Help my sister get back on her feet again

This campaign aims to help my sister, Cyamie. This is our story...(I'll translate this into English, in her own narration. Original words were in Tagalog)

"After 1 month of being in pain, by God's grace, I survived my major surgery, in the middle of a pandemic. "

It all started with a fever and a sore feeling on my side(rib). A number of test and check ups were done before the true reason were determined. It has never been easy, and I've encountered too many delays before I've been admitted to the hospital. A lot of factors have to be considered, majority of which has something to do with the pandemic. And because what I'm dealing with was time sensitive, my condition worsened each day that passed me by :'(.

When I got admitted, I've been installed with a tube on my right side to drain the "fluid" in my lungs, but there has been no improvement because there was a suspected mass/growth inside that prevented the fluid from draining. Because of this, I have to undergo surgery (open thoracotomy) to remove whatever it was that was blocking my lungs and to drain most of the fluid that was inside. According to my doctor, I contracted a rare case of lung infection because the fluid that was collected inside was pus and not just water.

Up until now, I'm still here in the hospital, confined, and still waiting for the day that I get cleared and allowed to go home. Our family is in great debt already and our family needs financial assistance. I've been confined in the hospital for almost a month now and would need financial help for continuous treatment.

Any amount of help is greatly appreciated and we'll treat it as a big help.

Timeline of events:

May 16 - my fever and rib pain started

May 21 (afternoon) - I got deep tissue massage (hilot here in the Philippines) because we thought I had a misaligned/pinched nerve or joint or something of the sorts (here in the country, when u have "pilay", you'll have fever until it gets corrected by hilot)

May 21 (9pm) - I was begging to be taken to the hospital because I was crying in pain already. I can't bear it anymore. I want to know what's happening to me, why I'm in so much pain

We tried to go to 2 different hospitals, but we don't have enough money to be checked (I borrowed P10,000 from my sister so I can get checked). They were asking us to pay the PPE for the personnel who will attend to me and who will get in close contact with me since I'm a PUI. The PPE alone will cost P6000 for minimum of 3 personnel who will attend to me, without any test or consultation done to me yet. Laboratory test + ER fees + consultation fees will be more than that. So the money that I had back then wasn't enough. I went home still in pain.

May 22 - The next morning, my dad called and had me transferred to the province.

I was checked in a local clinic in the afternoon, and after a blood test, was told that I'm just anemic. Nothing was done to alleviate my pain so I was not convinced.

May 23 - Sunday . No regular doctors for consultation. I had to wait another day.

May 24 - I got checked, done blood test and urinalysis again. Was given Tramadol for my pain. Was told that there could be something related to my stomach area but doctor wasn't sure. So I was asked to undergo full abdomen ultrasound the next day.

May 25 - after fasting overnight and preparing my GI tract, I underwent ultrasound. Still, I don't know what's going on. What my illness is. Why am I in pain.

May 26 - I got my results. GI was clear. I also had xray done. I have fluid buildup in my lungs. 1/2 of my right lung has fluid in it, that's why I'm in pain and that's why it feels so heavy. They need to drain it.

May 26 - (same day) I can't get treatment from where I was checked because we don't have enough money and we don't know how much will it cost to get treatment there because it's a private hospital. My dad decided to take me to the public hospital, where I was exposed to the COVID+ patients( who were in the holding area in the ER) awaiting triage/endorsement for confinement. We waited for hours and hours but nothing happened. I was just asked to do an antigen test. I didn't get admitted.

May 27 - I was brought back to the private hospital but they asked for antigen test before I get admitted. I was negative. But they were asking for the more thorough swab test just to rule out what causes the pneumonia. I didn't do the swab test here because of the cost.

May 28 - I did the swab test in another independent testing facility. Results will be released tomorrow.

May 29 - I got the results, turned out negative. But it was too late in the day. They decided to bring me back to the hospital the next day.

May 30 - I was brought back to the public hospital, because the cost for confinement in the private hospital was simply out of reach when we asked for a quote. They tried to get a sample of my lung fluid but they got blood. They did this while I'm awake. It was too painful for me. I got admitted later in the evening. That's just how the public hospital works here with too many patients to attend to :(

June 2 - I was installed with the drainage tube , which was a horrifying experience for me. I had to undergo through it -- the doctor installing the tube in my right side going to the space beside my right lung to drain the fluid. Even if there was anesthesia, it was excruciatingly painful for me. A horrifying experience that I don't want to experience ever again.

June 12 - I underwent open thoracotomy. (15 stitches + a hole on the side where the drainage tube had been). I was fighting for my life. They said this is the best chance that I have if I want to survive. A matter of life and death situation. I had to go through surgery, even if I was afraid. This was the only choice that I have.

Me , after surgery

Draining bottles attached to my tubes after the surgery

June 17 - My front tube was removed

June 18 - My back tube was removed

Present - Still confined, awaiting recovery. Still on monitored antibiotics.

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Before she got sick, Cyamie is a single mom (baby just turned 1 year old last February) and my sister is not working yet.

She's a good student and was previously a Dean's Lister for her course.

With the turnout of events, she's already missed a month of school activities. Life will never be the same after the surgery. She had to be extra careful before being able to go back to daily routine. She also had to re-lactate again because her daughter (was on exclusive breastfeeding before my sister got sick) refused to take formula milk, even the milk that my sister pumped from her. Poor baby just wants her mom. She still cries for milk :'(

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Thank you for reading our story. This is a long - read but this was the real turnout of events that our family had to go through. It's been almost a month long ordeal -- and the longest that we had to face so far.

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Any help will be much appreciated. My sister and our family went through a lot during the past month with our ordeal. We will be very grateful to any help we can get.

Thank you and God bless you all!