Olive Velez Medical Fund
Update 3/24/2020: Given the current global situation regarding COVID-19 and the resulting financial strains, we will be suspending in-home nurse care indefinitely. Any funds that come through this GoFundMe will continue to be used as a medical fund. Instead of paying for nurses, they will pay for mom's catheter replacements, her daily medications, insulin and blood sugar testing supplies for diabetes, and any remaining hospital bills from her 34-day hospital stay.
Original post --
My dad (Maurice Velez) and I are setting up this GoFundMe in order to cover medical costs for my mom.
On December 20th, 2019, mom was admitted to the hospital. What was meant to be a standard doctor's appointment, turned into the discovery of evidence of mini strokes. The bleeding was minimal, only being a few centimeters, but the damage was done: mom is partially blind in her left eye, and she is physically very drained every day. Rehab is going very slowly as she does not have the strength to stay awake. This also means she is at high risk of falling and hurting her head further.
The hospital will be discharging her on January 23, 2020. Dad and I are fortunate enough to be able to take some time off work, so we will be taking turns watching over her. He'll be there for the first 2 weeks until he must return to work. Since I live in Hawai'i, I'll be flying up to stay a couple of weeks, to watch over mom while dad is back at work.
Once we both go back to work, however, there will be no one by her side to make sure she doesn't fall, or to continue working with her on her recovery. We will need the help of a skilled nurse.
Because insurance is not covering the cost of mom's care after her discharge, my dad will need to pay entirely out of pocket for a nurse to come in on the days my dad works. Dad was told this could cost approximately $4,000 at minimum for a single month.
We don't know how long mom will need help for-- it could be months...a year? We just don't know what the future holds at this time. If we are able to raise the full $25,000.00, he could cover the cost of a nurse being with my mom for at least 6 months. Any money in excess could go towards additional time with a nurse (if needed), or other medical bills accumulated from her 34 day hospital stay.
My dad has always been pretty self reliant whenever times were tough financially. But as my dad now nears retirement age, options change and start to become limited. He continues to work full-time, but as we all know, medical bills add up-- fast... And I'm in no financial position to be able to help shoulder this burden, as a young professional living paycheck to paycheck in Honolulu. We would be so appreciative for any amount of support, and I especially would be-- so that dad can have one less thing to worry about during such a time like this.
