Support Arki's Life-Changing DBS

Good day everyone. I’m Lailanie Viray mother of Arkie Viray Custodio . Our family is humbly asking for help, for the cost of medical procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of my son, Arki Viray Custodio, 36 yrs old. It all started in April of 2021 when he suffered a Pontine Stroke. He stayed in the ICU of Medical City for 1-½ months. Luckily, he survived but it cost us a lot. It affected all his motor functions. He had no balance and had developed extreme tremors. Because of this, he can no longer do all the things he used to do prior to the stroke. And upon early intervention, therapy, rehabilitation and medication, he manages to have regained 60% of his balance. But the tremors worsen, even while he is resting. For the past 4 years, we prayed, hoped and did everything for him to be better. We did exactly what his doctors told us to do, but to no avail. My son’s condition remains the same and should I say, worsens. He still cannot move and do things on his own, such as feed himself, drink water or take his medicines. Until we decided to have him checked again. This time to a Movement Disorder Neuro Doctor. After a series of tests and assessments, they concluded that my son needs to undergo a medical procedure which is called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). A procedure that aims to manage extreme tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and other essential tremors. In my son's case, his tremors are associated with primary and secondary diseases which is categorized as essential tremors that made him eligible to undergo DBS procedure. However, it costs around 3 million in Philippine Peso or roughly $60,000 USD. Unfortunately, we cannot cover the entire expense as we are still covering his monthly medication since day one, in addition to his initial hospitalization expenses for the first 1-½ months and the ongoing therapy and rehabilitation prior to this procedure.

For this reason, we are humbly asking for help. We would be extremely thankful if you could help us in bringing back my son's life. He is young and he still has a lot to offer in this world. We are knocking on your generous hearts and are hopeful that you will offer the best of help that you can. Thank you and God bless us all.