Dear friends,

My dad, aged 74 was visiting me (his daughter) in California.  We hail from a small town in India. To cover their stay medically, preemptively, I had taken an insurance for them to cover any possible hospitalization, considering their age.

In the last few weeks, being an avid movie buff, my dad was looking forward to visiting Hollywood and Universal Studios in LA. And we had planned a trip to LA during the President's day weekend. Unfortunately, my father experienced severe chest pain 1 day before our trip and we had to rush him to the Emergency Room here at Stanford Hospital. Here, they found his blood pressure to be extremely high (230 syst), and had to do a battery of tests including 2 day's hospitalization.

The kind doctors at Stanford's Cardiovascular department helped to stabilize his blood pressure after a lot of experimenting with different medications. Unfortunately through the varied tests, they also found out that his aortic valve was severely constricted (Aortic Stenosis). This is a serious heart condition requiring immediate open heart surgery (possibly a bypass heart surgery) to replace the heart valve, followed by hospitalization and rehab. My dad's advanced age and his other health conditions can also make the surgery a lot more complicated.

Up to this point, the bill for ER and the cardiovascular tests including 2 days as in-patient has come to $45,000. Because of the increasing costs at the hospital, we had to discharge him out of the hospital and continue to care for him at home. 

Though my family and friends offered to help, we are not able to afford this expensive treatment here in the US, so we have had to cut short his US trip, and fly him back to India ASAP (after his blood pressure stabilizes) and perform the surgery there. Flying to India in the long flights is also a huge risk factor and we are having to take extraordinary measures to keep him safe in the flight and make sure he reaches India safely for his immediately needed surgery. I would like to extend my request to you all to please help us cover the cost of the ER and hospitalization here in the US.

I would really appreciate any help you can provide.

Thank you so much.


* * Update 1 * *
Hi friends,

The first part of caring for my dad has been completed. We safely brought him to Bangalore, India yesterday. We took him straight to a cardio speciality hospital, where his further treatment will be carried on. We know we are not fully there yet, but, we feel a bit relieved.

I have no words to thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, suggestions, and support I have received. More than anything, your support helped us feel like we were not alone in this. Just a few days back, we were tasked with making the tough decision on whether to do the surgery in the US without insurance, or risk flying him to India to do the surgery. It was a very helpless feeling when we started this campaign, with mounting uncertainties about cost, dad’s stability to fly, and what to do if we have to do the surgery in USA, etc. But now, with the kindness and the tremendous support we received, we were able to get through the first step - we are now at a hospital in India, surrounded by family & friends... and very relieved that dad made it here safely. I truly want to thank you for being the support we needed through this difficult time.

We now know a lot more about how to manage health care costs in the US, thanks to many of you... When I am back, we do plan to talk to the hospital about modifying the bill if possible, applying for financial aid etc. so that it is more manageable for us to pay the outstanding bills at Stanford.

There is still a long way to go here. More tests, upcoming surgery and recovery. We ask you to keep dad in your prayers and send your positive thoughts for the upcoming surgery. We are hopeful and we will post more updates as we go through this journey.

Thank you all again for your tremendous support.