I can’t afford to be sick…

Many of you know that I spent most of 2023 off work caring for my mother who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer as well as taking care of my chronically ill and disabled kid. Caregivers leave is a pittance and I have ended up in more debt than I care to think about.

My mom passed away December 29th, 2023 and I have spent the last 9 months trying to play catch up on bills and fighting an eviction notice from our landlord of 7 years. We were evicted anyway and thanks to the kindness and charity of an amazing friend of my kiddo, we have lived in their apartment for two months until we could find affordable housing.

It’s still not affordable, obviously, even though it’s an excellent price for the size and what it includes. I have been working a low paying job for the health plan so I am always falling further behind. And now suddenly my health has tanked. I’ve had to take time off work which I can ill afford. It’s a suspected autoimmune disease and I’m being hurried through internal medicine because apparently it’s not normal to wake up feeling like your knees got bashed in with a baseball bat!

Of course decades of research has shown how socioeconomic factors can cause a wide range of health outcomes (2014, The Social Determinants of Health)

So it’s not really a big shock that I am now run down to the point of becoming chronically ill. But I gotta keep going! Who else is going to take care of my kid? And who else is going to protect my dad from online scammers? Sigh. Yeah the last couple of years have been a rollercoaster ride that’s on fire and just seems to keep sliding further into the abyss. And now I’ve had to take time off work due to an MRSA infection in my feet. Antibiotics and keeping my feet up is the cure but as a chef there’s no way I can just keep my feet up at work…

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and please donate if you can or share if you can’t!

Donations will go towards:

Groceries because food for people with celiacs and gastroparesis isn’t cheap!

Rent and bills assistance because I don’t have enough sick days left!

Medical supplies that aren’t covered by my insurance or odsp (and there’s a lot)

Thank you and I appreciate all the assistance.