Medical Expenses for Keith Navarroza

This campaign is a fundraiser for the medical bills of Keith Errol Navarroza, a partner to Atalia and a father of two young boys, 10 and 7 years old.

He is a man battling with psychoactive substance use disability (PSUD) for most of his life. He has been sober for 7 years now and has since then become an Int. Certified Recovery Coach (ICRC) and Int. Certified Addiction Professional I (ICAP-I) to become a gateway and hope for recovery for those suffering with PSUD.

Keith has a congenital heart disease wherein his heart only had two valves, instead of the normal 3 valves. This, and unfortunately, all those years that his body was dosed with various substances took a toll on his heart. On December 5, Sunday, he was rushed to the Emergency Room and laboratory tests and scans showed a tear in his aorta. He was immediately placed in the Intensive Care Unit as any more stress on his heart (whether it be a sudden movement, or lifting of a heavy object) might aggravate the tear, or worse, cause an aneurysm. Immediate surgery is recommended, and needed.

Since he is living in the province, some materials needed for the surgery was not readily available and had to be transported from Manila, the country's capital, around 6-8 hours away. Vascular surgeons were also called in to do the surgery. Several blood bags also had to be prepared for the operation.

Finally, on December 7, Tuesday, at 8am, he went on the table for an open heart surgery. The total procedure lasted for about 10 hours, ending at around 6pm. Good news - the doctors were able to repair the tear in his aorta. However, while in recovery, lab tests showed that his heart suffered a mini heart attack and it took several higher doses of medicines for his body to respond. Finally, at around midnight, the anesthesia wore off and he regained consciousness.

After showing continuous signs of improvement, he was transferred back to the ICU in the afternoon of December 8, Wednesday. Should things continue to improve, he will be transferred to a regular room by December 9, Thursday.

Barely a week in the hospital, the family has already run up a bill of a little over P900,000 (USD18,000); and it continues to add with each day he is in the hospital. The total estimated cost is around P1.4Mn (USD28,000).

The family's financial situation is really stretched and they are appealing for any financial assistance that may be extended to them. Any amount will go a long way in helping them pay off the hospital bills incurred during this terrible time.