19-year-old Antonette Cabrad Lomong-oy, a 2nd-year nursing student at the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC)-Bontoc Campus, is supposedly scheduled for a kidney transplant last December 13, 2020, at the Cordillera Hospital of the Divine Grace in La Trinidad, Benguet. Alfa, Antonette’s mom, is the donor.
Due to unforeseen circumstances and financial constraints, the operation was rescheduled after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Antonette has been undergoing hemodialysis for almost three months, and it has not been easy.
Per the latest phone conversation with Antonette’s mom, they were admitted to the abovementioned hospital on January 11, 2021. The kidney transplant procedure was scheduled for Sunday, January 17, 2021.
The kidney transplant procedure costs P1.5 million.
For now, Antonette’s family is still in dire need of P600,000 for the kidney transplant procedure to push through, and thus they are knocking on kind hearts for donations. Antonette just celebrated her 19th birthday on December 21, 2020.
For those who wish to donate any amount to share as a gift to this young lady, you may deposit your donations to the Land Bank Savings Account ANTOINETTE LOMONG-OY, 1046245683.
Also, you may hand over your donations to Ms. Jodesca Lumiwes Masilian. You may contact her at cell phone number 0926-907-2026 and Facebook account Jodesca Lumiwes Masilian. You may also send your donations to GCash account Jodesca Masilian 09269072026. For transparency, all donations will be posted on the Facebook Account Jodesca Lumiwes Masilian. The money to be collected will be turned over to Antonette’s family before they will be discharged from the hospital.
ANTONETTE’S STORY
Antonette who traces her roots in the small village of Caneo, Bontoc, Mountain Province is the firstborn of James Lomong-oy and Alfa Cabrad Lomong-oy. Both her parents are laborers who work hard for their family’s daily needs.
To her parents, despite the hardship in life, they are thankful to the Almighty for being blessed with healthy children.
However, in 2019, Antonette experienced dizziness and hypertension. She was 18 years old, a jovial Senior High School student at Saint Vincent’s High School. At a young age, she had no choice but to take maintenance medicines for hypertension.
The difficulty of life in the ili and her dream of uplifting her family from poverty has been the driving force for the young Antonette to pursue her studies.
The young Antonette dreams of becoming a nurse one day. This is the reason that she decided to enroll in Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the MPSPC – Bontoc Campus. For those who have known Antonette, her choice of profession best fits her because of her jovial personality. She has a soft voice and her smile is infectious to everyone she meets. She possesses the Tender Loving Care (TLC) personality people are looking for in every health worker.
In her first year in college, her dizziness and hypertension became frequent prompting her family to seek medical attention at the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital.
Antonette was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease secondary to chronic glomerulonephritis and hypertension. As per doctor’s advice, a kidney transplant is the best option while the patient (Antonette) is young, and this would give her a better quality of life and better chances of survival.
Despite the financial constraints the family is facing, they decided to follow the doctor’s advice. The plan includes initiation of hemodialysis, kidney transplant workup for the patient and the donor, and finally, a kidney transplant.
From conversations by this writer with Antonette’s mom, the kidney transplant procedure costs P1.5 million. The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation shall shoulder P600,000 under its Z Package.
Even with the Z Package from Phil Health, Antonette’s family needs to prepare P900,000 for the kidney transplant procedure.
Some kind-hearted individuals and groups gave financial donations and organized fund-raising activities and events for Antonette. People from all walks of life are giving cash or supporting the fund-raising activities and events.
Her mother has been counting down the days and weeks until she can donate one of her kidneys and help her daughter. To Alfa, it is her Christmas and birthday gift to her daughter. It came without hesitation. It will not come wrapped in a box but it is surrounded by love. A love of a selfless mother. **By Alpine L. Killa
