UPDATE:
October 1, 2026
We are so thankful to be able to report that Mireya's 2 week post-op visit went very well, and she has been doing physical therapy regularly since then. We are also thankful to have received the news that insurance will in fact cover a large part of the actual PT costs, so that alleviates a large part of the previously unknown expenses. Miguel has gone in person to help wherever needed; another thing we are thankful for is that his brother has stepped up to help take Mireya to PT and with the generosity of eveyrone here, we can help cover his gas, which overall is a much lower cost than Miguel having to make the trip several times a week.
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UPDATE:
September 5, 2026
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your prayers for us, for Mireya's recovery.
She has been having a hard time with initial recovery due to being anemic, and an anticipated 2-day hospital stay turned into a week-long stay, which included 2 blood transfusions to help with her hemoglobin levels. Thankfully, Mireya was able to come home today, and Miguel is currently busy getting her settled, picking up meds, and taking care of all the details surrounding her immediate care. As a family, we will be heading to Boca Chica tomorrow to be present for some staff training, allowing us all to check in on her and her in-home caregiver.
Miguel took both girls with him to visit Mireya on Thursday at the hospital, and it seemed to make a marked difference in her mental state and lifting her mood.
On Tuesday, she will go back in for another evaluation, at which point we will be given a post-op therapy plan.
So far, our expenses have exceeded $3,500 and we still don't know a true estimate for long-term therapy, but we are so grateful for your generosity and the rallying support of faithful friends, family, and coworkers. Gifts on this platform, along with others, has helped us reach $5,400 so far, and it has been an enormous load off our shoulders while navigating all this to not have to worry about loans or medical debt to cover these expenses.
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Hey friends,
Miguel's mom will be undergoing double knee-replacement surgery on Saturday, August 29th in the Dominican Republic. She has been in severe pain, unable to work for 3 years now, and this summer, she finally was willing to be evaluated for this procedure. We are so thankful that she can be listed on our health insurance, which is fully covering the surgeon's fees for the actual surgery and 80% of a 2-day hospital stay (praise God!). We will, however, need to cover all the materials for the surgery, all or part of the surgical assistants’ fees, plus the remaining 20% of the hospital stay. Additionally, after the surgery, we will need to pay for in-home care for Mireya until she becomes more independently mobile again (she lives 2 hours away and is more comfortable in her own home than what we could provide for her in ours), as well as all or part of the post-op therapy (insurance may pay up to 65% of the post-op therapy, but we have been unable to obtain confirmation for that yet, since we will not be provided a post-op plan until the surgery is completed).
Medical billing (among other things) in the DR works a bit differently than some countries, in that, we will need to pay all surgery-related costs that we are responsible for before she is discharged from the hospital, and we will need to pay all post-op charges we are responsible for up-front at each session. (There is no billings system, and insurance can either be a breeze or a thunderstorm of confusion depending on the day.) This fundraiser goal is set at an amount to cover both what we’ve been quoted for the actual procedure, as well as an estimate we’ve been able to come up with on our own from conversations with a PT group for post-op therapy.
The following lists provide the cost breakdown that our goal is based on.
Immediate Costs: Surgical Related (to be paid upon discharge)
- Materials for the surgery (gloves, syringes, etc.)
- Surgical assistants fees
- 20% of 2-day hospital stay
- Blood (we have to buy it from a local blood bank)
- Total immediate need: $2,500-$3,000
Long-term Costs: Post-Op Related (to be paid as costs incur over the next 3+ months)
- $1,500 fuel for transportation to/from therapy
- $500 in-home care provider
- $2,000 therapy appointments (the biggest variable/unknown right now)
- Total long-term need: ~$4,000
We truly appreciate your prayers for Mireya as she undergoes this procedure, as well as for our family as Miguel will be heavily responsible for getting her to and from post-op therapies, hiring and overseeing the in-home care person, etc. And we thank you as you consider helping us shoulder these costs, both immediate and long-term.
God bless you.
