My name is Karen and I’m 54 years old. I have raised 2 sons by myself, have always been self sufficient and have never had to ask for anything. I’ve always been a giver rather than a receiver. I’ve always been known as the person to go to if someone needed food or any help and I would give generously as it always gave me great satisfaction. Four years ago I lost my job and was unable to find another one. So I went into cosmetology college. While in my senior courses working on customers I started feeling a lot of pain in my lower back. This continued to worsen so I went to a Dr and was diagnosed with a sciatic nerve. I finished college but knew I couldn’t do that kind of work. Still not being able to find a job my house went under foreclosure. I literally went to stores begging them to let me bag groceries for them or bring in their carts from the parking lot and no one would hire me. I lost my house under foreclosure and have been struggling since to maintain bills and keep a roof over our heads. I wound up enrolling in college to obtain a Bachelors degree in order to get a better non physical job and was blessed to obtain a job working for Amazon at home on my computer. I felt like life sent me lemons and I made the best lemonade!!! A year later I started getting pain in my upper back that was so severe that I didn’t feel like living. Hospitals stopped wanting to help me with the pain. I guess they thought I just wanted drugs? This past January I was finally able to get insurance through the marketplace. Since March I have been diagnosed with the following diseases: Fibromyalgia Osteoarthritis of acromioclavicular joint Radiculopathy of cervical region Degenerative disk desease Joint pain Bloody stools Gastroesophageal reflux disease Mass in my left breast Polyps in my colon Lacerated ulcer Hemorroids Sleep disorder COPD Fatigue Low mean corpuscular volume Cancer of the esophagus I have undergone many tests and procedures with an insurance company that we have to fight to get permission to do. I just had an endoscopic ultrasound done and they were unable to remove my cancer. Now I have to undergo chemo, radiation before they can operate to remove the tumor which involves removing half my esophagus as I have Barrett’s. This procedure will essentially put my stomach up into my chest. Right now I have to undergo a lot of tests to make sure that my lungs and heart are healthy enough to undergo the chemo, radiation and ultimately the operation. I have obtained large Hospital bills before I got my insurance and have not paid my rent or utilities for almost 2 years. Thank fully I have a landlord that is willing to wait till the government finally sees that I am disabled to collect his money. I started here with the agreement to remodel but became disabled before I could finish so I need to find a suitable place to live as well. After the cancer is taking care of God forbid I survive then the Dr’s are going to address the per-cancerous colon, breast mass, and then continue diagnosing what ever else is wrong with me. I know it sounds like a lot of issues for one person and I’m trying to stay positive as my son is dependent on me and yet has become my caretaker in the process. It would make our lives easier to become debt free (lots of bills unpaid after I lost my job as well) Have a safe and healthy place to live and have the proper medical equipment that I need to be able to enrich my life as much as I can under the circumstances. Sorry so long and thanks for reading, any help is appreciated! Best regards, Karen
