Eleazar Garza & His Family

Hello,

We are the Garza family, and we are raising funds for ongoing medical expenses and hospitalization for our father, Eleazar Garza.

Our dad is currently in a medically induced coma at Swiss Hospital in Monterrey, Mexico after suffering an acute aneurysm rupture and grade 4/4 cerebral hemorrhage on 12/7/23.

Because this is a private hospital, and we are not in the United States, payment for everything has been required up front. We are splitting costs as best as we can, but due to his condition and his expected extended stay, it is adding up really fast. As a family, we have spent almost $60,000 so far in 1 week. We are hoping and expecting to be reimbursed by the insurance company, but it can take up to 6 weeks for the claims to be processed, and we don’t know how long we will be able to front the cost of all this.  It is costing us about $7,500 per day, and at some point we will also need to pay his three specialists separately. We are asking for any financial support from anyone who is able. Any amount, no matter how small or big, is greatly appreciated.

The full story is below:

When this initially happened on 12/7, he was with a few people who witnessed him collapse and start convulsing. They called for an ambulance and started performing CPR. He regained consciousness intermittently on the ambulance to the first hospital, but shortly after arrival, he lost consciousness and stopped breathing, requiring him to be intubated. Due to this being a small hospital in a small town, the medical staff knew he needed to be transferred to a hospital in Monterrey as this was the closest bigger city. One of the staff members in the ambulance manually gave him breaths for the entire drive keeping him alive.

At the second hospital, he was put on a mechanical ventilator, diagnostic imaging was performed, and a severe brain bleed was confirmed. Even though our mom (Mery) was told a doctor would be around soon that could help him, she was left hanging for hours and hours, being told to wait even though she knew time was critical. She knew she needed to get him to a hospital that would take action and give him the immediate attention and intervention he needed. The hospital tried to convince her multiple times not to have him transported to another hospital, and made her jump through hoops to get the paperwork filled out. Despite their efforts, she stood her ground and advocated to have him moved to a private hospital who had the specialists and staff needed to save his life. She coordinated and paid for a private ambulance to take him there.

Upon arrival to Swiss Hospital, our dad sustained a heart attack, but the doctors and nurses were able to keep him alive. Another CT was performed, and his diagnosis was confirmed. He had a brain aneurysm rupture and had a grade 4/4 cerebral hemorrhage with a very large blood clot “the size of a fist” compressing his brain. They performed an emergency craniotomy to remove the blood clot and relieve the pressure on his brain. They were able to stop the bleeding, but due to all the inflammation, they weren’t able to get to the actual aneurysm itself to permanently fix it, and they also were not able to replace the piece of his skull that was removed. To buy him some time, they implanted the piece of skull into his abdomen to keep the blood supply to it.

Since then, our dad has been hospitalized on a ventilator in the ICU under a medically induced coma. He is under the very capable hands of several specialists to continue addressing every one of his needs. He has continued to fight throughout this entire process despite complications with his temperature, heart, blood pressure, and now his kidneys.

They are considering dialysis for his kidneys, and they are trying to get them under control before attempting to decrease his sedation. Once they stop his sedation, they will be able to perform an EEG to assess for brain activity. At some point they will also need to go in for a second procedure to place a hemoclip at the site of the aneurysm and repair the craniotomy site. Once he gets through all of that and is stable, we can start trying to arrange medical evacuation back to Houston, where we know his insurance will be able to take over coverage.

We are asking for any contributions that will allow the hospital and his medical team to help him continue to fight for his life. He has a long road ahead of him, and we are trying our best to keep up with the expenses of everything. Any amount, no matter how big or small, is so greatly appreciated.

Please continue praying for him and our family through this difficult time.   

Thank you,

The Garza Family