We’ve all read and seen so many deaths and complications from COVID-19. The past weeks have been very difficult for our family. Seeing how it didn’t spare even the rich and powerful personalities scares us more. We made it a point to always keep the virus away from our home. Sadly, last September 2, 2021, my grandmother, mom and auntie tested positive for COVID-19.

Our grandmother was the first one who showed symptoms of COVID- continuous cough, general weakness, and loss of appetite. We tried to manage those with OTC medicines, but reached the point where she no longer wanted to eat nor drink a simple amount of water. 1:30AM on September 7, 2021 she complained that she was having difficulty in breathing, her oxygen level was within the normal range. We were able to manage this and told us that she will sleep first. But, at exactly 2:40 AM, she stopped breathing. She succumbs to COVID. It pains us more given the fact that some of our family members couldn’t say their goodbyes. We are not yet recovering from this painful loss, yet here comes another challenge to our family.

As we continue to fight this battle, my mom, Aleta who has a pre-existing condition of diabetes, hypertension, and heart ailment experienced mild symptoms of COVID such as body pains and fever. She was very positive that she will get through this battle. But on the 14th day of our quarantine, her blood sugar level continued to drop where she reached a result of 20, low enough to be in coma. Thankfully, we were able to catch it and increase it instantly to a range of 90. But it continued to drop to below 70 every hour. She wouldn’t eat as she is not feeling well. We noticed that there might be another problem which requires help from the hospital since she keeps on vomiting and was disoriented so we decided to bring her to Manila Medical Center on Sept. 16, 2021.

As soon as we reached the hospital, the doctors immediately responded to my mom's need. They performed a series of tests to determine what causes these. We were informed that all her laboratory results were abnormal. Her creatinine was 6x higher the normal level, sodium and potassium was low, and got infections too. She was ordered to do a Head MRI with an angiogram, which shows a stroke. The oxygen in her body is not enough to reach her brain which resulted in her being disoriented. Her Chest Xray also showed that she has Pneumonia which was developed due to COVID. And since her creatinine exceeds the normal limit, she needs to undergo multiple sessions of dialysis to remove the excess waste and fluid from the blood which caused her kidneys to stop working properly. Aside from that, the doctors discovered that her intestines were bleeding where she was given an Omeprazole. She is currently confined in the ICU for continuous monitoring. Currently, the doctors continue to give her medicine that will help normalize her blood sugar level. All of these were triggered by the deadly virus, COVID-19.

My mom and grandmother have always been the family’s source of strength and inspiration. They’ve done everything to finance our education and give us a comfortable life. We still have so many plans to pay them back for all their sacrifices. But this virus made it all challenging for our whole family. We now understood what others meant about this COVID experience as being physically draining, more so mentally and financially exhausting.

Our medical bills have been accumulating due to additional medical procedures and costly medicines and is now over P871,434.00 as of today, October 14, 2021 excluding the doctor’s fee that is amounting to 170,000.00.

With this, we humbly ask for your prayers and any financial assistance you could provide to our family to sustain her ongoing hospitalization and medications. It’s been a roller coaster journey to our family, but we trust that the Lord is sovereign, omnipotent, and true to His promises. We will appreciate any amount coming from your generous hearts to help extend our mother’s life. May the Lord God bless you a thousand folds.

FOR DONATIONS:

Again, thank you for your generous heart.