Help Betty Battle Severe H1N1 Flu & ARDS ECMO
Donation protected
Arranging the right words to describe my mother and her story seems impossible right now, but there’s one phrase that can sum it up perfectly: one of a kind.
She’s the type of person who you can call at three in the morning, and she will always answer to help you. She’s the type of person who will open her door for you when you have nowhere else to go. She’s the type of person who will never judge you or your actions. She’s the type of person who gives without hesitation, even when she cannot afford to give—even if it means ignoring giving herself something she’s needed for years.
On January 22nd, 2019, she FINALLY decided to do something for herself and went on vacation to China with some friends. She boarded the plane, holding some hesitation about spending time and money on herself, and within forty eight hours, she became extremely sick. I had minimal communication with my mother during her trip, but she managed to get a message to me that she was feeling horrible: she was running a fever, was not able to breathe well, and was struggling to walk from place to place. By some miracle, I got her on a stand-by flight back to the US. When she arrived, she was barely coherent. From the airport, we rushed her to the hospital. There, she was immediately placed on the ventilator, and doctors said that had it been minutes later, she wouldn’t have made it. Despite being vaccinated, she had contracted two strands of flu (H1N1 and Type A) that then turned into pneumonia. She developed A.R.D.S., and her lungs were shut down.
She is currently in ICU fighting for her life. She has been on many life-supporting devices since February 3rd: ECMO, dyalisis, ventilator. I haven’t left her side once—because that’s what she would do if anyone else were in her situation. I had to leave work, and now my job is to piece this puzzle together for her. On Feb 6th, the care coordinator gave me an estimate of her bill thus far, and it was $645,000. Since then she has had CT scans, X-rays, countless amounts of medications, blood transfusions, and minor procedures due to complications with her ECMO. Her bill now racks up to be well over one million dollars—and that doesn’t include the long-term acute care rehabilitation, which is like an extended-stay hospital where they work exclusively to get people off of ventilators that are on them for an extended period of time, that she will need after she recovers.
My mom is fortunately eligible for Medicare, but when she was applying, they needed her birth certificate. As she is originally from Venezuela (a country which is suffering from many problems that are causing national unrest), it has been extremely difficult to find, despite my family in Venezuela working their hardest to get that document. The original building that held her documents was burned down as well, and due to those two facts, my family are having many complications getting help. I have reached out to Social Security and the office of Scott Davis for help with this matter, and as of now, they are looking into it.
Even if we are blessed enough to find that document and receive that insurance, Medicare only covers roughly 80% of the cost, which will still leave hundred of thousand of dollars in our hands to pay. I will also need to cover my mom’s bills while she is in the hospital.
She is still sedated and does not know anything that is happening, but the stress from her uncovered bills will likely leave her hospitalized again.
If you cannot donate money, I ask that you spread the word: donate prayers for her full recovery, share this fundraiser on social media, like it so that it gets trending—anything of the sort. Please ask your friends, families, churches, strangers, and anyone else you can think of to pray for her and share her story. We need all the help we can get.
Please help us, and especially one of the sweetest, kindest, people in existence—my mother.
She’s the type of person who you can call at three in the morning, and she will always answer to help you. She’s the type of person who will open her door for you when you have nowhere else to go. She’s the type of person who will never judge you or your actions. She’s the type of person who gives without hesitation, even when she cannot afford to give—even if it means ignoring giving herself something she’s needed for years.
On January 22nd, 2019, she FINALLY decided to do something for herself and went on vacation to China with some friends. She boarded the plane, holding some hesitation about spending time and money on herself, and within forty eight hours, she became extremely sick. I had minimal communication with my mother during her trip, but she managed to get a message to me that she was feeling horrible: she was running a fever, was not able to breathe well, and was struggling to walk from place to place. By some miracle, I got her on a stand-by flight back to the US. When she arrived, she was barely coherent. From the airport, we rushed her to the hospital. There, she was immediately placed on the ventilator, and doctors said that had it been minutes later, she wouldn’t have made it. Despite being vaccinated, she had contracted two strands of flu (H1N1 and Type A) that then turned into pneumonia. She developed A.R.D.S., and her lungs were shut down.
She is currently in ICU fighting for her life. She has been on many life-supporting devices since February 3rd: ECMO, dyalisis, ventilator. I haven’t left her side once—because that’s what she would do if anyone else were in her situation. I had to leave work, and now my job is to piece this puzzle together for her. On Feb 6th, the care coordinator gave me an estimate of her bill thus far, and it was $645,000. Since then she has had CT scans, X-rays, countless amounts of medications, blood transfusions, and minor procedures due to complications with her ECMO. Her bill now racks up to be well over one million dollars—and that doesn’t include the long-term acute care rehabilitation, which is like an extended-stay hospital where they work exclusively to get people off of ventilators that are on them for an extended period of time, that she will need after she recovers.
My mom is fortunately eligible for Medicare, but when she was applying, they needed her birth certificate. As she is originally from Venezuela (a country which is suffering from many problems that are causing national unrest), it has been extremely difficult to find, despite my family in Venezuela working their hardest to get that document. The original building that held her documents was burned down as well, and due to those two facts, my family are having many complications getting help. I have reached out to Social Security and the office of Scott Davis for help with this matter, and as of now, they are looking into it.
Even if we are blessed enough to find that document and receive that insurance, Medicare only covers roughly 80% of the cost, which will still leave hundred of thousand of dollars in our hands to pay. I will also need to cover my mom’s bills while she is in the hospital.
She is still sedated and does not know anything that is happening, but the stress from her uncovered bills will likely leave her hospitalized again.
If you cannot donate money, I ask that you spread the word: donate prayers for her full recovery, share this fundraiser on social media, like it so that it gets trending—anything of the sort. Please ask your friends, families, churches, strangers, and anyone else you can think of to pray for her and share her story. We need all the help we can get.
Please help us, and especially one of the sweetest, kindest, people in existence—my mother.
Organizer
Bethany Strickland
Organizer
Douglasville, GA
