Please help to save the life of Vincent

Dear all,

Please help me as I seek to help raise the money that is needed to pay for the urgent treatment that is needed to save the life of my partners brother Vincent. His situation is desparate & he is so very poorly right now being unable to walk or lie down to sleep & his current situation of health is very poor as he hasn’t been able to afford to attend his 3 weekly sessions of dialysis since last week. The family of my partner live in the Philippines on the southern most island of Mindanao in the city of Cagayan De Oro. To find out more please read below...I would just like to add my sincere thanks & gratitude to you all ok this site for your many acts of kindness & help. Thankyou so much once more.

Vincent

It was May 12, 2020 that I went to a private hospital (I was too afraid to go to a public one as it was where they were bringing in so many COVID patients at that time) to have myself checked out as I wasn't feeling too good & hadn’t been for quite some time with the lower part of my body. It keeps numbing and I couldn't sleep as the pain keeps on waking me up. I was also suffering from this irritating itchiness everywhere within my body before the numbing feeling takes hold. When the doctor saw my laboratory test, she didn't want me to go home that day as my situation was classed as an emergency at that moment as I needed to have an operation to start my dialysis directly as I had a creatinine level of 17, when the normal is 1 to 1.5 only. I was told by the doctor that I might collapse at anytime and would not recover if not directly treated. I felt so confused and I didn’t know what to do..but still I just let the operation continue on. I thought it's just a simple illness and I would be fine after it. I was so impatient to be discharged after 3 days from the operation and then had dialysis 3 times consecutively. But we almost couldn't go out of the hospital as I didn't expect the billing to be that big. I had my insurance from my work and have PHILHEATH benefits too at that time but it's still not enough. So my family put there money together to help me be discharged from the hospital. The doctor then instructed me to enroll into a dialysis center and told me that I would need to go there twice a week as my creatinine level is still so high from 17 down 15. So my sister Analyn found me one and enrolled me there at the Northern Mindanao Dialysis Center.

After 3 days of being discharged, it was my birthday on May 18th being 30 years of age but I spent it in the dialysis center to have my 1st session. I thought I would be ok after how many dialysis and I would recover and go back to my work but not so.. still my creatinine level stayed the same. I couldn't sleep well, I didn’t understand how I felt & was just so disorientated. I was so very itchy everywhere around my body and the pain goes everywhere right through my body and I have to keep on asking my family members to keep on massaging me and scratching my feet too. I feel so very uncomfortable. When we had our follow up check up at my doctor, I was so shocked as I then find out that I have Chronic Kidney Disease late Stage 5. My world then falls I pieces because I have 3 little daughters ages 5 years old, 2 years old, and 9 months old. How could I support them, my wife, & my family too? Lots of questions came into my mind. I was feeling just so confused and so worried. But the battle continued as I keep on being admitted into the public hospital here in my local City of Cagayan De Oro as we couldn't afford it in the private hospital anymore because my insurance coverage had been all consumed up. My condition over a short span of time has steadily got worse & worse. My first admission was on July 2020 when I couldn't breath properly and needed to have oxygen always. After 2 weeks of being discharged, I was admitted again as I have a big wound in my thigh and my legs are swelling and soring givng me sleepless nights. My back is still so painful and I still suffer from lots of itchyness all around body even now. I couldn't understand this feeling as it keeps changing and it's so very painful and uncomfortable and I begin sometimes to start hallucinating too. My mama and sisters and another member of the family(where I stayed after my first admission) couldn't get enough sleep either as they are looking out for me and they keep on massaging my back and my legs and scratching other parts of my body too. They also seek out an oxygen tank for me as I really couldn't breath well but an oxygen tank is only good for one day for me and it's a lot of hassle to keep it refilled. So my sister Analyn kindly locates for me an electric oxygen concentrator and found one which has a rental cost of 5,000 pesos per month (£78.12). My doctor then tells me that I need to have my dialysis 3 times a week. Still my situation and condition is not getting better but much worse by now as my legs, stomach, and private areas get bigger and bigger and harder too as they swell up so much. Then my 3rd admission happened as my private part was so very painful and I could hardly walk at that time. It feels like it's going to burst. I was so worried and so afraid at that moment & my 3 young children are so distraught to see their father in this state at that time that they just keep on crying. I stayed for more than 2 weeks in the hospital at that time of admission. And there were a few moments in the hospital that I really feel like giving up & like it's the end of my life as I keep seeing white shadow in the air and I requested to see my brother and sisters and family on that Sunday afternoon to come straight away to the hospital there to see me as I wanted to say thank you to them & say my goodbyes and ask them the favor to look after my 3 daughters wife as they grow up together in the years that lie ahead . But they didn't give up on me. They keep praying and encourage me to stay strong and to continue fighting because I still have 3 daughters and a family waiting for me at our house. And praise God 🙌🏼 that I passed those hardships of my life and was able to be discharged safely despite the danger & threat at that time of the Covid-19 virus that might infect me as there are many in the hospital at that time. This time I wanted to go home to my family as I missed the kids so much especially my 2nd daughter as she keeps looking for me & crying for me. There I find strength and courage and hope to carry on with my situation as I able to keep on seeing my daughters and family. And I find more hope to keep fighting when my creatinine level then goes down to 9.70 last October 7, 2020. Though I am fighting physically, mentally & emotionally, I cannot help but worry so much as we are financial funds are draining away so quickly. I didn’t have any work at that time and neither my wife too. My family are putting altogether there resources for me but still we need more for the next dialysis sessions. So we requested for financial aid in some other government agencies. Yes, we are given financial help of 10,000 pesos every 3 months from the Department of Social Welfare and Development(DSWD) but my dialysis per session costs us 1,300 pesos (£20.31) if deducted by my PHILHEATH benefits and disability card. So my weekly dialysis will cost us therefore 3,900 pesos (£60.94) and the financial help from DSWD is only good for 2 weeks. And the PHILHEATH benefits give us dialysis patients only 45 sessions so that would equate to around 4 months in every year.

There are these times that I just want to end my life and stop breathing because of the terrible excruciating pains that I continually suffer from and the hassle and burdens that I give to my family too especially to my mama and my wife. My mama can hardly walk and is in so much pain right now because of the arthritis in her leg and knee. My wife is taking care of my 3 daughters and her grandma too just now as I’m back at the family home being cared for 24 hours around the clock as I am so ill & poorly right now. But I am so thankful as they are the one who make so much time for me just to take care of me, look after me, and endure those sleepless nights all because of me. And they all keep on encouraging me not to give up and to keep on fighting this dibilitating disease..but everytime I see my 3 young daughters, they give me that hope and strength to fight this battle and bear all the terrible pain that my body is feeling all of the time...and I just lift it all up to God as it's by His grace that I'm still here living and fighting this illness hoping and praying also to be healed, in Jesus name.

And now I'm knocking on your heart. Please please help me to extend my life as I'm only just aged 30 years old and my 3 daughters and wife really need me in their lives and I am so desparate here to see my 3 young babies growing up. Just a small amount or even a few pennies is such a big help for me and for my family too. Thank you so much for your kind and generous heart. I really pray that God will help to raise some much needed funds through my posting on this site.🙏🏼 God bless you all