A new doctor check-up on my mother since today, her second doctor was in Manila and I guess the first one wasn’t around or been busy with other patients. According to the new doctor my mother’s sugar level and uric acid wasn’t too high, his finding my mother maybe had a stroke because of cholesterol, he said that even a person has a lower cholesterol level it can cause a stroke. Her medicine were changed  to tablets already unlike before they were thru IV,  one of her medicine were lowered on dosage.

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay/pexels.com]

We are told that my mother might be discharged tomorrow, my mother requested the sales clerk in the hospital pharmacy to have a partial account of our hospital bill, she was from our barangay so we knew her. The partial amount was quite high, it was almost three months of my father’s monthly wages as a carpenter (his rate is ₱2,100 per week) and we have already spend almost two months of my father’s wages in medicines and other expenses so the bill was like a fortune for us, quite sad too we have no health insurance.

My mother can now sit without being felt dizzy unlike the last few days that she can’t even raise her head although her affected body has still no sensation but she can move her hands and feet already.  She’s recovering quickly isn’t it?

My head is spinning, maybe because lack of sleep, fatigue and not eating on time.  Everyday the doctor handed a new prescription and everyday the prescription bill cost more than a thousand of pesos, my mother’s first laboratory test cost a lot as well and then there are other succeeding test that isn’t free at all. My mother was recovering, she is doing better than her first two days in the hospital that she looks like in a vegetative state. Every day something is improving, she’s able to move her paralyzed body but there isn’t a sensation yet. At first I have thought there was but I guess my mother is confused and high with different medicines injected to her, she became short tempered, emotionally down and stressed with anything, the house, the hospital bills and money no matter how we told her to relax.

On the first few days my mother doesn’t eat anything nor drink, the doctor says it was fine since there is nutrients coming from the drip in her hand. The laboratory tests shows she has high level of sugar, high uric acid and UTI problem that resulted her stroke attack and with this a lot of food was prohibited for her to eat, mainly the food she enjoy so much.

It was hard for us to see her in bed lying and can’t do anything that even a little move required an assistance, my mother was put in a cathether when she can’t pee in the adult diaper, she can pee in the toilet but the problem the public toilet is a little bit far from the room since the room we rented has no private toilet room. The doctor ordered that my mother needs a complete bed rest since when she insisted to go the public toilet of the hospital in a wheelchair she went very tired and exhausted. The doctor says going to the toilet won’t help her recover faster since it is draining her energy.

As day goes by, she is able to drink a little as 20 ml of water.  It was hard at first because she can’t drink or swallow well, we massage her paralyzed body the best we can. She complaint of pain which she can’t point where, it was also difficult for her to sleep especially the first day where she doesn’t want to sleep scared of not waking up anymore.

Medicines are expensive the good thing a few relatives and the church extended financial help to us, we are not expecting it but we are thankful because it helps a lot to us, my father wasn’t able to work and my sister too while my mother is confined in the hospital.