Stroke Therapy: Our St. Luke's Experience

My mom had a stroke few weeks ago as of writing (I drafted this Aug 7) and was admitted to St. Luke’s Medical Center in BGC for a week.

One July Wednesday, my mom was complaining about her right arm feeling numb and kind of painful. Ironic, right? So we thought it was just those “pagod” we feel at the end of a very busy being-a-mom-and-lola days and we advised her to take paracetamol. She knew she needed to rest so she did. The next day she, along with with my brother, went to visit the local community doctor and was diagnosed with some kind of nerve dysfunction or “naipit an ugat” or something and prescribed a med. The next day she was coming back to bed, she lost her balance, and that was the start of the stroke attack we didn’t knew.

My mom’s attending doctor was of course a Neurologist, supported by another doctor for rehab, and she was also visited by a Pulmonologist for her pneumonia, and Endocrinologist for her diabetes and enlarged thyroid. Yeah, it’s more complicated than just “stroke”.

What is stroke?

Stroke is an attack to your brain. It occurs when blood vessels in the brain are blocked or burst. The consequences of stroke can be long-term disability, and even death.*

My mom’s case, it was blockage of an artery in the left side of the brain, so the affected part was her right side of the body. Thankfully, she’s now better, discharged after a week of hospitalization, and now in therapy an medications. She’s yet moving too much, I mean she still cannot move her rights extremities well, but getting better. We are praying for a full recovery before the year ends.

Stroke may be triggered by many other kinds and types of medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. It’s also caused by stress which is very common among people and I mean everyone. Scary, right? Especially with our moms and dads and titas, titos, lolos, lolas, as they suffer illnesses we expect while aging.

Reference: Stroke Information and Resources | Stroke Awareness

When to see a doctor, when to go to the ER?

BE FAST. These are the first signs of stroke. In my mom’s case, yes she lost balance, arm and leg were weak and numb, the next day she wasn’t speaking or talking already. We thought we should tick everything from this list first before we consider it stroke, but apparently, it’s different from every person. My mom’s face was fine and still the same, her vision is already blurry so we didn’t know, but she almost fainted one time. So lesson learned I want to share with you whoever’s reading this, even one sign from this list, go check with your doctor.

We were supposed to go to a public or cheaper hospital because we knew my mom will take long to recover and we knew we will struggle financially. We Googled institutions, called hospitals, texted friends just to find a hospital room and services we can afford. But all of the recommended ones and the nearest from home were either not accepting non-covid patients yet or already fully occupied. I called MMC – one of our trusted medical centers ever since – because we had no choice anymore and we thought we’ll just think about the money once our mom gets attended. But they’re fully occupied, plus there were patients in the ER waiting for rooms as well.

So I called St. Luke’s even though I knew they a bit more expensive than MMC. But again, my mom already had to get treated I mean when it comes to stroke, every minute counts so there.

Hospital protocols during pandemic

All hospitals and centers require a RT PCR test for each of the patients and accompanying person (when admitted). The other hospital we went to require their own test and the patient (with or without symptoms) will be quarantined there while waiting for the result. St. Luke’s accept drive thru swab test for patients with no symptoms, and that lessened our hospital bills because we didn’t need to admit her to their quarantine facility. Usually they take one to two days, but in our case, we just went home, and that afternoon, I already received the results. She was negative, btw.

How much did it cost?

As expected, it cost so much more than we could afford, so I’m not sharing the total cost. But I can share some parts of what was needed, what was done, price range, or whatever so here goes:

RT PCR Test – their drive thru cost 5,000php. Results to be expected in one to two days. In our case, maybe the line was short that day so we got it later on the same day.
RT PCR Test for the accompanying person – this cost much more than the drive thru rate because the result is much way quicker than usual (ss they said), still it’s expensive, bruh, that we didn’t consider switching a “bantay” anymore.
Lab tests such as CBC, glucose, urine, creatinine, etc.
Imaging and monitoring such MRI, CT Scans, xrays, ECG, bedside compressor (or whatever they call it -.-). For more than one time so they’re reallly expensive and actually took more than half of the total bill.
Meds/drugs including IVs.
Patient’s food is included in the room and boarding rate.
You can call SLMC’s hotline to inquire udpated room rates. We got a regular private room for my mom which has it’s own bathroom, a fridge, a TV, and cabinet.
The bantay‘s food however is not – but St. Luke’s as enough options from their menu, and establishments are also present inside the building.
The Doctors’ Fees are lower than we expected (or maybe because we see the running balance real-time, our minds automatically thought of a hight price lol). Max we paid to a doctor was 20,00php.

So here are some tips:

If you are going to a hospital, stroke or any other medical condition and expecting admission, call the hospital first to check availability of rooms and whether they can actually attend to your needs. Usually, they will ask for the current condition of the patient to identify whether or not the patient would need immediate attention or if they can actually do the service or care the patient needs.
Take advantage of the internet and find credible resources to know better about the condition/s of the patient. In an emergency you are the first attending doctor of your patient, so it’s best to know what and what not to do.
Take advantage of your connections with doctors and medical practitioners. I work in a pharmaceutical company so I know some doctors and nurses. I texted them shared my mom’s condition, and ask opinions so we know what to do and what to expect while finding a hospital and waiting for a room.
People will encourage you not to think about the expenses and worry about your patient first. It makes sense, and it helped me, tbh. But at the end of the day, money is also a thing you should be worried about especially for us who are not that “may kaya” or something. If you’re struggling, do not hesitate to ask for help.
Take advantage of the eHub. Book a test or consultation, pay online, access test results via St. Luke’s eHealth Hub.