Help Kevin, Disabled Writer, Save His Home
Donation protected
Hi, everyone. Scroll down to see my new update below.
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July 5, 2015 -- Hello, I’m Kevin, I’m a Detroit-area writer, and I’m disabled. As a result, I’m in very real danger of losing my home – which was my grandparents’ home for 50 years before I bought it after my grandmother died in 2002. So I’m reaching out to the community.
Before I became disabled, I spent more than 30 years as a freelance journalist and regular contributor to The Detroit News, The Ann Arbor News, Guitar Player, AOL Autos , the Detroit Free Press special sections, and many others. In the 1990s, I also wrote for Rolling Stone and Musician magazines.
My medical conditions are now so debilitating that I’m eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. I’ve filed for Disability, but was told by Social Security that it can 2 years to be approved. Several people also told me it took 2 years or more in their cases.
Some friends offered to set up this page to raise enough funds to help me keep my family home, and keep the heat and lights on, until my Disability is approved. But I felt it would be more personal if I did it myself.
I have two serious medical conditions -- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea -- which causes me to stop breathing more than 30 times an hour while I sleep, and restricts the flow of oxygen to my brain and my heart.
Together, these conditions cause me to suffer from debilitating chronic fatigue, terrible sleep quality, extreme brain fog, and what sleep-apnea doctors describe as Excessive Daytime Sleepiness. (In February, the Institute of Medicine re-classified CFS as a disease, instead of a syndrome.)
These conditions have gotten much worse over the last couple of years, and are now so severe that I can’t stay awake more for than about 3 hours at a time before I have to go back to bed and sleep or rest for a couple of hours. I’ve seen several doctors, but their treatments have not been successful.
As a result of all this, I’m now dealing with depression as well. And due to my financial straits, I no longer have a car. When I need to go grocery shopping, or to the doctor, etc., I have to ask for a ride from a friend or neighbor, or take a taxi.
So, I greatly appreciate any help or support you can give at this time, to help me weather this storm, until my Disability is approved. Thank you so much in advance for your kindness and generosity. God bless.
(If anyone has any questions about my CFS, Apnea, and the treatments I’ve received, or about my hernia and knee surgeries, you can pose them in the Comments section below, and I’ll be happy to answer them.)
Organizer
Kevin R
Organizer
Dearborn, MI