Keeping hope alive for our Dad, Francisco

Last April 14, 2020, my 72- year old father, Francisco Payumo, suffered a massive stroke and was brought to the University of Perpetual Help Merical Center. He was diagnosed with a brain stroke and an hospital-acquired pneumonia. The clot was found in the left side of his brain making his entire right side of the body paralyzed.

Due to the pandemic, my father was tagged as Covid-19 probable of he his pneumonia. Even though the test came out as negative, they still placed him in a Covid-19 dedicated Intensive Care Unit for continuous treatment. They placed him on mechanical ventilator because his oxygen level was very low and because his body was paralyzed. He also does not have the ability to expel his phlegm, therefore, without the ventilator, he will drown.

After a month long of intense treatment my father was able to gain consciousness. But his stroke affected him severely, he lost movement on the right side of his body and his speech got impaired. The doctors are still working on the blood clot on his brain. And after removing the mechanical

ventilator, he now developed a ventilator associated pneumonia and recent ultrasound showed pleural effusion (fluid in his lungs) and will be needing to undergo Thoracentesis, a procedure to remove fluid from the lungs to help him breathe and avoid complications.

Since my dad was tagged as Covid-19 probable, the hospital have a strict no visitor policy. We are not allowed to be by his side during this difficult period.

What makes our situation more trying is the mounting hospital bill that we have to settle. As of today, our running bill is already around PHP 1,000,000 (20,000 USD). On top of our hospital bill, we spend around PHP 12,000-15,000 (200-300 USD) cash almost every 2 days to sustain his medication and basic needs. We decided to buy from the pharmacy outside the hospital even though we are risking covid19 exposure by going back and fort to the hospital because the cost of medicines and basic items he needs such as diaper, ivy fluids, peptamen and beneprotein powder is a lot cheaper than in the hospital. To try to alleviate our financial burden, we already sought for assistance from our relatives and government agencies. Though grateful for the amount that we received, it is still not substantial enough to cover the accumulating hospital and medical expenses of my father.

My siblings and I shoulder all the expenses. But given our current no work-no pay arrangement due to the pandemic, my father’s hospitalization has already exhausted our savings. On top of all this, my father is no longer eligible for medical insurance. We don’t know when we will all be able to go back to work and be properly compensated.

My family and I would be truly grateful for any financial support and prayers that you can extend.




**BANK DETAILS**


Bank of the Philippine Islands

Account Name: Annebelle T. Payumo

Account Number: 1819 1178 92