Unfortunately, my father succumbed to not just a mere second stroke but a
cardiovascular attack that brought complications to his lungs and
stomach. He was brought into the ICU twice because of pneumonia at its
worst stage. He was monitored by six doctors which would've been such a
relief if only our hospital bill didn't reach three-hundred thousand
pesos, even after the fact that the president of C.P.Reyes Hospital was
our municipal mayor and Dad's personal friend. If it weren't for my
mother's begging, the administration of that hospital would've gotten
the deed to our house as payment for our bill and we would be left
homeless with a sick family member in tow. To pay for a fraction of what
we owe, we asked help from a government-run charity institution and Mom
asked relatives and friends for financial help. To this day, we still
owe one-hundred and twenty-five thousand pesos of hospital bills. Aside
from that, there are still medications that Dad needed to maintain and
the most expensive of that is the can of Glucerna he had to take four to
six times every four hours. My family was almost left penniless.
3/13/2012-third confinement at C.P.Reyes Hospital
We thought the money problems were the only things we had to worry
about. Taking care of my father had become a challenge also and we had
to learn care giving like tube-feeding, monitoring his diet, giving him
a sponge bath, making sure he's comfortable, etc. Dad's been bedridden ever
since he was hospitalized last March. Three consecutive hospital
confinements in a year not only would depress a patient. It would also
be enough for him to be stubborn, unreasonable and even contemplate
suicide. I know. I've seen it. I would look at my father on his bed and
think how a force of nature had fallen this hard after ten years of his
first stroke. My Dad had paid his dues and he knows it.
Come what may, we are a family against all odds. We do not abandon our
loved ones just because it became difficult to be under just one roof.
To the rest of my family, we've become stronger and closer. We are proof
that a family should be the one thing you can count on the most when
things are at its worst. I could only hope that we will be able to pay
for the rest of his hospital bills before the administration decided to
go after our home for the second time. God is always good and he had
never abandoned us when we needed him the most. Pray for us.
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