I am drowning. Ok maybe not literally but financially. It started when my husband, the father of my 3 children was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Well, before that actually. You see, he also has chronic gout and kidney failure. The congestive heart failure keeps him so exhausted he can barely walk to the bathroom. He hasn’t left our apartment in 3 years except to go to doctors appointments and the occasional emergency room visit and hospital stay. He has chronic gout which affects his ankles, wrists and elbows at different times but usually always at least one of them. He takes medication for it and doesn’t eat foods which are likely to bring on attacks but they don’t help much. He is in horrible pain all the time from this. And more recently the kidney disease has started to affect him. He’s pretty much miserable all of the time. And he feels terrible not being able to help with the bills. I just hate him feeling so bad when he can’t control it.
So now it has been 4 years since he’s been able to work due to his health problems.
I work at a hotel at the front desk, so I don’t make a lot of money. We applied for disability for my husband but were denied the first time, as I’m told happens to most people. We just recently applied again, this time with the help of an attorney that specializes in disability law. So we are hoping for a much better outcome this time. The last few months have really been horrible. As I know everyone is aware, electricity prices are the highest they’ve ever been. For our small 2 bedroom apartment we paid $275 in June alone. May was over $200. We’ve managed ok up until now, but with the prices of my Uber to and from work every day (we don’t have a car either), rent and electric, plus $200 a month for a $300 loan I took out to buy food 2 weeks ago (which I really regret doing now), and a few small bills I just cannot manage anymore! I don’t even have money left for food. I don’t know how I’m going to get to work. I want to get a second job but 1, there is no way to get there without paying Uber prices, and 2, I hate leaving my kids to take care of my husband any more than they already do. They are such a great help. I couldn’t ask for better kids. But it’s not right for them to have to do more.
Oh and by the way, the only reason I use Uber instead of just taking the bus is that in order to do so I would have to walk 15 minutes to the closest stop that goes closest to my work. I wouldn’t mind the walk but I can’t go to work all sweaty and smelly and gross! It would not be very smart if I want to keep my job.
I hope and pray our financial problems are only temporary, and will get better when we (hopefully) start receiving his disability benefits in a few months or so. It will still be probably a minimum of 6 months before we start getting any money from it, if we do.
I hate having to ask for help, but if anyone would be able to help at all I would be so grateful. Thank you so much for reading this and for anything you might be able to do to help my family!
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/rafaelnortega