Tita had a stroke
Last Wednesday morning, (May 13, 2020), while my 72-year old aunt, Tita Lina, was sweeping at the backyard, she suddenly felt dizzy that she could not balance herself to walk upright. As usual, I was working from home and locked inside my bedroom so I was only informed about her condition when my sister sent me a Facebook message. I would not have thought that it could be stroke because when I checked up on her, she didn’t have the usual stroke symptoms so we surmised that she could have just felt dizzy due to the extreme heat the past few days. Aside from being dizzy and not being able to walk properly, she also complained about the pain in her stomach and legs, so I took out the Young Living essential oils that could possibly help her: Panaway and Copaiba for her headache and leg pain, and Digize for her stomach ache. I put these oils neat on the affected areas and prayed that these oils might help her. After putting them on her twice, she reported the next day that her condition didn’t seem to have improved much so she asked us to let her be checked by a doctor.
Since she’s a senior citizen and has multiple co-morbidities, we were cautious about bringing her to the hospital given the risk of acquiring COVID-19. I thought that it would be best that we had her checked via telemedicine so she could be prescribed with a medication for her condition. I used MyPocketDoctor as my company has a partnership with them, but apparently, my account is only limited to my personal use and I had to create my aunt’s own account. I had to pay Php450 for her consultation since she did not have any health coverage affiliated with this platform. After about 15 minutes from lodging the request for consultation through the app, I got a call from a nurse who asked further questions about her symptoms, her existing conditions, and the medications that my aunt has been taking. Then about 30 minutes later, the doctor called and talked to my aunt. Since dizziness seemed to be the primary complaint of my aunt, the doctor prescribed her with Cinnarizine 25 mg (Stugeron), which seemed to be a medication for vertigo, motion sickness, etc. I booked Mr. Speedy to buy her medicine, good thing the driver has an email address through which I sent the e-prescription. I was surprised that the medicine was expensive at Php47/tablet so I had to pay Php555 to the driver including the Php 85 delivery fee. To express my gratitude for his service and risking to work despite the pandemic, I just gave him Php600.
Upon receiving the medicine, I was quite hopeful that my aunt’s condition would be better and she would be back to her usual self in no time since her condition didn’t really seem very critical. Maybe it was just vertigo and she needed to just rest and hydrate. She took the medication thrice until the following day but she still didn’t feel any better, so she asked my sister to already bring her to the hospital. A little after lunch, my dad and my sister brought my aunt to the ER of UniHealth Medical Center in Parañaque. She had undergone several diagnostic tests like CT Scan, CBC, Urinalysis, and ECG, which revealed that she suffered a heart attack due to high troponin levels (17x the normal range) and a stroke since there was a damage on her brain. Unfortunately, my aunt does not have a health insurance coverage so my sister had to pay more than Php20k out-of-pocket for the hospital services and my aunt’s medicines. Of course, I also have the responsibility to share the burden of the cost so I have to pay my sister next month.
Since she’s a senior citizen and has multiple co-morbidities, we were cautious about bringing her to the hospital given the risk of acquiring COVID-19. I thought that it would be best that we had her checked via telemedicine so she could be prescribed with a medication for her condition. I used MyPocketDoctor as my company has a partnership with them, but apparently, my account is only limited to my personal use and I had to create my aunt’s own account. I had to pay Php450 for her consultation since she did not have any health coverage affiliated with this platform. After about 15 minutes from lodging the request for consultation through the app, I got a call from a nurse who asked further questions about her symptoms, her existing conditions, and the medications that my aunt has been taking. Then about 30 minutes later, the doctor called and talked to my aunt. Since dizziness seemed to be the primary complaint of my aunt, the doctor prescribed her with Cinnarizine 25 mg (Stugeron), which seemed to be a medication for vertigo, motion sickness, etc. I booked Mr. Speedy to buy her medicine, good thing the driver has an email address through which I sent the e-prescription. I was surprised that the medicine was expensive at Php47/tablet so I had to pay Php555 to the driver including the Php 85 delivery fee. To express my gratitude for his service and risking to work despite the pandemic, I just gave him Php600.
Upon receiving the medicine, I was quite hopeful that my aunt’s condition would be better and she would be back to her usual self in no time since her condition didn’t really seem very critical. Maybe it was just vertigo and she needed to just rest and hydrate. She took the medication thrice until the following day but she still didn’t feel any better, so she asked my sister to already bring her to the hospital. A little after lunch, my dad and my sister brought my aunt to the ER of UniHealth Medical Center in Parañaque. She had undergone several diagnostic tests like CT Scan, CBC, Urinalysis, and ECG, which revealed that she suffered a heart attack due to high troponin levels (17x the normal range) and a stroke since there was a damage on her brain. Unfortunately, my aunt does not have a health insurance coverage so my sister had to pay more than Php20k out-of-pocket for the hospital services and my aunt’s medicines. Of course, I also have the responsibility to share the burden of the cost so I have to pay my sister next month.
My aunt while in the triage area of the hospital
I just really hope and pray that my aunt will completely recover from this as it is also very challenging for us physically, mentally, and financially. Being a widow with no children, she
has no one else to rely on but us. Lord, the Divine Healer, I am begging you to help my aunt recover completely from her condition, by your grace and mercy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
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