Ashleigh's Road to Disability
Donation protected
Hello Friends & Family,
Update:
First, thank you to everyone who has donated to this campaign thus far. We are amazed at how many people are willing to give. Unfortunately, Dalton and I are still in need of assistance. He is still jobless, however we've had many promising interviews over the last couple of weeks and we have hope that he will be working soon. Thanks to the kindness of our friends and family, we were able to pay our rent for September, but we are behind on October and November is quickly approaching. We have every hope that he will be working soon, which will help, but a lot of our bills and responsibilities have fallen behind due to the length of his unemployment. We're adjusting the goal amount in hopes that people will continue to give until we are back on our feet. But any money given goes to our landlord for rent and utilities, as well as paying to have our internet turned back on and keeping the power on. I've kept the story from the original campaign written below, so please do share this story with friends and family so that we can hopefully get a little closer to having our lives in order. Thank you in advance for your kindness.
Original Story:
As many of you know, last year I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, which is an inflammatory disease caused when the immune system attacks its own tissues. Over the last year and a half I have undergone multiple types of treatment for this disease, but unfortunately most have left me with irreparable damage to my organs. Throughout the process, I have also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (widespread muscle pain and tenderness), Raynauds (a condition in which some areas of the body feel numb and cool in certain circumstances), cirhossis of the liver (due to chemotherapy), depression, PTSD, and severe anxiety. Due to my daily battle with widespread pain and an immune system that doesn't fight off any sort of common cold or flu, I was unable to hold a job and was forced to file for disability.
When my chemotherapy treatments caused pain in my intestines and my liver, I was unable to eat or drink for weeks, and ended up staying in the hospital twice, for a combined week and a half.
To those of you who have never had to file for disability for you or a loved one (honestly, I'm hoping that's most, if not all of you), the process is actually a lot more draining that you would imagine. First, I'm unable to work at any point during the process, so I cannot earn any sort of income. Then, after my application went through, it took them 3 months to even send any sort of follow up questions. At this point, it will take 4-6 months to receive a decision. But in all honesty, I have about a 99% chance of getting denied due to my age. At that point, I'll need to acquire a lawyer and file for an appeal. With the appeal process, it can take months to years to get a trial date. Basically, I cannot earn money for myself, and won't be able to for at least another 6 months.
This was on my birthday this last year. Chemotherapy was really taking its toll on my body and forced me to shave my head.
When I was forced to stop working, my roommate Dalton didn't even hesitate to offer to cover my expenses. Since I've stopped working, he has paid for my rent, my food, my doctors appointments, my medications... everything. And on top of it all, he drops everything whenever I need him to. He picks me up off the floor when I fall. When I'm in the hospital, he's right by my side. I couldn't ask for a better human being to be my best friend.
Dalton refused to sleep at home during my last hospital stay, so instead he slept on a plastic recliner 2 feet from me.
Unfortunately, 2 weeks ago Dalton lost his job. He's been to multiple interviews and has his resume posted everywhere, but unfortunately has not been offered a job as of yet. On that note, if anyone we know is in the electronics and manufacturing industry, send me a message! But being that rent is due on the first, we're starting to panic.
This is where you all (hopefully) come in. With Dalton not working yet, we're not going to have any sort of a paycheck before the first of the month when our rent is due. My family has helped when they were able, but it's been a crazy year for them also. We've sold the car for scrap metal and Dalton was able to sell his bike, but we're out of posessions to sell and frankly, this is our last option. We're just two kids trying to stay in our home.
Thank you all in advance for your help in this tough situation. Anything and everything helps, even just sharing.
Update:
First, thank you to everyone who has donated to this campaign thus far. We are amazed at how many people are willing to give. Unfortunately, Dalton and I are still in need of assistance. He is still jobless, however we've had many promising interviews over the last couple of weeks and we have hope that he will be working soon. Thanks to the kindness of our friends and family, we were able to pay our rent for September, but we are behind on October and November is quickly approaching. We have every hope that he will be working soon, which will help, but a lot of our bills and responsibilities have fallen behind due to the length of his unemployment. We're adjusting the goal amount in hopes that people will continue to give until we are back on our feet. But any money given goes to our landlord for rent and utilities, as well as paying to have our internet turned back on and keeping the power on. I've kept the story from the original campaign written below, so please do share this story with friends and family so that we can hopefully get a little closer to having our lives in order. Thank you in advance for your kindness.
Original Story:
As many of you know, last year I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, which is an inflammatory disease caused when the immune system attacks its own tissues. Over the last year and a half I have undergone multiple types of treatment for this disease, but unfortunately most have left me with irreparable damage to my organs. Throughout the process, I have also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (widespread muscle pain and tenderness), Raynauds (a condition in which some areas of the body feel numb and cool in certain circumstances), cirhossis of the liver (due to chemotherapy), depression, PTSD, and severe anxiety. Due to my daily battle with widespread pain and an immune system that doesn't fight off any sort of common cold or flu, I was unable to hold a job and was forced to file for disability.
When my chemotherapy treatments caused pain in my intestines and my liver, I was unable to eat or drink for weeks, and ended up staying in the hospital twice, for a combined week and a half.To those of you who have never had to file for disability for you or a loved one (honestly, I'm hoping that's most, if not all of you), the process is actually a lot more draining that you would imagine. First, I'm unable to work at any point during the process, so I cannot earn any sort of income. Then, after my application went through, it took them 3 months to even send any sort of follow up questions. At this point, it will take 4-6 months to receive a decision. But in all honesty, I have about a 99% chance of getting denied due to my age. At that point, I'll need to acquire a lawyer and file for an appeal. With the appeal process, it can take months to years to get a trial date. Basically, I cannot earn money for myself, and won't be able to for at least another 6 months.
This was on my birthday this last year. Chemotherapy was really taking its toll on my body and forced me to shave my head. When I was forced to stop working, my roommate Dalton didn't even hesitate to offer to cover my expenses. Since I've stopped working, he has paid for my rent, my food, my doctors appointments, my medications... everything. And on top of it all, he drops everything whenever I need him to. He picks me up off the floor when I fall. When I'm in the hospital, he's right by my side. I couldn't ask for a better human being to be my best friend.
Dalton refused to sleep at home during my last hospital stay, so instead he slept on a plastic recliner 2 feet from me. Unfortunately, 2 weeks ago Dalton lost his job. He's been to multiple interviews and has his resume posted everywhere, but unfortunately has not been offered a job as of yet. On that note, if anyone we know is in the electronics and manufacturing industry, send me a message! But being that rent is due on the first, we're starting to panic.
This is where you all (hopefully) come in. With Dalton not working yet, we're not going to have any sort of a paycheck before the first of the month when our rent is due. My family has helped when they were able, but it's been a crazy year for them also. We've sold the car for scrap metal and Dalton was able to sell his bike, but we're out of posessions to sell and frankly, this is our last option. We're just two kids trying to stay in our home.
Thank you all in advance for your help in this tough situation. Anything and everything helps, even just sharing.
Organizer and beneficiary
Ashleigh Sturge
Organizer
Beaverton, OR
Dalton Israel
Beneficiary
