Help Undin Smile Again

LONG POST AHEAD...

As much as we don’t want to post something related to what our family is going through, we have no choice now but to share and seek financial assistance.

April 18, My Dad and I were tested Positive of Covid-19 and he was confined until May 10. Actually, we didn’t expect that we will spend a million, because we hope to get a lot out of the Philhealth but my father’s case was only tagged as Severe Covid. Even so, we are still thankful that God saved him through the Doctors.

However, May 4,2021 my brother Don Jose who is also known as “Dondin/Undin” started to have Dry Cough. He has Down Syndrome and Congenital Heart Disease. We were scared because apart from the trauma of what happened to my Dad, my brother has a hole in his heart so he could quickly get any disease.

May 8, when we booked a virtual consultation to a Pulmonologist at Cardinal Santos Medical Center. Doc Tady requested that Undin undergo RT-PCR Swab Test and Xray.

He was swabbed on May 12, 2021 and the result came out and Thank God, He is NEGATIVE from Covid-19. However, his Xray’s diagnosis was Bilateral Pneumonia. So the pulmonologist prescribed him an oral antibiotic. He also advised to submit a sputum to further investigate the bacteria he has.

June 1, 2021 we had a follow-up consultation with Doc Tady and we told him that Undin didn’t improve much so he was given another Oral Antibiotic and Mucolytic and advised us that if the Cough doesn’t go away after 2weeks, he will require him to undergo Chest CT Scan. But he had only been drinking the antibiotic for 3 days and suddenly at 12 midnight he vomited sputum with blood. We panicked because until 5AM he was vomiting, then his pulse rate increased to 140. Our worry was if his pulse rate increases even more, it might cause Cardiac Arrest since he has CHD. We feel sorry for Dondin because while he was crying he kept saying "Ate, I love you."

Before 6AM, I checked his body temperature and he has fever already. So I gave him paracetamol. After he sweated, the fever disappeared but that's when Undin's O2 Saturation started to go down. On the same day, June 4, we checked if there was an available Sched for consultation but his Doctor is fully booked. We don't want to rush Dondin to the ER because he has Comorbidities and might mix with Covid Positive since he has a cough. So we consult to a different Doctor. We were able to book a consultation to my Mom’s Doctor. She said that according to his Xray, the pattern is same with Covid Positive patient so she tagged Undin as Covid Probable and told us that he is for confinement even though we said that his RT-PCR Swab Test is negative. So we look for Doc Tady’s Contact number while we continue monitoring Undin’s O2 Saturation. We immediately went to CSMC for Chest CT Scan of Undin.

June 5, 2021 my sister and I hardly slept because we were monitoring and observing Undin's SpO2 and it was dropping until it was 67. Fortunately, we have an Oxygen Concentrator and tank at home since it’s our back up for my Dad as he is still in the recovery stage. Undin is already 5 liters per minute in the Concentrator but his O2 Saturation is only reaching 80+. The result of the Chest CT Scan (June 5) came out and the impression was “Bilateral Pneumonia with Minimal Pleural Effusion and Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy”. When his Pulmo found out about the result, he advised us to swab Undin again and then for admission.

Morning of June 6 when he was swabbed and the result came out NEGATIVE from Covid-19. So we drove to the ER of Cardinal Santos Medical Center because that’s the affiliated hospital of his doctor. My Brother’s skin color started to turn bluish due to lack of oxygen. So they perform different tests and provided an Antibiotic through IV. The Doctor in the ER decided to high-flow Undin's oxygen because he could not reach the normal O2 Saturation.

June 7,2021 Doc Tady told us that Undin will be needing an Infectious Disease Doctor and a Cardiologist to help him further check Undin’s condition and prevent the heart from getting infected. The Infectious Disease Doctor told us that Undin must be Swabbed again just to make sure that he is not Covid-19 Positive even though we kept telling her that He was swabbed twice already and the latest one was the day he was admitted to the hospital. She explained that there’s an instance of false negative result that’s why she just wanted to make sure the result is accurate so they could provide the right treatment for Undin. He was swabbed the same day and the result also came out Negative.

The Cardiologist, Doc Cuaso requested for 2D Echo with Saline Contrast. Then we found out that Undin’s hole in his heart grew from 0.6cm to 2.2cm and operation is no longer possible due to his condition. Also, through his 2D echo he was Diagnosed with Severe Pulmonary Hypertension. So the Cardiologist prescribed him an Oral Medication that will reduce the symptoms and prevent his condition from getting worse.

We know that his life is short due to his condition but we still want to do every possible way so that we can be with him for a long time.

Because of what happened to us in the past few months, we have not been able to recover and my brothers medical expenses is growing faster..So now we are knocking on your good hearts, hoping you can help us to continue his medication... Any amount/help can go a long way.

We thank you in advance for the help you will extend to us and may the Lord continue to bless you and guide you at all times. 🙏