Hello everyone! I’m Noreen Mateos and I work as a caregiver in New York. My mom, Jojo Mateos, fondly called Mama Jo by everyone, had a massive ischemic stroke last Thursday, May 29th, 2025, at around 10:00 am (Philippine Time). The stroke resulted in several blood clots in her brain. She was rushed to the hospital and was immediately given RTPA to dissolve blood clots and restore blood flow to the brain (thrombolysis). At 1:00 pm, her doctors decided to do a thrombectomy, a procedure to remove blood clots from the blood vessels in her brain done by inserting a stent retriever from the groin area and guiding it to the location to capture the blood clot. She was moved to the NICU (Neuro ICU) for observation. Unfortunately, she suffered a heart attack (myocardial infarction) while she was in the NICU, which resulted in a blockage in her heart. Her doctors informed us that she would need to have an angioplasty immediately to remove the blockage from her heart, but it would also have a high risk of bleeding in her brain. As we were left with not many options to save her, we agreed to proceed with the procedure. She was then moved back to the NICU and will be scheduled for a CT scan to check for any bleeding in her head. All of these procedures and the recovery process have been difficultly affected by her old age (she is turning 80yo on September).

We want to do everything to save her, but the cost of these procedures, doctor’s fees, NICU daily rate charges, and other medical expenses that have summed up close to 900,000 Php (approx. $16,000 USD) have already drained our finances in just 2 days, and each day is continuously adding more and more to her hospital bill.

I am the sole provider for my family back in the Philippines and have been blessed enough to have an opportunity to work and live here in New York to better support my mom and son. Working mainly as a caregiver is not enough to cover my financial responsibilities to my family, which is why I do as many part-time jobs as I can to cover the high cost of living here while trying to save a little to give them a better life.

I have not seen my mom and son for almost 6 years since I migrated to the U.S. and have only communicated with them through video calls and messenger. I have been longing to see and hug her once again since the day I left home with the hopes of providing them a better life and bringing them here someday so we can be reunited again. I love my mom so much and will do anything for her. That’s why I am fervently pleading and knocking on your good heart to help me save my mom and pay for her hospital bills. Thank you so much and may God bless you.