My name is Andrew. I have been experiencing some financial difficulties because of lost work due to issues with my vision. I am looking for some help to get my phone service restored, help me afford to eat, and get my rent caught up.

The problem started one morning about 6 months or so ago. I woke up with my eyes very blurry. At first, I thought nothing of this and just rubbed my eyes, thinking it was just the usual bleary vision you get when you first wake up, but no amount of rubbing or using a wet cloth took care of the issue, especially in my right eye. Money being very tight (I don't make very much at my job), I was hoping it was related to some simple issue like dry eye. I tried dry eye drops with no help. As time went on, my right eye started to get even worse. It was eventually at the point where I am pretty much blind in my right eye. I can see blobs of light and dark, but I can't actually make anything out. My left eye, while better, still is not clear and makes reading my phone and work computer difficult, and I get massive headaches and even feel dizzy or nauseated after a while. I began to get very sensitive to light. I eventually broke down and made an eye appointment. As it turns out, I have cataracts in both eyes at only 41. The only way to fix the issue is to get a surgery that will remove the old lenses and replace them with new ones in a two-surgery process. Unfortunately, I don't even get to have my consult appointment for an ophthalmologist to look at the eye and schedule the actual surgery until October 6th. In the meantime, I have to deal with migraine-level headaches, the inability to read anything that isn't super big print, and the dizziness and/or nausea. As previously stated, this has caused a lot of missed work. I don't accrue PTO very quickly at my current job, so all the time had to be taken unpaid. This has left me without phone service for two months and owing quite a bit in back rent. I already barely scrape by on the 35 hours I was being scheduled at work, so being able to work just over half has really caused me problems. Now, my work has also cut my hours, so I am not even being scheduled enough hours to cover my rent, let alone be able to buy food or pay any other bills.

On top of this, my job doesn't offer any kind of short-term disability or similar kind of benefits to ensure I can take time off when I need it, but still be able to get paid and live. My rent is $163 a week (I have an arrangement to pay weekly as this is how often I get paid, and it provides my landlord and friend, who gets paid monthly, money between their pay periods), and my friend and landlord needs my rent to make sure he can pay his bills. He is also catching up from when he had taken time off work unpaid due to cancer surgery and recovery early this past year. He can't afford for me to not be paying my full rent much longer. They struggle enough as it is, so this puts me at risk of losing my living situation. It's only because I am their friend they have let me go this long. Any help that can be provided, no matter how small, is really appreciated.