITM Alumni Association and if we have a individual photo that will be nice for his friends who have not seen him for years ,like me .
Messages are pouring in after “Balu’” s sudden demise has shaken off many of us .We knew your mother also and that adds our grief more .
Please do believe we are equally aggrieved to lose Balu.This message is on behalf of all the friends .
We pray that his soul rests peacefully.
Dear Chaya and Radha,
Please accept my deepest condolences for your loss.
Chaya, your work on CLL gave my husband Dan hope after he was diagnosed with CLL and helped him toward the correct treatment. He admired you greatly and would often talk with me about you and PC as if you were his extended family members going through this journey with him. This speaks of the warmth and devotion that you communicated in your writing and research.
Dan died this June 10th, two weeks ago, from the effects of another problem. He was a great hiker too, here in rose coral mountains of new mexico with his two black chows- i hope PC and he are hiking in the great beyond. I know that Dan cared about PC even never having met him. I will donate to an animal rescue group in memory of them both.
My deepest condolences to you both.
jane
Heartfelt condolences to you and family. Others have touched upon PC’s other qualities - easy going and with a formidable intellect but I also remember him as one who dared to think big and bold. I recall one of the projects he was interested in was building a hovercraft. In the sixties it was a big deal. Hope his life inspires others to conquer CLL.
Regards,
R. Natarajan
IITM ‘71 Batchmate
Dear Chaya,Radha and Raju,
As I read your announcement, Harvey has passed away, It hit with pain and sarrow. I had lost a dear Friend. I have been with you Chaya and PC since 2024. You were my guiding light, my second opinion. No amount of money could buy the education and hope you gave me in my fight with CLL.
May my Heart felt Condolences be pillars of strengh in your days and months ahead.
We in the CLL Topic family have your many E-mails to look back into and as we read again and again we will see PC and you Chaya in our minds eye.
But you Chaya and your children have great memories of a loving Husband and Father. Hold on to the good memories and the strengh they will give you.
As you wait for the right time, one day you will be back with us Chaya, till then we send our Love and Prayers.
Our Love,
Bill and Jill
Dear Chaya, Radha and Raju,
I knew Balu (P C Venkatachalam) and Chaya during IIT days. Balu was the editor of Campas Times. After graduating from IIT Madras, I did not get an opportunity to meet him again.
Every one knew Balu as a brilliant, very helpful, decent guy. IITians four years senior to us and four years junior to us knew him for his contribution to Campas Times.
I am very sorry to see him leave so early. Please accept my heartfelt condolences.
Regards
Anand
Dear Chaya, Radha, Raju,
I was a batchmate of PC’s (as we used to call him those days) in
IITM, and for a year we worked together on Literary Activities in the Institute Students’ Gymkhana. He was a rare student with a passion for English Literature in a Campus full of Techies, and I remember the long-running arguments we have had over Ayn Rand’s philosophy and over the significance to Indians of works like On the Road and Gravity’s Rainbow ! Perhaps Chaya and Raju can recall me from those years in the Campus. We hadn’t met after leaving the Institute, our paths divergent with his in the U.S.A. and mine in India.
It was very inspiring to hear of his (and Chaya’s) work on CLL, it is just like PC to make a major initiative and positive impact even in his affliction !
May he read to his heart’s content, and rest his soul in peace.
Warm regards,
T.L. Palani Kumar
Dearest Chaya and Radha, I have been sitting at the computer for over two hours now crying and reading all of the wonderful tributes to PC and to you, Chaya. Your love and devotion to each other is staggering. Radha, your loving tribute tells as much about you as it does about your father. It’s obvious that you loved each other dearly. I know that you and your mother will be strong for each other.
I have to say that grief can take you quite by surprise and often at public and inconvenient times. I was 35 when my own father passed away and in the early months following, a word, a song, a picture, even pumpkin pie, (his favorite) would trigger instant tears. I’m relieved to say that these tearful and very sad moments eventually became fewer and fewer and farther apart. Your hearts will heal but will not forget the wonderful love and times you shared.
Next month it will be one year ago that my daughter, at age 39, was diagnosed with CLL. Your website was referred to us and we are ever so grateful for the incredible information that it contains. I was so scared when we first found out about her CLL, but Chaya, I continue to have hope and strength because of you and PC. I trust this website and all it has to offer and will wait, no matter how long, for your return. Your CLL family surrounds you with love to get through these most difficult times. Feeling so very grateful for all you and PC have shared and given to us. My love, Judy Smith
DearChaya and Family
I’m a CLL patient. I’m really upset by this news, and feel as though I’ve lost member of my own family. PC was really brave undertaking this treatment, as are all people who undergo transplants. CLL Topics has been a source of inspiration for me for several years. Please accept my condolences.
Antony
Dear Chaya & family,
I was deeply grieved to learn about the sad demise of PC.
It was PC who personally made me learn of the advancements in CLL treatment. I’ll never forget him. He was an incredible person.
The entire CLL community misses him a lot.
He lived for all of us.
I join the grieving family in this hour, and pray to God to give courage to the bigger family he created round the world.
Best regards
Syed
Dearest Radha,
A poem for you and your beloved family, by Yehuda Amichai:
On the day my daughter was born not a single person died
In the hospital and on the entrance gate
Was posted: “Today, cohens are permitted to enter.”
The longest day of the year.
Overjoyed,
I drove with my friends to the hills of Sha’ar Ha-Gay.
We saw a pine tree sick and bare, just covered with an endless number of
pine cones. Tsvi said that trees about to die grow more cones than the living one. And I told him: that was a poem and you didn’t know it. Though you are in the exact sciences, you made a poem. And he responded: and you, though you are a dreamer, you made an exact girl with all the exact instruments for her life.
Radha, you exact girl,
Your father was not a tree, he did not naturally grow more cones when he became ill. But he was profoundly logical and courageous, and he had his beloved Chaya by his side, so he responded to sickness by calling on the exact sciences and dreams, finding where he could the seeds of life and sharing their secrets with us all. I am so grateful for your parents’ generosity, touched and changed for the better by their love for each other and for you, their exact girl.
Much love,
Lisa
My deepest sympathies to your family. My family has been using the website for many years and while I am not as familiar as my brothers and mother I know that we all had great admiration and thanks for it existance and its’ help to us with my dad’s continuing battle with CLL. You are all in my prayers.
As one of” PC’s Friends the world over” Please accept my condolences on his untimely passing.Our CLL community has sufferd a great loss.PcCand Chaya were singlehandedly( quadruple handedly) changing the course of medical history for our disease.Although their journey started in India their success story is one which we like to think is an American trait.For those of us with CLL Chaya and PC did more for our daily lives than any goverment or medical establishment agency.They ,along with Granny Barb , have shown us the way.The ideas they have put in motion will affect us for the rest of our lives.
As much as I greive the loss to our CLL community the week’s postings remind me that PC was above all a loving husband ,Father and son. My sincere condolences to his “other” family for your great loss.We celebrate a great life lived well with you.
Please accept our deepest sympathies for the loss of P.C. Venkat. During the past year, your site has provided us with much needed information, courage and hope. Also, it has created a feeling that ours was a shared journey. Thank you for making that possible.
Love,
Ben and Carol Malkiel
Dear Chaya,
My thoughts are with you. My heart is so heavy. My deepest sympathy to Radha on the loss of her beloved papa.
Although I know words offer small comfort in your hour of sorrow, Chaya, I do wish to express my sincere sympathy to you on your loss of your beloved, PC.
May his memory always be a source of strength and comfort to you.
Love,
Rita
Dear Chaya: Your extraordinary and extremely generous response to P.C.’s CLL , creating a repository of reliable information and experience for all of us others with the disease, was a noble act. No government agency, hospital, or physician, involved in the treatment of Leukemia has provided anything remotely so exhaustive yet immediately accessible. It is perhaps worth thinking about the cultural reasons for this.
You have reason to be very proud of your accomplishment.
It is clear however that the our knowledge of CLL is still extremely primitive, and the science underlying treatment is very thin.
Please accept my heartfelt condolences.
I am one of the shadow fans on the CLL list. For years, I was able to keep up with report of treatments. This gave confidence when dealing with physicians dealing with my mother and her CLL. I honor the quest of P.C. for health and life and for Cheya the valiant toiler who shared her knowledge and hope with the thousands the followed the internet list.
My best wishes the Cheya and family as they adjust to the changes in life.
Dear Chaya, Radha and Raju~
Having come to the CLL website community within the past year, I didn’t become as acquainted with PC as I should have liked. Chaya, your and PC’s efforts to throw light on both the illness called CLL and to actively research and pursue ways to effect remissions and even cures are commendable. There just aren’t many places like this to go to where we can bat back and forth ideas and experiences and I thank you and PC for what you’ve done and accomplished.
Reading through the messages left by his friends — by your friends, I am more than ever saddened that I did not have the pleasure of meeting PC in person. However, I have been to Sedona several times and consider it to be very close to what people loosely term “God’s country.” My prayers and best wishes come to you and your family in this time of your loss.
Allen
I’m sorry for your loss. The ‘good cancer’ is proven not to be, yet again. There are those of us with similar markers/prognostic indicators that feel this loss very personally. We must work to end CLL (and all cancers) before a transplant and its attendant risks is necessary.
I was surprise, shocked, and disappointed to read these latest postings. I know the toll it can take on family. In time, the positive memories will supplant the negative ones. And you know that is certainly what he would have wanted.
Again, my condolences.
I was shocked to learn that P.C. has passed away.
I think that a lot of us in the CLL community understood the risks of the transplant that P.C. had, but somehow it is still shocking to hear that he is gone. I am deeply saddened.
I knew P.C. I spoke to him on the phone several times over the last few years. P.C and Chaya changed my life; they made information about CLL accessible and understandable in a way that no one else has. It led to a fundamental shift in the way that I think about managing this disease. And I know that this is true for many of us.
P. C. has made an enormous contribution to our community. He will be sorely missed. I feel like I have lost a family member.
Charlie
I am very sorry for your loss, I too have the devastating CLL, I try to live my life as normal as possible, but other things like 2 lung cancer surgeries 9/23/04 and 3/4/08 seem to get in the way, my blessings for you and your family, take care. sincerely Nancy
Chaya and family,
Thank you for all your love and support through CLL Topics. PC was an inspiration to all of us traveling the CLL road. May the peace of God guard your hearts and minds.
Bill
I am deeply saddened by your husband’s death. I follow your site regularly and am extremely grateful for all the research and information I have learned from you both. P. C.’s loss has effected me deeply. Please accept my deepest sympathy and support at this most unspeakably difficult time. May P. C.’s memory and love be a source of comfort to you. You are both in my heart.
Chaya, Radha, and Raju,
Please accept my deepest condolences on the passing of PC. His battle was truly an inspiration for the hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of us who face a similar challenge. Chaya, I know that you and P.C. fought the dragon with every ounce of energy and knowledge that you had. He was a brave man to take on the risk of a transplant, knowing that it was the only possible way to beat his disease, and to live a long life with his family. I’m so sorry that this disease stole PC from you and your family many, many years too soon. May he rest in peace. -Paul
Chaya, Radha,Raju,
I am speechless and my heart has sunk to the floor. PC was my touchstone of courage in this Godless endless battle. When I was first diagnosed, the first Google entry, yours, was my only source for information that I could understand and could see was thorough and filled with heart and humanity - real men and women.
Over the years, I have relied on PC to clear the brush ahead of me, to slay the dragons for me and make my passage easier. And I have relied on you Chaya as my source of womanly fortitude and quiet determination. I love you both for that.
When talking with oncologists who’d forgotten to read since med school, I brought them your words and PC’s experience, together with the entirety of your family’s dedicated research into and cogent questions regarding the life and potential death of this, our common enemy.
It took PC, but I remember that it took him only in part, only in one small part.
What a real man PC is, and always will be! What a genuine, valiant, truehearted, selfless,joyful and eternal man that PC is! I shall see him in Heaven and I WILL hug him warmly - for you, and for all the others still here, and finally, just for me.
PC will be missed here, though he is greatly enjoyed there.
With all my heart, Jane
Thank you for the wonderful words about your father. We feel like part of our family has gone.
When diagnosed with CLL and in a panic, I found CLL Topics and realized how fortunate we were to have PC and Chaya keeping us informed of new information, interpreting new reports for us and giving us a firm “arm” to lean on in trying to deal with it all.
I hold you in my prayers. May the majestic beauty of Sedona give you comfort and your loving memories sustain you through this very sad time.
I am so sad to hear the tragic news. You all put up such a brave fight and allowed all of us to share in it with you.
CLL Topics has been a revellation to me. There is nothing else like it, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My thoughts and prayers are with you now and on 5 July.
John Tregear
Victoria, British Columbia Canada
Radha,
What a beautiful obituary you have written- so full of love and loss. What a great, giving man your father was and how lucky the CLL community was to have him helping us and of course your mother too. Your loss and sorrow is deep now but in time I hope the joy he brought you overcomes your sadness and grief so you can celebrate his life and yours as you go about your days. God bless you, Chaya, all your family and PC too.
Chris Randolph
Dear Chaya and family,
I am moved to tears this morning as I read of P.C.’s death. He fought such a brave battle to defeat his disease. I have thought of him often this past year, as my brand of CLL falls into the same bucket as P.C.’s.
Having lost my husband six months ago, I feel your pain, Chaya. My heart goes out to you and your family. You and “Harvey” have done so much more than you probably realize to enrich the lives of those of us in the CLL community. God bless you and keep you during this sad time.
Sincerely,
Kathy Chase
Chaya and family,
I am very sad about the passing of P.C….since being diagnosed with CLL 7 years ago, CLL Topics has provided both information and inspiration.
Respectfully,
Jan J.
Dear Chaya,
My condolences. P.C.’s efforts, (and yours), have helped hundreds and probably thousands of CLL patients. His website was exquisite with easy to follow CLL information. I will alway be grateful for the amazing contribution toward CLL research and the dissimination of information on his/your website.
P.C. was cool.
Dear Raja and Chaya,
I still feel sad about the loss of your loving and wonderfull husband and father.
Again and again my deepest condoleance.
PC and you helped me a lot.
Sandra (Belgium).
Dear Radha, no words can fill the real loss in your fathers passing. Please accept my deepest condolences. Know that the information your family has helped share with the CLL community has been very valuable. And we hope will continue to be. With gratitude, Howard a CLL`er from Oregon..
Just in case my previous post sounded confused, it was. I was in such tears over P.C.’s passing that I didn’t notice that I was posting back to Radha and not to Chaya. My apologies for any faux pas and peace and love to your entire family.
Chaya iam devastated at hearing the tragic news of PC’s passing . He was an inspiration to us all, My thoughts are with you in this sad time. Keep your chin up mate, PC would want that. Nunny Australia
I never met P.C., but I felt that I knew him in many ways through the efforts of Chaya. His journey was our journey. Now your loss, Chaya and Radha (and Jasper, too!) is our loss as well, as I feel that what happens to one member of the CLL community affects us all, good or bad. My condolences to your family, Chaya, and my sincere thanks for all that you have done to help all of us.
Tracy from Virginia
Radha,
What a lovely and touching tribute to your father. He lived a life full of joy, happiness, integrity, and courage. I can think of no greater legacy.
Chaya,
Five years ago we received our introduction to CLL. And almost immediately began reviewing CLL Topics on a daily basis. At the same time, during our visits to our local oncologist, we were getting information that was written in the past. Based on the conflicting information we made an appointment at Mayo Clinic. They confirmed everything you had written! Upon returning home we switched to an oncologist who agreed to work with Mayo and continue our fight with CLL.
This would never have happened without CLL Topics. Put another way, this would never have happened without Chaya and P.C. We can never hope to repay our debt to you and P.C.!
We were so sorry to see your posting of P.C.’s death. We followed his journey everyday. It is our hope that the rich memories you lived and shared with P.C. will comfort you.
We will not be able to be with you for “Harvey’s Farewell Party” July 5th, but we will be thinking of you.
Jerry and Gretchen
Dear Chaya and family
I am very sorry that P.C.’s journey has ended the way it did. I very much appreciate both your efforts in educating and supporting the CLL community.
You both are in my thoughts and prayers.
Michael
Dear Chaya and family.
Terribly sorry to read about your loss.
Hopefully your loss will be somewhat easier to bear knowing how much good you and PC have done for CLL patients.
Here in Canada it is dificult to get current up to date unbiased information about CLL. I will be forever grateful to you both.
Joseph Mercier
Dear Chaya and family,
My deepest sympathy.Hope you can all get some strength from the wonderfull memories you had together and from the example PC has always been and will always be for you all.
I’ve never met you or your family but when I received the mail,
I felt like I’d lost someone of my family.
I’ve cried and can only hope he’s happy now.
He can’t communicate to you directly anymore but I am sure he’s with you for eternity untill one day you will be back together.
Like many others before me have written, you all have given so much to others while you were going through such a difficult period yourselves.
Across the world so many CLL patients have been given so much support and information through your website.
Many you know of and certainly as many you don’t know of.
I wish we could do something in return to help you and your family this time.
Unfortunately we can only write some words in the hope you may find some comfort in them.
If there would be anything we can do (even the smallest or biggest thing) please let us know through your site.
I am sure we are so many who are grateful for everything you’ve achieved.
In september my dad will be going through full allo-sct for his cll.
Thanks to you and PC we are so well informed and have some clue what to expect.
My deepest feelings to your daughter as well since I am the daughter of a 59 year old father with CLL and can understand how she must miss him.
My deepest condoleances,
Gerlinde Tuyttens.
Bruges, Belgium.
Chaya & Family,
I am saddened to read this morning of P.C.’s passing. I had been away from CLLTopics for too long and signed on today on a whim - looking for information for a close friend diagnosed with CLL.
I can only say that my prayers are with you and that P.C. is in his heavenly home with all those brave souls who suffered as he did. I hope he and Bill are laughing over some joke and have their arms around one another.
Chaya, it was an honor to know your sweet prince. He holds a special place in my heart and I will long remember happy dinners with you both.
May God bless you!
Jennifer
Chaya and Family, my wife and I are saddened of P.C. passing. We thank both of you for all you have done for so many of us. God bless. John and Jo
Dear Chaya and Family
We are from India and there is very little information available with patients and their relatives. My father was diagnosed with CLL in May 07 and your articles proved of immense help. We wrote to PC once about sending these articles on a CD because some patients in India may not have internet access. He replied to us by giving methods of downloading these articles.
We all are very sorry to learn about his death and we really appreciate efforts put by both of you for all the CLL patients. Believe me even our Doctor would go through your articles and was really impressed with your knowledge.
Keep up the good work and that would be true tribute to our Hero PC
Hiten Jhaveri (India)
Dear Chaya and Family,
“We know not the day nor the hour.” We do know PC gave tremendous strength to hundreds of CLL patients he had never met. May the Lord bring you comfort as you deal with this great void. My deepest sympathy, Sarah Brown
I feel at a loss for words as to how to communicate to you how the loss of PC, someone I have never met, makes me weep just to think of it. His efforts have educated so many of us with CLL. If it were not for him I would not have known to insist on genetic testing and would not have known that I had a 17p deletion. I feel like that knowledge has prolonged my life.
You and your family are in my prayers. There are so many people all over the world who have been touched by his life and by the tremendous amount of work that both of you have done on the behalf of all of us. Thank you.
Vicky Slucher
Dear Chaya,
I am so very sorry to hear this news about P.C. You two have provided so much information and encouragment to all of us that words can not express my
gratitude. I do not know what to say at a time like this. God bless you.
Wayne
Dear Chaya, Radha, Raju, and Jasper,
The CLL community will miss PC more than words can express. Your support has give me the support I need to live with my CLL diagnosis.
Radha, thank you for sharing the pictures and insights into PC’s life
Judy
Dear Chaya and Family,
I was so saddened to hear of P.C.’s passing. I hope you and P.C. knew how much you have helped patients and families with CLL through your unselfish commitment to sharing your knowledge and life experiences. My husband was just diagnosed with CLL in April of this year and Chaya, you quite willingly shared information with us to help us get started with my husband’s medical care at a time when most of us would have been focused on worrying about and caring for our own loved one.
I can only express my own gratitude that is reiterated in the voices of the many on this website who are inspired by your dedication to raising awareness and knowledge about CLL.
Please share with us how we can help you continue the work that you and P.C. have started. And, please accept my sincerest condolences.
Kathy
Dearest Radha and Chaya,
For a daughter to have such a wonderful father is the greatest gift. And, as expected, you do your parents proud. He will live on in you, a gift for your mother.
Please accept my deepest sympathy. I am writing with a heavy heart.
The Red Rocks of Sedona are not as bright as they normally are at this time of year. The best to you all.
Dear Chaya, Radha, Raju, and Jasper,
The photo of PC waving in his beloved mountains will stay with me and with John. We will remember your husband, father, brother and true friend as a hero in our own lives. Just as he walked the rocks of Arizona and found new trails to explore, so he led us all, with Chaya’s amazing help, on a journey toward new life. He has achieved a goal-though not the one that we all hoped for. But PC’s life has taught all of us a great deal-yes, about CLL and medicine, but more so about hopes and dreams, about giving and loving. PC’s love of life, his dedication to help others, and the things that made him happy on this earth (John agrees with the Vivaldi) have all of our hearts on fire. He has touched us and changed us. And for John and me, that is the goal of one’s life in this vast universe. Farewell, PC, you will not be forgotten by any of us.
with deepest sympathy and love, Beth and John Havey
Dear Chaya, Radha and Raju:
My name is Pancha. I joined IIT Madras in the same year Balu [P.C. Venkatachalam] did. I remember P.C.V was my next neighbor at the Jamuna Hostel [I was in room 102 and P.C.V. was in Room 104]. Although I hadn’t kept contact with Balu after we graduated from IIT, my memory of P.C. Venkat is like it was yesterday. Balu, as we used to know him was a charming personality. It is quite obvious from the voluminous comments, the contributions that Balu has made to the CLL community and that he was a great solace to many individuals fighting this battle.
Please accept my condolences to you and your family.
Pancha
Dear Chaya and Radha,
WE are deeply saddened by P.C.’s passing and like to express our sincere condolences.
CLLTopics has been a life saver for us and we are forever thankful.
God bless you,
Lorie and Ken
My heartfelt condolences to you Chaya, and your family ,on the tragic and untimely passing of PC! As a team, you exemplified such great courage and optimism and your willingness to share with the rest of the CLL community was truly a blessing. May you find peace.
My condolences to you and your family, Chaya. I had some e-mail exchanges with P.C., just as I have had with you, that helped me make some decisions regarding my CLL. He will be missed by everyone. Dr. Hamlin had a piece on his blog recently about the difficulties CLL’ers have with cord blood transplants, how and why we are more susceptible to infections. The link is below, if you are interested:
http://mutated-unmuated.blogspot.com/
My condolences to your family, and a tremendous THANK YOU for sharing your experiences and knowledge with thousands of people all over the globe. I will be thinking of you particularly this Saturday. You have many cyber friends who, like me, have quietly read your website and appreciated your opinions. We will all send warm wishes your way not just this week, but each time we think of CLL Topics.
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Katrina in North Carolina
Dear Rhada, I meet another wonderful family member. Your obituary is so moving and proves a deep love and respect for your parents. I have postponed until now to write anything, I was so deeply moved. PC and Chaya proved a life saver to me when diagnosed with CLL last year. No website was so friendly, yet highly informative. I confess that I made treatment options on the information they gave me. Even my oncologist was prodded toward considering CAMPATH treatment when I proved to be allergic to ordinary chemo. All the information I needed I got from CLL Topics. I just hope and pray that you as a family will be comforted and find the strength and courage to go on, also with the good work of CLL Topics. I learnt to love and respect your parents. They have integrity, warmth and empathy with fellow sufferers. I have not found that in a lot of others. Rest in peace, PC, may your spirit roam the eternals in freedom from pain,freedom from the dark shadow CLL has also thrown over my life.
My sincerest thoughts are with you all.
Love in Him,
Marie
thanks rahda for your words
what an amazing dad
best wishes to you and your family
xxxxxxxx
Rahda,
Your Dad and I were diagnosed at the same time, his loss touches my heart. He was a wonder and I just love reading what you wrote about him. Saddens my heart but what a relationship you and he had! Treasure that as I am sure you do and will.
Your parents have helped me so very much in so many ways. The voice or reason and the voice of knowledge which has given me so much strength to understand how to fight. They taught me that knowledge IS strength.
Please hug your mom for me and have her hug you even tighter.
I close with love and peace for you and your family.
Barbara
Dear Ones, True, just about everything I have learned about CLL and certainly everything i understand about CLL is because you gave life to a deadly disease through CLL Topics and through your own experience and through your generosity in communicating with me personally. But PC and Chaya, together you were so very much more. You were the ballast and my compass and my friends who were always there. How lucky I felt to find you as i wandered through such dark hours. i will be with you all in spirit on Saturday. Sometime, not too long after that, I would like to visit you, Chaya and know you and be of comfort to you. With deep sadness and great emotion I celebrate the life of P.C. and your shared undaunted spirit and enduring legacy. ncd
Dearest Chaya and family,
I was shocked and saddened to read of P.C.’s passing. I found myself keeping up with all your postings regarding his procedure which seemed so promising at the beginning. You have no idea what a source of medical information and emotional support you have provided to countless others,myself included. Therefore, it is so unfair that you and P.C were not rewarded for your outstanding service to the CLL community. If you decide to continue with your column, I will look forward to being one of your faithful readers.
May all the wonderful memories that have of your beloved husband and father help sustain you during this difficult time and may you be blessed with peace and happiness in the near future.
May all the wonderful memories that you have of your beloved husband and father help sustain you through your tragedy.
Dearest Chaya and family,
I was shocked and saddened to read of P.C.’s passing. I found myself keeping up with all your postings regarding his procedure which seemed so promising at the beginning. You have no idea what a source of medical information and emotional support you have provided to countless others,myself included. Therefore, it is so unfair that you and P.C were not rewarded for your outstanding service to the CLL community. If you decide to continue with your column, I will look forward to being one of your faithful readers.
May all the wonderful memories that have of your beloved husband and father help sustain you during this difficult time and may you be blessed with peace and happiness in the near future.
May all the wonderful memories that you have of your beloved husband and father help sustain you through your tragedy.
Deepest condolences to you, Chaya, and to you, Radha, on the loss of PC. What a tragedy! Chaya, the contributions that you and PC have made to to he CLL community are immense. So many have profitted from the your “human-speak” translations of the research and from your sharing of PC’s path through this awful disease which I share with him. Chaya, you were so personally helpful to me when I e-mailed questions. Now may you be blessed by the support of those you have helped and may you find deep comfort from fond memories of the man who was your soulmate.
How can the sky still be blue and the trees still be green? How is it that I feel such a loss of someone I never physically met; how is it that I share the breaths of sorrow with his dear ones, also never met? I am so very, very sad and I am but a stranger.
The only immediate consolation I can offer is profound gratitude from my mind, body and soul: for PC, his choosing courage and joy in living his life, for Chaya, her determination, intelligence, love and immense generosity for sharing the story, and for Radha, who obviously inherited all the best of her parents and whose words will be balm to my wounded spirit in the days to come. Thank you all.
Godspeed, PC.
Radha, what a wonderful tribute you wrote to your dad.
Chaya, others depend on your clear analysis and patient advocacy. My husband has had CLL since 1996, and we’ve managed to raise three children (the youngest now 16). It’s people like you who keep caregivers and patients armed with knowledge. Despite your devastating loss, please consider continuing your important mission.
The patient community needs you.
Woodinville,WA
oh chaya!!! i am devastated to learn of your enormous loss. i just got out of a week in the hospital yesterday (gvhd) and did not learn about p.c. until now. you both added to my knowledge of this insidious “good” cancer and for the decision to transplant. i am with you in heart and spirit in the rainbow desert of sedona, which you made your home. the angels have gained a real super hero…
Radha,
and of course to your dear mother, Chaya. my heart goes out to you. You have lost a father, a very very special father and a unique and special man. Your words are a comfort to all of us who miss him, and a superb tribute to him. He would be so proud of you. Hold tight to his dreams and yours, to your memories, and to your mom. He’s stil there, always will be.
I wish I could be there, if only to be closer to the greatness that we will all miss, and to offer any comfort, or a cup of tea. I will be thinking about you all today, tomorrow, and always. I will do what I always do at times like this, light a sparkler and watch it twinkle from a flare to a sputter, and know that in the end it may be a shell of it’s former self, but the eyes burn from the light and the memory stays forever.
peace to you all, with love, beth
My connection to P.C. was electronic, via e-mail and this website. I join you in mourning the loss of such a courageous, compassionate and intelligent man who will be sorely missed. May we all celebrate his many contributions. I will observe a moment of silence in his honor on July 5, 2024 8pm EDT.
Love and peace to his family,
Diane MacKinnon
Dear Chaya,
Coy and I are sad we cannot join you and your family in Sedona to celebrate PC’s life. Coy is currently making a valiant attempt to become tranplant ready and is having considerable difficulty with the tough chemo and resulting low counts-and a possible lung infection. We hope to be heading to the Seattle VA in August for a allogenic double cord transplant. They have found him a match if he is able to knock back the CLL enough.
We will be with you in spirit and please know we admire both you and PC immensly!
Love,
Nancy and Coy
I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of P.C My heart goes out to you Chaya, wife and companion, his daughter Radha, his brother Raju, his loyal dog Jasper and to all others throughout the world that are also saddened at this time. He was a pioneer in the treatment of CLL and our fellow suffers are greatful to the way he so openly shared his journey. Your website is a godsend of information about CLL. My journey is a slow journey with CLL.
God be with you in the days ahead as you continue life without P.C.
Love and prayers, Nerolie
This is a great and loving tribute to a great and loving person. I found CLLTopics immediately after my diagnosis and know that PC (Harvey)and Chaya have inspired me and taught all of us how to fight CLL. I will go forward and fight my CLL and always remember PC in my fight. I will remember him for the rest of my life, however long that is. My love and prayers for the family and friends as they morn over this great loss.
For Radha,
In the pond we call life everyone makes the surface ripple. Chaya and PC made a huge splash whose ripples of warrior spirit, warmth and caring are exemplary of what human beings can be! We all are consumed by the tragedy of your father’s passing but it is the gift of his and Chaya’s fight that will live on in hearts and minds through their sharing of his journey.
I thank you for the personal glimpse into the lives of your parents whom I have known only through letters and website.
Palasena Chidambar lived well, fought well and has passed the torch.
With much Love and gratitude,
Wayne and Fay
Chaya, Radha, and Raju,
We also are sadden and heart broken with the loss of PC. PC’s spirit will live on in you and all the others he touched. Death can not take his spirit from us.
We will celebrate PC’s life and we will raise a toast to this man who lived, loved, cared and helped all that his life touched!
Love,
Norm & Irene
Chaya and family:
I am thinking of you and praying for you today as you remember our dear, PC.
It is nearing sunset here in MN where PC spent his final days.
I think and dare to hope that I am a bit braver, dream a little bigger, and love a little more because of you and PC.
I so wish I could have been there in person but I am sending warm thoughts, prayers, electronic hugs, and deepest sympathies.
With care,
Liz W.
St. Paul, MN
Dear Chaya, Radha, Raju and Jasper,
My heart goes out to each of you. P.C. was an extraordinary man who gave of himself for the benefit of humanity. From his example I have learned to hope and to have courage in the face of CLL. My prayer is that you gain strength and comfort not only from knowing that so many mourn with you, but that we also rejoice in a life well lived.
Paula
Radha
I will be 4 days post transplant on July 5 and not sure I will be well enough to post that day. If I am OK and with it enough, I will join the celebration.
If not please share these thoughts while I am somewhat less drugged and my counts are still holding up.
I can’t hide my sadness about PC. I met him and Chaya on a trip to Sedona, but knew them before and since through their site and emails. The contribution they have made to the care of patients with CLL can not be overstated. I’m so grateful and feel blessed they were shining their light in the dark corners of this scary disease . And doing it with grace and balance and humor. The decisions I have made and the path I have chosen to have an early “pre-emptive” MUD transplant are strictly my own, and I take full responsibility. I would be lying however if I did not admit that the trailblazer who influenced me the most was PC (Harvey). So it was great sadness and some pause that I moved forward. I got the sad news the morning of my admission. Statistics are just numbers but each number represents a real person, a mom or a dad or a child or a spouse or a special friend. This was personal. Yet odds are still is my favor, and while I have much room for compassion and I scream at the unfairness of it all, I have no room for negativity, so I am staying the course.
Stay strong. Keep the conversation alive. You know exactly how PC would answer your questions. He will speak to and through you forever.
Much love
Brian Koffman MDCM FCFP, DAAFP, MS Ed
PS When the time is right please consider sharing the autopsy findings. It would help many of understand and bring some closure to what happened.

Radha, I’m yet another person with CLL who has been informed and inspired by PC and your mother. The sense they created that none of us is alone in this fight and that we can support one another will survive. They performed an enormous service for a great number of people, and PC will be remembered with love and gratitude by many of us who never knew him personally but who benefited and continue to benefit from his and Chaya’s efforts.
Barry
There is nothing else can I say that would add to all these wonderful comments - our thoughts and love are with you!
When I got the email, “Farewell to PC”, I gasped. PC and Chaya have been beacons of hope to those of us who have been diagnosed, or had loved ones diagnosed with CLL. What strength they had to go forward with a double cord transplant! And that Chaya would be updating the website with new information just days after PC’s funeral, is almost unbelievable. When my husband was diagnosed, I emailed Chaya with some questions…and what a surprise and delight to receive a personal and informative return email, almost immediately! Chaya and PC are like members of our family, although they do not know us. We have been following their journey for several years. Our most sincere condolences go to Chaya, who advocated for her husband with intelligence, love and humor. Chaya, you did everything you could to keep PC with you, and it was not to be. Thank you, with all our hearts, for your intention to devote the rest of your life to research and, as you do SO well, the dissemination of research for us laypeople. PC will love you forever and be so proud of you. Our sincerest condolences to you on the loss of the love or your life.
Chaya & Radha. My heart and soul go out to you both for your loss of P.C.—the perceptive and inspirational pilot of this site. When I looked at clltopics tonight—first check for a couple of weeks—I was shocked and saddened by the announcement. I have been an admirer of the site since I was diagnosed in 2024. In fact Chaya, I was looking to re-read your comprehensive and engaging posting—A Facelift for Bendamustine—when I discovered the announcement about P.C. [Just to bring the story full circle, yesterday and today I came through my first course of Bendamustine with what appears to be a good outcome---no side effects and noticeably smaller nodes. Your incisive review---with the large chemical structure (I share your passion for Chemistry)---first turned me on to this unique by-functional molecule from Germany.]
Again, I extend sincere sympathy to you both for the unexpected outcome after what appeared to be a successful procedure. All we CLLers share your grief. You should have great solace in the fact that P.C. went out fighting—per your mutual promise to ‘battle his CLL with everything within your power’.
Regards,
Al Sullivan
Chaya & Radha,
I too am quite addened by the loss of PC. I hope you both can find comfort in the knowledge that, by my own rough count of e-mail addresses, there are a least three physicians that regularly use your website for information regarding their own mangement of CLL, including myself. There are undoubtedly many more docs that have gained tremendous insight into their CLL beyond the information shared by their oncologist.
R Neuhaus
Such sad, sad news to learn today. Our deepest condolences, Chaya, to you and your daughter who wrote such a beautiful remembrance of P.C. Ever since we first met via the Internet back in 2024 with Lincoln’s CLL diagnosis, we have always known that we could look to clltopics to inform us and give us hope for enduring the cancer road.
Now, we look to the community reaching back to you with sympathy and love and add our caring for your sorrow in this time. We will remember P.C. and his gift to all of us, and we will look forward to brighter tomorrows.
With warmest regards, Sandy and Lincoln
I have waited this long because even though I never met (or even directly e-mailed PC as most of my contct has been with Chaya), I have shared his journey and it is emotionally difficult to comment. I will miss him. We were diagnosed with CLL close to the same time, but I seem to have the “slower” kind. I was so encouraged by the hope for a cure for him. As I say-I will miss him.
I wish to offer my deepest sympathy to Chayra and Radha. I was very upset when I learned of PC’s death. I discovered your web site when I was diagnosed with CLL in 2024 and doing research about my illness.I greatly appreciate all the time and effort you have put into the web site. Thank You
dearest chaya, radha and raju,
Only today I read the terrible and chocking news about the passing of PC.
my heart and feelings go with all of you and I sincerely hope you will find the strength to overcome this huge loss. I feel to be part of your family through the impressive CLLtopics site. the site and so many replies of Chaya to my worries and questions have been a great fundament for my talks with the doctor.
the fight of PC to overcome and beat his disease could not be won but for sure thousands of CLL patients around the world have been encouraged to take up the gauntlet and follow in the footsteps of PC.
CLLtopics has been a stronghold, a fortress, an anchor for thousands and we all pray, Chaya, that you will be able to continue this great site and most important and appreciated work.
god bless and love
harry stoof
Dear Chaya and Radha,
My heart goes out to you. I was shocked and saddened to read about P.C’s passing. I was actually researching about my own CLL, when I read on a different site that P.C. Venkat died. I immediately visited clltopics.org and was very saddened. Clltopics.org has been a valuable tool for me in my battle against CLL. It gave me hope and a lot of information when I needed it the most. I am a young Cll patient with agressive form of CLL and have no support system. So it meant a lot to me when I heard back from Chaya right away.
I am sending my deepest condolences to the Venkat family, mainly to Chaya, the Venkat’s daughter, and Jasper…And I feel your pain with you…At some point my nose hurt from pain. The only other time it happened or happens is when I think about my dear cat’s passing…
Kindest thoughts your way…
Nini