An Okotoks mom is currently in a hospital in Japan, waiting for emergency surgery.
Peyton and Dione Amundson were recently vacationing in Japan when, after three days there, Dione started to have severe stomach pain.
According to her friend Krista Brown, Dione took some Tylenol, thinking the issue would go away.
But, unfortunately, it did not.
"It ended up being that they needed an ambulance to take her to the hospital, and they did some tests there, and she was transferred to a different hospital," Brown explains. "Unfortunately, in Japan, you have to pay up front before you can leave. They don't direct bill to insurance, and so, Payten, at 19, had to pay $3,800 for his mom to be just at the hospital for a couple of hours."
Turns out that Amundson has a perforated stomach
Brown says they will be finding out soon if Amundson's blood work is looking good enough for emergency surgery, which Brown says would cost around $40,000.
"Then, after that, they're paying between $3,000 and $4,000 a day for her to stay, depending on her needs and what medications they're giving her. The information that Peyton has had so far is that if they do the surgery, either way, it's going to be about three to four weeks of them staying in hospital at that cost of $3,000 to $4,000 a day. And then, she will have to be airlifted home at an expense of around $100,000, because she won't be fit to be on a commercial flight."
Peyton is now cancelling reservations to be with his mother.
Dione Amundson is an Educational Assistant, and is active with her church, MyCityCare, and helps with a program for special needs kids to have a prom night.
"They're the most amazing, beautiful people you could possibly find."
Brown says that Peyton has been in contact with insurance, who is confirming they have to pay upfront.
From there, they will do a panel review to determine if this was necessary treatment and what they will cover.
"There's no guarantee that anything will be covered in the end or not, but they do have insurance. But, the first hospital was like, they have to pay before they will release her."
On top of the hospital and flight fees, there will also be costs associated with this that will come up afterwards.
To help cover the costs of the hospital stay, a GoFundMe page has been set up.
They are currently hoping to raise over $75,000 to cover as much of the cost as possible.
To read more about Dione and donate money, click here.