Cibele's Medical Fund

It was November 1st when I arrived in Rio De Janeiro to join my fiance at the airport. My fiance is a Brazilian and as such, we had to go through the immigration process. This meant that we had to be interviewed by a consular officer. We immediately discovered that her fiance visa was approved. To us, it was pure elation - like just winning the lottery. We were in a beautiful city(Rio)- visiting places like Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana, etc. It was as if nothing could go wrong. I remember God speaking to me that I shouldn't get too comfortable with circumstantial happiness, though. Circumstantial happiness is something that can fade, but the love of Christ never does.

That circumstantial happiness turned into tragedy as we headed to the US on a 33 hour flight. We didn't know it until Cibele went to the emergency room, but she was traveling with blood clots in her lungs. At the connection in Bogota, Columbia, she could barely walk 20 feet before needing to rest. She also had heavy breathing and a rapid heartbeat.

The medical staff at the airport in Columbia were less than helpful. They told Cibele that she just needed to rest and gave her two pills, which are still unknown to us. Not being medical professionals, we heeded this advice. The next morning Cibele woke up and seemed better, so we assumed that they were right.

We found out that they weren't right after landing at Dulles. Cibele began having the same symptoms again. The medical team at Dulles suggested that she go to the emergency room.

After her hospital stay there, she was discharged and we had yet another incident only 2 days later. We went to Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia for a relaxing day. Again, Cible began having the same symptoms and had to go to the ER in Philadelphia.

Eventually, she was put on Eliquis and told not to walk more than a few feet every hour. We cancelled our honeymoon, because of this, but still got married. She slowly built up her tolerance for walking. She is now able to enjoy walking with the dogs - a task that was impossible in December.

Through many phone calls, faxes, emails and negotiation, I was able to get her medical bills down to $8026.03, but had to use funds from our honeymoon to do so. At this point I don't think we can get it any lower and are asking for your help.

We would like to try to have this money raised within a month to avoid collection or interest penalties.

Thanks and God bless.