March 29,2024
Good evening,
First and foremost I would like to thank-you for taking the time to read my request.
My name is Tina and I am a single mother with 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren. I was diagnosed back approximately 2011 with Lupus as well as Rheumatoid Arthritis along with the many other diseases that follow it such as Sjogren’s Syndrome, Degenerative Disc Disease, Raynaud’s Disease, Fibromyalgia, Epstein Barr Virus, Narcolepsy just to name a few.
I am a Army Veteran and I was lucky enough to serve under peace time under the Commander in Chief Ronald Regan. As the years gone by my health started to decline with the loosening of all my teeth requiring I have them all pulled so I did and now what was my beautiful smile is still a beautiful smile just with plastic teeth my dentures. Waking up one morning with my fingers all crossed and so painful along with every joint in my body very warm and in agonizing pain would be the start of a very long journey, or as I call it a very long “what is happening to me” journey,
All my life I have worked to be part of society from the US Army, shirt pressure in a dry-cleaning plant as well as going out on my own and starting my own business and even putting myself through school earning 4 Associate Degrees in STNA, HHA, Business Management, LPN as well as working as a prisoner monitoring manager in the state of Florida as well as in Ohio, where I now reside. In 2019 my working days came to a halt and I was forced to sign up for disability due to being sick constantly and becoming an unreliable employee. During the Covid Pandemic I was blessed by not contracting the disease however I contracted pneumonia instead and was and still am being monitored for lung cancer. I had no other income coming in except my $1,150.00 SSDI payment (it was slightly lower than this until the raise came in from the government).
This all started my very own roller coaster ride of worry, anxiety, and stress causing me to become ill more often. I decided to Door dash with mask on of course in order to make my ends meet and it did just barely. Moving forward to 2022-present my rotator cuff on both sides were deteriorating and I went and had my first surgery for the right side to repair the tear they found. Shortly thereafter the same happened to the left and I had surgery once again. Just as the physical therapy was just about done i had to endure yet another surgery back on the right side as the surgery failed being in a sling once again not knowing that a short time down the road I would be back on the table getting the left side repaired again only this time with a graft to secure it better. Once again a few months go by and I am at my surgeons office crying in pain and discouragement asking my surgeon if this is going to be my life’s new “normal?” I have been working in home health care at 22 hours a week trying to make enough to pay bills and to be able to eat however that chapter came also to an end when on March 25,2024 I was again in the operating room to have a total complete left shoulder replacement. I have been home for 4 days since the writing of this letter and all my worries suddenly came crashing forward. I will not be able to lift anything heavier than a coffee cup in fear it may become dislocated, I start a rigorous Physical Therapy regimen the 2nd week to try to regain strength all while wondering where am I going to find the help I need without receiving an eviction notice first for my rent or having my car taken from me like a thief in the night for non payment this being my bread and butter of course.
Later down the road I will also have to have the right side done also, so as you can see i will be sitting down and trying my best to recover the correct way and not to work within 2 weeks as I have done the past 4 surgeries which was against Drs. orders however I really have no choice and this being the reason I am writing this request to you.
I am asking for the amount of $2276.00 which will pay my car note as well as my insurance for the next 4 months putting my mind at ease and enabling my body to heal without all the added stress of worrying about money and bills. My children are wonderful, but having so little of their own with their families and as hard as this world is to maintain some type of normalcy they truly have contributed all they can monetary wise.
As my children always told me “Ma, you need to just once start taking care of yourself instead of everyone else so we can spend those gifted days with you” and they are so correct however easier said than done.
I want to thank-you once again and please accept my apologies for making this a long read, I wanted to make sure you understood where the need was and why.
Below you will find my PayPal credentials and to let you know what a wonderful job you are doing to help others, I am sure that you all will be blessed beyond measure. Oh one more thing I believe in paying blessings forward you can count me in to do just that.
With many thanks of gratitude,
Tina Long
http://Paypal.me/keepsmiling62