Fundraising for Mama Tessa Malaya

We are knocking on your generous hearts to help raise funds for my Mama Tess, who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke last Aug 25. As of writing, she is still unresponsive.

Theresa Malaya is a simple woman who has led a unique life. She was an actress in the 80’s and has appeared in iconic Philippine movies such as : Small and Terrible, Maria Went to Town, Shoot That Ball, Inday-Inday sa Balitaw,Horsey-horsey: Tigidig-tigidig, and Super wan-tu-tri.

She is a loving daughter and mother, a caring sister, a thoughtful Tita and a generous friend. She always puts others before herself. Mama Tess is full of love, laughter, and curiosity. She is a very religious person, we always go to Our Lady of Manaog every 1^st Sunday of the month. She loves to be the first in everything: hearing the latest news about people, going to the newest mall, restaurants, and even parlors. She was always up for a new adventure and always took her nieces and nephews out. A lot of people say that Mama is a lucky charm. Every time she stands outside or buys something in a store a lot of people will also go to the place.

When I entered into her life, she started working as a secretary at my uncle’s law firm. She was a hardworking woman, she worked 6 days a week to provide for our needs.

Last May 2014, Mama Tess was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, which is a brain disorder in which excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulates in the brain's ventricles, causing neurological problems, which also caused difficulty walking, and loss of bladder control. She had a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt surgery to help drain the extra CSF from her brain. With the help of physical therapy, she was almost back to her normal self.

However, in October 2014, she had a subdural hematoma on the left side of her brain. Her doctors said that they need to turn off her VP shunt and drain the blood in her brain. After draining the blood and turning off the shunt, Mama started to have dementia, she could not do daily tasks on her own, and could not stand or walk.

In May 2015, they turned on her VP shunt again but unfortunately, she did not go back to her usual self. Since then, she’s been fed, bathed and taken care of by a caregiver.

On Aug 25, 2021, Mama had a hemorrhagic stroke, she was diagnosed with status epilepticus, which is a life-threatening neurologic disorder that is essentially an acute, prolonged epileptic crisis. She has a brain bleed on the her left temporal lobe, the doctors said that this is the most sensitive part of the brain.

Mama is currently admitted in UERM Hospital, today is the 6th day of her medically induced deep sleep. She had her EEG last Aug 27 to track and record her brain waves pattern. She doesn’t respond well to any stimulus like claps, pinching her fingers and toes. She also had her CT Scan yesterday and thankfully the doctors said that the bleeding did not spread.

Her blood pressure is starting to stabilize, she is starting to breath on her own and her last seizure attack was Aug 28. We are all praying that she won’t have an attack anymore.

We have already reached out to family and friends but as the hospital bills continue to increase and no foreseeable end in sight, we have decided to create this GoGetFunding account. Any amount is most welcome and we would be grateful for any help and support you are able to provide.

Let us all pray for Mama’s healing and comfort that she will soon wake up from her very deep sleep. Thank you so much for your time in reading this and for thinking of us as we go through this difficult period of our lives.

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SEPT 25, 2021

It’s been a month since Mama Tess suffered from hemorrhagic stroke and status epilepticus. She can now open her eyes when you ask her to. It would take time but still she tries. We still feed her through NGT with blenderized food and Ensure. She sleeps more than being awake. She still can’t talk but I know she can hear us. Mama will have a follow up check up this Thursday, Sept 30. Her doctors said that she needs to have another EEG to check her brain function, an MRI to check if the bleeding progress and FEES (Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing ) to assess her swallowing.

We still maintain her oxygen and medications for her seizure and blood pressure and it is really expensive but we need to maintain it to make sure that her blood pressure is stable and seizures won’t attack anymore.

I would like to ask for donations, any amount is most welcome. Sharing this post would be also highly appreciated.We would be grateful for any help and support you are able to provide.

And please continue to pray for my Mama Tess.🙏🏻

Thank you so much.❤️

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OCT 25, 2021

Today marks the 2nd month of my Mama’s hemorrhagic stroke, unresponsiveness, and status epilepticus. During the 1st month of her post stroke, she can follow minimal instructions such as opening of her eyes when we ask her to check if she can see and hear us. But during this 2nd month, everything was different she became unresponsive again, she doesn’t follow instructions anymore. She is more asleep than awake. Her oxygen saturation fluctuates, her blood pressure is getting low. We can see tears from her eyes every time she tries to cough her phlegm out.

We still feed her through NGT with Ensure and some blenderized food. She’s on oxygen 24 hours because her oxygen saturation fluctuates. We suction her secretions because she cannot cough her phlegm by herself.

Last week we found out that my Mama is now suffering from pneumonia, her left lung can’t be seen anymore, we are treating her pneumonia with 2 antibiotics and we nebulize her 4 times a day. Her BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) levels are high and her sodium levels are low.

Maintaining all her medications and treatment are really expensive. I would like to ask for donations, any amount is most welcome. Sharing this post would be also highly appreciated.We would be grateful for any help and support you are able to provide.

And please continue to pray for my Mama Tess she will turn 70 on Sunday, Oct 31.

"When the time is right, I, the Lord, will make it happen." - Isaiah 60:22

Thank you so much!