My Sister Leah Needs Brain Surgery

OUR SISTER LEAH NEEDS A 2ND BRAIN SURGERY

Hello, my name is Leah Edrozo.  I am 50 years old and have lived in my family home for all of those years. 

My sister and brother-in-law are writing this for me as I am mentally disabled and epileptic.  I will tell you that I love my family and they love me very much.  I live in a small town called Luna which is in the far north of the Philippines.  Mountains and rice paddies best describes the area.

On July 28, 2017, I had a seizure and fell on my head.  This led to a compression of my skull and bleeding on the brain.  I was rushed to St. Paul’s Hospital in Tuguegarao, a 3 hour ambulance ride.  I almost died that night but brain surgeons were able to take a piece of my skull out to relieve the pressure on the brain.  They took this piece of skull and placed it in my abdomen to preserve it for a later date.  This procedure is called a Craniectomy.  After 7 days in Intensive Care, I was stabilized enough to be moved to a regular room.  However, I developed Pneumonia and was placed back in ICU for 7 more days.  I remained in the hospital for over a month until such time that I was released and returned to my home.

Through many financial struggles, my immediate family and relatives were able to pay my initial doctor and hospital bills.

I now need another operation to replace the part of the skull/cranium that was taken originally.  However, my family has exhausted our funds and there is no money left for this second operation.  If I do not have this second operation (which needs to be done within 6 to 20 weeks from the first surgery), I may not be able to survive.  We need your help desperately to fund this second operation.  We need :

$4,500.00 US dollars for the Neuro Surgeon.
$1,800.00 US dollars for the Anesthesiologist.
$600.00 to $800.00 US dollars per day for visiting Doctors (Neuro surgeon, Neurologist & Primary Physician).
$1500 US dollars per month, for 2-3 months of Rehabilitation.
$1500 US dollars for medicines (the hospital does not provide any medicine, not even IV drips. My family must purchase drugs at the pharmacy and give it to the hospital for them to use to treat me.)

This may not seem a lot to someone in the West, but translated into Philippine pesos it is a very large sum of money (over ₱1,000,000 pesos.)

Additionally, if my bill is not paid in full when it is time to be released from the hospital,  I will not be released until the bill is completely paid in full.  However, they will continue to charge me a daily fee for each additional day that I stay, so my bill will continue to grow. There is also no medical insurance here, so it all must be paid in cash.This may seem strange to people outside the Philippines, but this is how the medical system works in my country.

As you can see, there are many expenses and I don't have much time. My family and I would greatly appreciate whatever amount you can donate. Even if you can't, please share this with your friends and family.

Thank you for your time in reading my story.  May God Bless you and your kind heart.

Sincerely,
Leah Edrozo