Support for Tomasa's Funeral and Medical Costs

My name is Yolanda and I am here today asking for assistance to help pay off my mom’s medical bill. My mom's name was Tomasa Velasco Ruiz. While traveling to Mexico, she had a heart attack that required a trip to four different hospitals. My brother and his wife took her to a small clinic in Mascota on Dec 5th. Upon her arrival, they didn’t have the means to take care of the medical issues my mom was having, so she was rushed two hours and some minutes away from Talpa de Allende, Jalisco. On the way to the hospital towards Puerto Vallarta, the ambulance driver disclosed that there were no beds available at the regional hospital and that heading to CMQ Rivera in Bucerias, Nayarit would be the best option. My brother and his wife, under pressure and worried, agreed to have my mom transported to that hospital. When my mom arrived at CMQ Rivera on Dec 5th, she was stabilized and further testing was done. The results determined that she needed an unblockage. That hospital required a 100,000 Mexican pesos deposit. The unblockage was scheduled to happen on Dec 6th in the afternoon. At 1:30 am on Dec 6th, I got a call saying the 100,000 had run out and an additional 50,000 pesos had to be sent in order for them to finish the unblockage procedure and add three stents. I didn’t understand how the private or any hospitals worked out in Mexico. After finding out that we needed to pay on a per-day basis, I immediately asked they discharge her from that hospital as we could not afford the cost there. I had them send me a closing bill by 7 pm. That bill totaled 559,399 Mexican pesos. I asked to make payment arrangements, and the hospital said they don’t work like that; they needed full payment before they would discharge my mom. We said we didn't have that kind of money laying around and that was a ridiculous cost. What would happen to my mom if we couldn’t pay and she needed medical care? They said she would be downgraded to a room where no cardiologist or doctors would see her. She would still have access to water, oxygen, and medication. And finding her a bed at another hospital would be hard. We then made a call to the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico and reported the issue. They stated that because it’s a private hospital, they could do whatever and charge as much as they want. They advised us not to hand over my mom's passport or any documentation. We should try and negotiate the fee on the bill. After a meeting with their accounting staff and looking over the Google reviews, they weren’t too happy and said they will not release my mom's passport until that account was zeroed out. I mentioned I had 12,000 US dollars upfront and they pretty much laughed. We then asked if we could negotiate that bill and they said they could take 20% off but that every day she was in their facility it was going to cost 5,000 US dollars a day. On Monday, after they received a 10,000 US dollar payment, they magically found her a bed at a hospital in Nayarit that didn’t have any means to care for my mom. They received another payment and now she was heading to Puerto Vallarta’s Regional Hospital. I had to take time off work, get a passport, and travel to Mexico. I arranged it on the 11th of December. The plan was to stabilize my mom and bring her back to AZ. Things didn’t work out that way and on Dec 21st, my mom had a second heart attack that took her life. An unexpected funeral happened. I returned back to AZ on Jan 1st and we have been struggling to gather funds to pay off the remaining balance and expenses of the funeral.

Our family and friends have helped out with donations or have lent us funds to cover expenses. Any prayers and help are gratefully appreciated. I understand things all across our world are hurting in many ways.