Medical and Other Emergencies
Donation protected
I never thought I'd have to do this. Mine was a charmed life. I lived in a beautiful home, I had a good job, I drove a Rolls Royce, I was a pillar of my church and of my community. I gave freely to anyone who asked for help and to many philanthropic endeavors. I took care of my elderly mother for the last fifteen years of her life.
And then, in one day really, my health took all of that away from me. I've always taken care of myself but the time has come for me to put my considerable pride on the shelf and ask for help.
I have always helped anyone who comes to me in need; family, friends and strangers alike.
Due to long term illness, four years ago at the age of fifty six, I was forced to give up a well paying job after a thirty five year career doing work that I truly enjoyed. At the time, my elderly mother was living with me and I was her sole supporter and primary care giver.
I was left with no option other than to spend all of my savings, sell off all of my property and cash in my retirement funds. After getting out of debt, I was left with just enough to relocate with my mother to this different country where I have been living for past two years.
I am more fortunate than many people because I receive a small lifetime annuity. In the USA, I would be forced out on the streets but in this country it's not impossible to get by on my income. Many families here live on far less than I but I really just barely get by and almost never have any money left to my name past the middle of the month. With the help of my loving sister, I do manage from day to day but only just.
If I have a medical emergency, which happens more often than I care to think about, I have to rely upon help from friends.
I hate asking people to loan me money they can scarcely afford. Paying them back is always a problem because it cuts me short for the following months to come. So far, I've been fortunate that some dear friends have loaned me money to pay hospital bills and agreed out of the generosity of their hearts to wait until I begin collecting social security to pay them back.
With great fortune, the cost of high quality health care in this country is but a mere fraction of what it costs for identical care in the USA. The average expense I've encountered for a stay in hospital here has been from $1500 to $3000 USD. Compare that to $90,000 to $200,000 back home in California. Doctor visits average about $17 for a GP and $35 USD for a specialist. A visit to the ER runs me roughly a bit less than $30. The cost of the many medicines I am required to take is about $45 USD per month compared to a $600 co-pay or $25,000 per month without insurance back in the States.
It is very unsettling to have to rely on the slim chance that someone will be able to help me on the spur of the moment. This causes me such dangerously high levels of stress, the very thing my doctors tell me to avoid at all cost.
My friends have their own needs to consider and it is heartbreaking to me to have to burden them with my problems.
I'm so excited about this writing business. I've only been writing my blog for less than a year and I already have almost 3,000 readers in 32 countries and it's very humbling. I really only started it because it seemed like a free and easy word processing and file storage platform that I could use on my iPad. I never expected anyone other than maybe a couple family members and a few close friends to want to read my work.
By the way, if you ever find yourself bored and in need of a little light reading, I'd like to invite you to visit my blog site. It's just a bunch of short, easy to read stories about some of the things I've experienced and observed in my life.
https://philipandrewmerrick.wordpress.com
Just the other day I experienced the thrill and the unfathomable joy of having my first article published in a magazine with a vast, worldwide circulation. I actually had tears in my eyes when the editor sent me the link to the published article. I'll have to wait and see what develops but the opportunities are already beginning to present themselves.
I hope these writing assignments will eventually pan out into something that will give me enough of an income to really support myself and help out with more with household expenses but most especially, I want to be able to cover my own emergencies. That may take time if indeed it happens at all.
I never wanted to be a charity case and this act of asking for help is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my sixty years of living.
If you can find it in your heart to anonymously donate a little bit of money without compromising your own needs, I would never be able to thank you enough. I make a solemn promise to leave it in a secure and separate bank account and never to draw upon it except in the case of a real emergency.
If you need to be reimbursed and can wait for a couple of years to receive repayment, I would be more than happy and honored to do that. If you don't need to be payed back, you can count on me to pass it on to others in need when the time comes, as it surely will, that I have enough to do so.
With love , gratitude and pure blind faith,
Philip
And then, in one day really, my health took all of that away from me. I've always taken care of myself but the time has come for me to put my considerable pride on the shelf and ask for help.
I have always helped anyone who comes to me in need; family, friends and strangers alike.
Due to long term illness, four years ago at the age of fifty six, I was forced to give up a well paying job after a thirty five year career doing work that I truly enjoyed. At the time, my elderly mother was living with me and I was her sole supporter and primary care giver.
I was left with no option other than to spend all of my savings, sell off all of my property and cash in my retirement funds. After getting out of debt, I was left with just enough to relocate with my mother to this different country where I have been living for past two years.
I am more fortunate than many people because I receive a small lifetime annuity. In the USA, I would be forced out on the streets but in this country it's not impossible to get by on my income. Many families here live on far less than I but I really just barely get by and almost never have any money left to my name past the middle of the month. With the help of my loving sister, I do manage from day to day but only just.
If I have a medical emergency, which happens more often than I care to think about, I have to rely upon help from friends.
I hate asking people to loan me money they can scarcely afford. Paying them back is always a problem because it cuts me short for the following months to come. So far, I've been fortunate that some dear friends have loaned me money to pay hospital bills and agreed out of the generosity of their hearts to wait until I begin collecting social security to pay them back.
With great fortune, the cost of high quality health care in this country is but a mere fraction of what it costs for identical care in the USA. The average expense I've encountered for a stay in hospital here has been from $1500 to $3000 USD. Compare that to $90,000 to $200,000 back home in California. Doctor visits average about $17 for a GP and $35 USD for a specialist. A visit to the ER runs me roughly a bit less than $30. The cost of the many medicines I am required to take is about $45 USD per month compared to a $600 co-pay or $25,000 per month without insurance back in the States.
It is very unsettling to have to rely on the slim chance that someone will be able to help me on the spur of the moment. This causes me such dangerously high levels of stress, the very thing my doctors tell me to avoid at all cost.
My friends have their own needs to consider and it is heartbreaking to me to have to burden them with my problems.
I'm so excited about this writing business. I've only been writing my blog for less than a year and I already have almost 3,000 readers in 32 countries and it's very humbling. I really only started it because it seemed like a free and easy word processing and file storage platform that I could use on my iPad. I never expected anyone other than maybe a couple family members and a few close friends to want to read my work.
By the way, if you ever find yourself bored and in need of a little light reading, I'd like to invite you to visit my blog site. It's just a bunch of short, easy to read stories about some of the things I've experienced and observed in my life.
https://philipandrewmerrick.wordpress.com
Just the other day I experienced the thrill and the unfathomable joy of having my first article published in a magazine with a vast, worldwide circulation. I actually had tears in my eyes when the editor sent me the link to the published article. I'll have to wait and see what develops but the opportunities are already beginning to present themselves.
I hope these writing assignments will eventually pan out into something that will give me enough of an income to really support myself and help out with more with household expenses but most especially, I want to be able to cover my own emergencies. That may take time if indeed it happens at all.
I never wanted to be a charity case and this act of asking for help is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my sixty years of living.
If you can find it in your heart to anonymously donate a little bit of money without compromising your own needs, I would never be able to thank you enough. I make a solemn promise to leave it in a secure and separate bank account and never to draw upon it except in the case of a real emergency.
If you need to be reimbursed and can wait for a couple of years to receive repayment, I would be more than happy and honored to do that. If you don't need to be payed back, you can count on me to pass it on to others in need when the time comes, as it surely will, that I have enough to do so.
With love , gratitude and pure blind faith,
Philip
Organizer
Philip Andrew Merrick
Organizer
San Diego, CA