Bills & expensesMedical & healthCritical
Valve repair surgery for Themba: covering what insurance won't
After gallstones with repeated infections, Themba was cleared for valve repair surgery, but the bill is more than we can manage.
🇿🇦 Soweto, Gauteng, South Africa2,939 views
Themba was diagnosed with gallstones with repeated infections in September. The surgeon at Soweto Regional Medical Center recommended valve repair surgery, and He is scheduled for December. The hospital's financial office gave us a written estimate of $1,500, and after what the public health scheme will pay we're still $900 short.
my brother has been in and out of Soweto Regional Medical Center since September. The doctors say gallstones with repeated infections will get worse without valve repair surgery. We have emptied our savings and borrowed from relatives, but the estimate of $1,500 is more than we can find.
While we wait, Themba struggles with daily life and can't look after the children alone. His family has taken turns caring for him, and I've cut my own work hours to be there.
The recovery period is expected to take about 10 weeks. During that time Themba won't be able to look after the children alone, so the costs keep growing.
I'll pay the hospital and pharmacy directly and post every receipt in the updates section.
Where the $900 goes:
• Pre-operative tests and imaging: $75
• Post-operative medication: $90
• Hospital stay (4 nights): $530
• Travel and lodging for the family: $60
• Physiotherapy sessions: $145
Thanks for reading all this.
- due date
- 2025-12-22
- bill type
- Hospital invoice
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Take care. Look after yourselves too, caregivers need rest. Thinking of Soweto
Wishing you the best. It takes guts to ask. Well done. We had a similar scare last year, I know what it feels like.
Hope it all works out. Looking forward to the next update. Put this on a community board in Los Angeles this morning. Take care.
Praying for you. Shared it with a few friends. Take care!
Thinking of you, Lesego. Hope the doctors have good news. All the best.
This could happen to any of us. We lost years of savings to something like this so I get it. Thinking of Soweto.