Help Lindsay get a wheelchair!

Hi! My name is Lindsay, and I live with anklosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multilevel degenerative disc disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, polymyalgia rheumatica, and polyarthralgia. To be completely honest, I am constantly losing track of my diagnoses. I often forget I live with THAT many until I read my chart and go yeah, “I really am THAT messed up”. These conditions affect my spine, muscles, joints, and energy levels greatly. I’ve been in pain every single day of my life since age 11. I am in some level of pain every single day. If I don’t tell you I’m in pain, I am still in pain. If I DO tell you I’m in pain, I am in a LOT of physical pain. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in hospital beds, emergency rooms, and getting pricked with needles and constant testing. I’ve lived so much of my life being terrified of my future, uncertain of what my life will look like, or how long I may be here. 

 

I have been going through an extremely tiring disability case with Social Security for nearly two years, and as a result, I have been faced with a level of financial and medical depression I have never experienced at a severity quite like this before. I went from affording a mortgage, to breaking down in tears wondering how I’m going to afford this, or that, on a weekly, (sometimes daily) basis. I struggle to pay my bills, afford my co-pays, and sometimes go without necessary medications because I simply cannot afford to get them filled. I have struggled to retain employment, as I can never estimate how I feel day to day. (Sometimes I’m able to be active, other days I struggle to get out of bed. Sometimes I can be on my feet for several hours, or dance all night at the club. Other days, I cry just getting out of bed, I can barely be on my feet for more than 10 minutes, I can’t complete basic tasks, or I REALLY struggle even making it across the parking lot when there isn’t available handicap parking).

 

Because of my disability case, (according to Social Security), I cannot work more than a certain amount of hours, or make over a certain amount of money, or I am disqualified from receiving the year of back pay I am due from social security, or the benefits I may need for a set amount of time moving forward. I also don’t feel like my body, (or my energy levels, even with medical equipment support), is able to withstand working more than a set number of hours for the time being with how severe my pain has been. I don’t plan on being on SS benefits for life, and my plan is to eventually finish my degree, and settle into a career that accommodates my conditions. I also plan on eventually finding/being able to afford a pain management routine that allows me a better quality of life, but unfortunately, I have not found that at this time. Because I am limited in the work/hours that I can complete, I have struggled to find employment that can accommodate such a schedule/that little of hours I can offer. All of the jobs that I have applied to require more hours that I am allotted to work, or require a more rigorous schedule/duties than my body is currently able to accomplish. I have applied to over 70 jobs, (including more sedentary and work from home positions), none of which have been interested. I did however recently take a freelance writing job, however, the income is not consistent.

 

Although I plan on continuing to take those occasional writing jobs, I have decided that it is in my best interest to apply for in person jobs with larger corporations that will work with people with disabilities. However, these businesses can only work with me so much. They will still require some level of physical activity, or for me to stand for some periods of time - and because my pain varies from day to day, this creates issues with my availability and attendance.

 

That being said, (and my doctor agrees), that I am looking to acquire a wheelchair for the days that my body is unable to physically withstand being active in any capacity at all. However, even with insurance, this is financially impossible for me at this time. That being said, I am asking your support to afford the possibility of acquiring a, “starter” manual wheelchair that I can use for work, or for days where I need to accomplish tasks or errands where I need a little extra help. I just found a decent wheelchair around $1k plus tax, plus additional lumbar support products that I can purchase that would directly prevent further pressure on my spine and neck, which are my largest problem areas. I set the goal at this level, to accommodate tax, the chair, the lumbar support products, and the fee for GoFundMe. That being said, I genuinely do not plan on reaching that goal, and will be sincerely grateful for ANY AND ALL donations that I receive, and will purchase whatever manual wheelchair that is within my budget with the allotted collected donations, hopefully by early next year. Again, I will eternally grateful to have the opportunity to purchase even the simplest of wheelchairs within my, “budget”. I just need more freedom until I’m in the place to have a career and pain management system that gives me the flexibility I need. On the extremely rare chance that this fundraiser exceeds the amount needed for my wheelchair, I’d humbly ask if donors would be open to me using those funds towards one month of future medical expenses until I have regular income. At this current moment, according to Social Security I’m unable to make more than $1300 per month with a pending disability case, (which is clearly not livable), and with medications costing me several hundreds of dollars a month alone, simply surviving is daunting to say the very least. That being said, literally anything helps. 

 

I have been in physical pain since the 5th grade, (I’ll be 25 in a couple months), but the last 2 years have been a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It has taken me nearly 2 years to even be remotely comfortable identifying myself as disabled, but this is simply something that I can’t hide from forever. I really do believe that I WILL finish my degree, settle into my career at some point that will give me the flexibility that I need, and will finish a pain management system that works, but until then, I need your help. If you’ve gotten this far, thank you. Anything helps, even just a share. Thank you to anyone who’s supported me, whether that’s been financially, verbally, or emotionally over the years. It means the world to me. Much love. <3