Help A Chronically Chill-Chronic Illness Queen

Hi there all! If you don't know me, I’m Zoie. As you can see, I may look like your every day human and I am...BUT, I also live with a chronic illness. I have a disease called Systemic Lupus Erythremarosis along with Chronic Kidney Disease, Lupus Nephritis, and High Blood Pressure. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that effects my entire body and specifically my kidneys which are currently under attack. My healthy cells attack each other and my kidneys causing them to dysfunction. I was diagnosed in 2009 when I was barely a teenager. Since then, I have had ups and downs with my chronic illness called flares. I recently flared in December 2021 that caused me to be hospitalized due to my lupus nephritis being at an all time high. I have been in the foodservice industry for 6 years now and have had my ups and downs with flares but this one by far has been the worst. I started working at a local meat and produce distributor in Chicago last year to stay in the foodservice industry after the pandemic hit to learn more about the business aspect of things. I had been working there seven months and even got a promotion before I was hospitalized and had surgery. I notified my industry job and they seemed like they were understanding at the time. When they wanted me to return, COVID was running rampant through our entire warehouse and it was unsafe for me to go back as stated in a drs letter. They then refused to let me back when I went on chemo in January. After numerous phone calls and emails for a month explaining why I still could do my job effectively, they ended up firing me because they “could not accommodate me.” I ended up losing my health insurance and have to pay it via COBRA (almost $500/mo) and am out a job. I was upfront and honest about my disability and it led me to being fired. This caused a lot of stress and anxiety for me. Stress is a trigger for my flares and this has caused me to be pretty sick lately and my counts are going back down.

I am still unable to be around people as I am immunocompromised and am susceptible to infections and illnesses especially doing chemotherapy. I still need to do numerous tests and pay for medications every month. As well as get my nephritis under control. They plan for me to be on chemo meds for 2-3 years. Unfortunately, this leaves me in a bad position. This company left me without a job, insurance, and caused a lot of issues in my personal life with the waiting and back and forth. I can’t speak with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) until May and have 300 days to file a claim. This whole process is causing a lot of stress in my life even though these resources are supposed to be here to help. There are disability laws but it’s almost too difficult to access these offices to even make a claim. With all of this going on, I am in need of some support. I do not like to ask for help and have a hard time seeing myself as “disabled enough” to get any. I want and am able to work so I see that as not disabled enough sometimes. Please let me know if you have any leads on at home jobs as well! I hope many people hear my story and learn more about this disease and chronic illnesses. We as a society need to be more accommodating to disabled people. I appreciate any and all help. If you can't help monetarily, I have set up a PO Box for letters if you would like to send me any. I also have an Amazon wish List link here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2QD994XHORZR2?ref_=wl_share .Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story.