Help Us Bring Eileen Home

My mom, Eileen, is currently in the Philippines and was admitted to the hospital a couple of weeks ago presenting with anemia and pain. The doctors found her hemoglobin low, so they began a number of blood transfusions. They also found she had a urinary tract infection, so they administered IV antibiotics. My mom has had a fibroid on her uterus for some time, which was originally found to be benign, but the doctors examined her via ultrasound to find the fibroid had grown larger. A pap smear as well as a biopsy had been ordered. The OBGYN said my mom has cervical cancer and the biopsy is to confirm stage.

Her blood work also showed that she has low albumin and elevated creatinine which are indicators of kidney damage, so a urologist was called to look at her kidneys. The fibroid is putting pressure on her ureters, making it difficult for her kidneys to move urine to her bladder. They gave her albumin to mitigate the kidney damage and were able to flush her system. The urologist attempted to do a stent to reopen her ureters, but was unable to complete the procedure. Her ureters are blocked completely, making it impossible to thread the stent needed to open the pathway, so a nephrostomy was done for both kidneys.

Health care in the Philippines is provided on a pre-paid basis, so we are having to pay or put down a cash deposit before the hospital will treat her. The down payment to book the surgery was made and we were able to get a few contributions from other family members to get her this far, but we still need to raise the rest of the cost to pay off the surgery as well as any care she will need during recovery. Her room and board at the hospital will also need to be paid prior to her discharging. Our goal is to get her well enough to clear for travel back to the United States where she can continue treatment and be covered by her insurance. If there is any surplus, we will try to get her a first class ticket so she can be more comfortable flying.

If my mother is unable to travel home for some reason, then the funds raised here will contribute to getting Maleen and me a passport and a flight to the Philippines to see her.

We did not want to resort to crowd funding, but Maleen and I have exhausted everything we have financially. We are asking family, friends, and anyone who loves my mother to help us bring her home.

We appreciate everyone who has helped us out so far and anyone who can help us via this platform. We will keep this page updated as her status changes.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Maleen and Mani