On Tuesday, March 10th, my mom got on a flight bound for Florence, Italy with her best friend for a three-week vacation. During her flight, she experienced what she thought was food poisoning and after landing in Italy she spent the next few days resting in her accommodations with increasing shortness of breath and what she thought was heartburn. On Friday morning, my mom’s condition declined very rapidly and her best friend called emergency medical services. By the time they arrived, my mom was in a severely dangerous condition and ended up in critical condition in the emergency ICU where doctors discovered her heart was functioning at less than 15%. She is now in cardiac ICU and no longer in critical condition, but her heart is functioning at only 25% and doctors are now thinking she suffered a heart event or has developed a heart condition. When I spoke to her doctor today I learned that she also has a large clot in her heart that is extremely dangerous and potentially life threatening. We are waiting for more answers and a cardiac MRI but she is still too weak for additional testing. She’s currently hooked up to an aortic pump, anti-coagulant for the clot, and a dozen other supports/monitors while the doctors work to get her condition more stable. My mom has been generally healthy for most of her life and we have never experienced something like this before. It has seriously taken a toll on her and our family and our main focus right now is her heart health improving.
The last few days have been a whirlwind. I booked a same-day flight to Florence the moment I got the call from her best friend on Friday, and I am staying in their accommodations about 30 minutes from the hotel. Due to hospital restrictions and the fact that my mom is in the ICU, I am only allowed to visit her once (or twice if her doctor is there) a day for up to an hour, but I’m staying up to date on her condition and I’m very happy with the care she’s getting (and she really loves her doctors).
As if navigating her medical emergency in a foreign country was not stressful enough, we are, in full transparency, not financially prepared for something like this. My mom is retired and does not have international insurance coverage, and I am navigating unemployment, with my only current income being from freelancing. We do not know how long my mom is going to be in the ICU, or how long she’ll be recovering in the hospital after she’s discharged from the ICU, or how long we will need to extend her stay in Italy beyond her initial 3-week booking, but we know we will need to extend. Ultimately, we are looking at a lot of unknowns and we know this cost of this is going to add up very quickly. The support we’re hoping for would be to cover her hospital stay and associated costs, extensions to her accommodations (her best friend flies home and their accommodations end March 30th), and the cost of first-class flights for both my mom and myself so she can be as comfortable and as closely monitored as possible. The support we’re currently asking for is based on estimations and research but I anticipate the amount in the Gofundme to change as I get more information.
As an aside - I had to launch a Gofundme for my dad back in 2018 after he was diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer. Without the support we received from that campaign, the end of my dad’s life would have been drastically different, and my family would have been under a tremendous financial burden for years to come. Any support we receive for my mom from this campaign reduces so much stress and strain for my family and will help my mom’s recovery go so much smoother. I am endlessly thankful for any shares and support this campaign gets, and I will make sure to share updates over the coming weeks. Thank you so much.