Living expenses / surgery recovery
Donation protected
As most of you know, I had to have a kidney removed in July - a mass had been discovered in June and after surgery, pathology of the kidney confirmed it was cancerous. Recovery from the surgery is taking much, much longer than I ever imagined it would. My last day of work was July 20. Surgery was July 25. I tried to go back to work on Aug 17, and it was way too soon - I ended up having a major setback.
I am now scheduled to return to work on Oct 19 - again, on a part-time schedule - and my doctor is confident that I'll not have any more setbacks as long as I wait that long and ease back in. That means a total of 3 months of not working.
To be clear, I AM getting short term disability pay. After whatever math they apply to it, it's coming out to about 52% of my usual take-home pay. I've kept my spending to an absolute minimum - no treats, no splurges (the airplane ticket to VA was purchased before the mass was even discovered). I've done my best to keep up with the bills, but I've hit a wall, just before the light at the end of the tunnel...
There was some kind of problem with the disability pay that took over a month to straighten out. I went from 8/17 to 9/28 with no income, and as I mentioned, what I did get was roughly half of what my normal income is - and it was for only part of the time due to elimination periods. I paid September's rent on 9/28 and managed to stop the eviction process (they start it at 15 days late here). I couldn't pay any of the other bills for September.
Here is my dilemma... Rent for October is due, and I have enough to either pay the rent OR pay the past due electric, water, gas and phone bills. I cannot do both. If I pay the small bills, I risk eviction... If I pay the rent, all the other stuff will get cut off.
With the stress of everything - surgery, money, being upset with myself for not recovering quickly enough, not being able to eat due to pain - I've managed to get an ulcer to go along with everything else.
I am SO close to being able to get back to work. I need just enough help to make it one more month.
Y'all know I do not like asking for help - if I can do it myself, that's what I want to do. I've reached such a level of desperation that it is effecting my health. I'm finally admitting that I cannot do this all by myself and asking if you can spare even a dollar to get me through these last couple of weeks of recovery. If you can't help with my financial recovery, I completely understand and only ask that no matter what, please continue your prayers and positive vibes - those have helped immensely with my emotional recovery throughout this whole ordeal. I'm almost there!
I am now scheduled to return to work on Oct 19 - again, on a part-time schedule - and my doctor is confident that I'll not have any more setbacks as long as I wait that long and ease back in. That means a total of 3 months of not working.
To be clear, I AM getting short term disability pay. After whatever math they apply to it, it's coming out to about 52% of my usual take-home pay. I've kept my spending to an absolute minimum - no treats, no splurges (the airplane ticket to VA was purchased before the mass was even discovered). I've done my best to keep up with the bills, but I've hit a wall, just before the light at the end of the tunnel...
There was some kind of problem with the disability pay that took over a month to straighten out. I went from 8/17 to 9/28 with no income, and as I mentioned, what I did get was roughly half of what my normal income is - and it was for only part of the time due to elimination periods. I paid September's rent on 9/28 and managed to stop the eviction process (they start it at 15 days late here). I couldn't pay any of the other bills for September.
Here is my dilemma... Rent for October is due, and I have enough to either pay the rent OR pay the past due electric, water, gas and phone bills. I cannot do both. If I pay the small bills, I risk eviction... If I pay the rent, all the other stuff will get cut off.
With the stress of everything - surgery, money, being upset with myself for not recovering quickly enough, not being able to eat due to pain - I've managed to get an ulcer to go along with everything else.
I am SO close to being able to get back to work. I need just enough help to make it one more month.
Y'all know I do not like asking for help - if I can do it myself, that's what I want to do. I've reached such a level of desperation that it is effecting my health. I'm finally admitting that I cannot do this all by myself and asking if you can spare even a dollar to get me through these last couple of weeks of recovery. If you can't help with my financial recovery, I completely understand and only ask that no matter what, please continue your prayers and positive vibes - those have helped immensely with my emotional recovery throughout this whole ordeal. I'm almost there!
Organizer
Misti Klein
Organizer
Tucson, AZ