A Father’s Story ; Medical Assistance

On June 24, 2016 , my father, Jed G. Calomarde experienced chest pain which rendered him difficulty of breathing. Me and my younger brother rushed him to velez hospital using a public utility vehicle / taxi. It was one of the days in my life where I do not ever want to remember again as it came to a point that he was not responding to me anymore. We were however blessed that during that time, the driver had a presence of mind to weave through the traffic and miraculously there were motorcycle drivers who were good enough to go ahead us and instruct incoming vehicles to give way as the taxi driver is already using the opposite lane so we can go through.

We were able to reach velez and my father was already almost unconscious. They had to wake him up every now and then during the time that they were stabilizing his condition. All that time, I was already breaking down and crying inside the emergency room as I could not bear seeing him that way. We were advised by the doctor that they were able to stabilize his blood pressure but his heart rate is still abnormally fast. They advised me that they need to do defibrillation twice so they can slower down his heart rate. Thank God, it did its purpose.

My father was stabilized for the meantime but I was advised by his doctor that we need to do Angiogram immediately to know that cause of everything. If we won’t do it, we would not know the urgency of the situation as they were also suggesting a possible pci. I did not know what to do as Angiogram will cost us Php 70,000 and we were advised to transfer to chonghua hospital. We were hesitant at first as Chonghua is one of the most expensive hospitals in Cebu but of course there is a reason why. Our second option was Perpetual Soccor but their Angiogram equipment needs to be repaired. Only option left was Chonghua as its also one of the affiliated hospitals where Papa’s physician is currently in.

Thankfully, my father had a company insurance who will cover his admittance to the emergency room of velez up until we could be transferred to Chonghua for the angiogram. An hour and a half after we were admitted to Velez, we were given a go signal to transfer to Chonghua. When we arrived, we were then again admitted to their ER Dept and after staying there for almost 2 hours, we were transferred over to the Intensive Care Unit / Coronary Care Unit. As papa’s insurance will still cover the cost of the Angiogram , we were scheduled to have it on June 25,2016 at 8:30 in the morning.

On June 25, 2016, the operation for the angiogram was done and it was found out that one of his major artery in the left side of his heart is already fully blocked and we were advised that PCI / Angioplasty is needed as soon as possible to prevent any other complications or chest pains. We could not yet give our decision to the doctor as this operation would cost Php 600,000 in Chonghua. We do not have that money as we are only regular employees working for our family. Our income is only enough fo the expenses that we need. We have an apartment that we pay for each month. Our youngest brother is currently in college that we are financing for and the medicinal maintenance that our parents have.

As of now, we are really in need of financial assistance as we do not have anything else left so we can finance the operation which is really important for our father’s safety and survival. We are only relying on our salaries and it can only do so much as we also have other day to day expenses.

We are knocking on your kind hearts to please assist in the medical procedure as our father really do need it as soon as possible. We would want him to be with us for a much longer time. We will really appreciate all financial assistance whether big or small, we would be very grateful.