Senior Citizen Catechist with Stage IV Lung Cancer (2 years life expectancy)

Flora is a devout Catholic spending her entire life, passionately spreading the Good News that brings about a response of faith. She is a catechist of a local parish church, with a mission to keep God's teachings alive (mostly to children) specially in the slum areas nearby. I fondly recall her saying "In a world full of harassments, parents of this generation are either troubled or are too busy to lead their children to the perfect God...that's where I come in." – a goal we now share together ☺

2 years ago, she started coughing day and night without relief from regular cough medicines. It started to concern her when she was always gasping for air even if she wasn’t doing anything strenuous. When she went to see her doctor, she was immediately rushed to undergo a series of tests and procedures. By then, she was finally diagnosed with tuberculosis and needed to be hospitalized immediately.

Her grown children are the ones supporting her medical expenses from hospitalization, to medications, and other medical procedures such Thoracentesis (draining of fluid from her lungs) to name a few.

The family thought she was recovering well. 2 weeks after she got out of the hospital, she went to see her doctor again for having continued difficulty in breathing. Sadly, the checkup ended with another hospitalization as both her lungs were filled with fluid that needs to be drained immediately. There were constant medical procedures given this time as doctors found that they cannot stop the fluid build-up from her lungs even after medications have been given. Another week in the hospital and the test results found Flora with Stage IV lung cancer, which spread through her bones eventually. This time, she was admitted in the hospital for over a month to recover, and lost so much weight. She was only about 115 lbs. then.

Everything was well planned out by her children. Government healthcare assistance have also aided some of the expense. As Flora continued to regain her health, another hospitalization hit her just 3 months after the last one. She was critical by then as she had contacted pneumonia at the same time. With her strong fighting spirit and in God’s grace, she slowly recovered after 3 weeks of admission. Her only wish from this painful journey is to fulfill her mission once more and for God to use her again as an instrument to people's conversion.

While her children continue to support her financially, they can only do so much this time, specially during pandemic where some of them have lost their jobs, or are quarantined with no pay. Total monthly expense have reached PhP136,188.20, wherein as follows:

Main Expense:

Iressa (lung cancer medicine) PhP66,708/month

Xgeva (bone IV) + hospital use PhP20,500/month

Oncologist PF PhP2,000/visit

Lab & Radiology Procedures:

Blood works PhP1,200/month

Bone scan (w/ doctor’s reading) PhP23,200/month

CT scan (w/ doctor’s reading) PhP18,000/month

Xray PhP700/month

Required vitamins & maintenance:

Calciumade PhP975/month

Fortifer FA PhP445.50/month

Simvastatin PhP429.60/month

Diamicron PhP857.10/month

Losartan PhP540/month

Jardiance PhP633/month

The breakdown is shared with everyone here for transparency as I humbly ask for contributions to help Flora in this ordeal. Financial tips or advise are also welcome to those who have gone through or know someone who went/or are undergoing the same treatment.

Credit/Debit card donations are accepted on this page via PayPal Checkout c/o Sugbalai Online Store. For wire transfers, please message Rhea directly on Messenger.

It would also be an honor to please share this page with your friends, family members, and coworkers (short link: https://bit.ly/2WUm8AE). With more people aware of our cause, we'll be one step closer to reaching our goal.

I thank you so much for all your support and God Bless you all!