Supporting Raven and Rowan through Health Struggles

Okay. Life update.

Me: My mental health was getting better, then things started deteriorating again. The state of the country, of course, is not helping. Personal stressors have increased. Work stress has increased. I've been treading water that's been getting shallower and shallower until I hit a point where my brain just said 'no.' Pushing further inches me enter crisis territory, and I'm trying to avoid that. I contacted my (relatively new) psych and my (long- standing) therapist. I'm on medical leave from work, waiting for short term disability to kick in. Currently, I'm scheduled to go back Monday, but since I was debating going to a psych hospital again on Wednesday night, I don't think that's a good idea. Convincing my psych of that is a different matter. Her latest statement (that was made without talking to me) is that there's no reason for further leave and a letter requesting more will be ANOTHER $150 that I simply do not have. (We already paid $150 for the first letter.) I'm doing my best, but I desperately need to lighten my mental load.

Wifey: Raven does not have a good back. She's needed chiro work off and on again for years. It started hurting again a year or so ago, but she was shrugging it off for the longest time. It got to the point where she could no longer shrug it off. Walking across the apartment was sometimes too difficult for her to accomplish. Her PCP sent her to a ortho who x-rayed her lower back and hips. It turns out that there is zero curvature in her lumbar spine at present. The ortho prescribed nightly muscle relaxers and 6 weeks of physical therapy. We're trying to start her in PT asap, but the co-pay on our insurance is $50/session, which is also something we simply do not have. She's minimizing her physical activity in the mean time, which means finding a job is completely out of the question. That isn't helping our overall living situation.

The funds requested are for my psych treatment (another letter to extend my leave, co-pays for my psych and therapist in the upcoming weeks), Raven's PT, and assistance with living expenses until the short term disability kicks in. Rent for March is covered, but little else.

Honestly, any help would be appreciated, and that includes sharing this far and wide as much as you are comfortable doing so. Thank you for reading this far. We love you; please take care of yourselves.