In Loving Memory of Niranjana Patel

On Thursday morning, August 13, 2020, Niranjana (Niru) Patel of Wayne, New Jersey, passed away at the age of 74 after a several battles with cancer. 

For those of us who got to know Niru, especially during her last few years, we appreciated how courageous and determined she was.

In 2017 she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. She underwent successful surgery and several months of chemotherapy treatments. She lost her hair and experienced several other side effects. To say it was challenging was an understatement. However, she persevered and was in the clear.  

In 2018, Niru was dealt another blow when she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Again, it was stage 3.  Despite the setback, she remained courageous and ready to fight. Niru underwent another surgery and then a combination of radiation and chemotherapy at John Theurer Cancer Center in Hackensack, New Jersey. Her treatments lasted well over a year, however were ultimately unsuccessful and resulted in the sarcoma spreading to her liver. When the cancer center later recommended hospice as her only option moving forward, she refused and was determined to keep fighting. 

That brought her to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, where she underwent chemotherapy treatment for another four months. After a couple of treatment cycles, her oncologist put her on “chemo holiday” since the lesions in her liver had significantly reduced. Her oncologist was even impressed and excited for how she responded to the treatment—and even more impressed with her ability to fight since this improvement occurs in less than 5% of the population. Everyone around her (family, friends, doctors and nurses) always complimented the smile on her face through everything. All this while her husband Pinakin was going through his own cancer treatments (he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2019).

Unfortunately, after over three years of fighting, she lost the battle to cancer. She leaves behind her husband and her two children, Sachin and Neha and son-in-law Bill.

In lieu of flowers, we request you make a donation to help fight cancer. This way, someone you love hopefully has a better chance of defeating this horrible disease. 

To donate, just complete the form below. Every penny (minus credit card processing fees) will be donated to the Sarcoma Foundation of America in honor of Niru Patel.

Thank you for your support.
With your help, we were able to donate at total of $6,255.10 to the Sarcoma Foundation of America
(donations were made on October 24, 2020)
If you missed our initial deadline and still want to donate, please make it directly to the Sarcoma Foundation of America.