This Disabled Veteran Needs You!

Hi my name is Trevor Jones and I am 24 years old. Some basic things about me is that I am determined, optimistic, open-minded, compassionate, and caring. I constantly try to seek out those in need and assist in any way I can...it's just the way I was raised. After I graduated high school I went to Richland Community College in Dallas where I paid for everything out of pocket for two years in order to try and obtain my Associates Degree. Turns out that trying to pay for college was a lot harder than I anticipated! Just two weeks before final exams my last semester I ran out of the funds to pay for my gas to make the excursion to and from college and my parents couldn't help because they were falling behind on mortgage payments. So I did what any irrational 20 year old with a money problem would do... I joined the military! I had decided that if I was going to join the military that I wanted to be a part of the best. And so on January 7th 2013 I set foot on Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego to begin an arduous journey that I couldn't have even imagined in my wildest dreams. Long months and many days later I was stationed at my first duty station at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort, South Carolina. After 18 months of hard work I had made many friends that would last a lifetime and had been exposed to many things that I never even dreamed of. Who knew that when you put dirty clothes in the laundry hamper that they didn't wash, dry, and fold themselves? In November of 2014 I began to have crippling back pain and decided to get checked out by the medical station on base. After numerous X-rays and MRI exams, poking and prodding of needles, and months of physical therapy they had diagnosed that I had a torn ligament in my right hip. The doctors told me that on the head of my right femur that I had extra bone growth that was wearing on the inside of my hip socket causing an impingement to form on my pelvis in the right socket. They told me that that means because of the bone growth on my femur that it had caused additional bone growth to form in my socket and that this caused a tear in one of my ligaments in my hip. The result was that I would need surgery, but the doctors told me that because I was going to be separating from active duty so soon that they couldn't give me the surgery that I would need. The doctors did tell me that after I transferred to the Marine Corps Reserves that once at my new duty station that I could continue treatment at my new facility and claim my injuries at the VA in order to receive disability for the injury. On May 5th 2015 I separated from active duty to continue my career as a reservist put my training to good use in the civilian world. Shortly after separating I transferred to my new unit at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth and received a disability rating of 40%. I began school for BNSF in Fort Worth, Texas in early June in order to learn to be a train dispatcher and continue to put my skills that I had learned on active duty to good use. They told us day one that the attrition rate of the program was 80% but I never let that deter me. In fact this knowledge drove me to be one of the highest scoring students and one of the most involved; holding study sessions after class every day and providing one on one tutoring sessions to those in class that were falling behind.  October of 2015 I had completed the course and finally earned the job position of train dispatcher and was making good money at it too. I came in every day and loved my job, each and every day was a new challenge for me. Early in January I met a beautiful woman named Megan, but there was a catch. In order to date her I had to accept that she had two beautiful boys, ages 2 months and 18 months, which I gladly accepted. Over time I stepped in as a major role in those boy's lives and am proud to call myself daddy today. I may not be biological, but I love them every bit as much as if they had been my own flesh and blood. As time went by there floated about rumors that there would be a massive furlough coming to the dispatchers at BNSF and on February 3rd 2016 the company announced that due to a decrease in rail traffic that 62 dispatchers would be furloughed according to seniority date. BNSF stated that the data that they had did not look good and that they did not predict recalling any dispatchers for at least 18 months. Everything that I had worked for was slipping out of my hands. Now I had not only my life to worry about, but also the lives of Hudson, Megan, Jayce, and our newest addition on the way...Adaline. Due to health conditions in the pregnancy Megan was told that she needed to eliminate as much stress on her body as possible or else she would have to be put on bed rest. So at that time she stopped her job that she was working and stayed home to take care of our boys and herself. In the mean time I had found a job as a dispatcher for the Postal Inspection Service that paid decent money so that we could live paycheck to paycheck. I currently work 6 days a week and work around 55 hours per week in order to ensure that my family does not need to suffer. Over the course of this time I have been dealing with the legality and paperwork associated with getting the approval and funding for the surgery my hip requires to get better. I'm told if this surgery does not improve my mobility and capacity to act physically as a Marine that I will have to be medically separated from my Corps that I hold so dear. As of this last month I have finally crossed the final hurdles between me and my surgery only to find new obstacles arise. This surgery is going to have me out of work for at least 6 weeks if not longer and though the military does have a compensation program for lost wages, it will be less than I make now and it will not come as soon as I need it to in order to pay my rent as well as my other bills. The most basic way the military explained it to me was that I could not request lost wages that had not been lost yet. So I could not request payment for what money I would have made until that time had already passed. Not only that, but I also cannot claim those wages until the following month on the first. This means that because my surgery date is set for December 2nd 2016 that I will not be able to claim anything from the military until January 1st. This does not mean that I will get paid on the first, with the processing time and approval steps that will need to happen I am looking at a 2-3 week delay from the date that I claim any lost wages to the day that I receive them. Normally I am too prideful of a person to ask for help from anyone, and to tell the truth if this situation only affected me then I would suck it up and deal with what little money I have and make it work until I received compensation. I'm finding out that once you become a parent something as childish as pride doesn't matter when it comes to the life of your children and loved ones. Currently I am approximately $13,000 in debt with a maxed out credit card and a loan already pulled out in my name. I'm not expecting any one person to jump to my rescue and provide my entire goal. I'm not even asking that any of you donate anything that would be substantial. Pennies can buy my son the infant food that he needs. Dollars can purchase the diapers that all three of my children will need in order to stay dry. And even if you can't spare money because you yourself are going through a rough financial patch, believe me I get it, if you could just pass my story along to your friends and family and say a prayer for mine. My motto in life has always been "Pray not for a lighter load, but for a stronger back". Though this time is my life may seem hard and the obstacle  insurmountable I wouldn't wish for this to be easier, but just to have the strength to show my kids that through hard work and dedication that you can make it through anything in life. Thank you for your time and God bless you.