After 8 years on disability due to a devastating spinal nerve disease, my benefits were suddenly cancelled. I am appealing the decision with an attorney, but the process could take 9–10 months before a hearing, and during that time I need help covering basic living expenses while I fight to restore them.

My name is Philip, and I never imagined I would be in a position where I needed to ask others for help like this. I spent over 40 years working in the construction industry, supporting myself through hard work and determination.

But my health struggles began long before that.

My first surgery happened when I was just 7 years old, and it was only the beginning. Over the next seven years I underwent six more surgeries to correct serious birth defects in my feet. These procedures involved breaking and resetting the bones in both feet, adding bone taken from my hip when needed, transferring tendons to change where muscles attached, and eventually fusing all of the joints in the toes of both feet.

Because of the damage and limitations in my feet, doctors believed I would never be able to spend much time standing or walking. I was told I should expect to be on my feet no more than about an hour at a time.

But I proved them wrong.

Despite those limitations, I chose to work in construction, spending more than four decades doing physically demanding work. The price for pushing my body that hard was steep. Over the years I suffered more than 50 fractures in the bones of my feet.

Yet through all of that, I never missed a single day of work because of it.

Eventually, however, my body could no longer keep up.

For the past eight years, I have lived with a rare and devastating spinal nerve disease called Adhesive Arachnoiditis. This condition causes the nerves leaving the spinal cord to become inflamed and clump together, scrambling the signals that travel through them.

The result is constant and severe pain throughout my body.

I live with intense nerve pain, muscle spasms, deep bone pain, and severe mobility limitations every day. My doctors have told me that the pain from this condition can be comparable to bone cancer. Even simple things like walking short distances can be extremely difficult. Some days I cannot walk more than 25 feet without needing to stop.

Despite the pain, I still try to remain active and positive. On a good week I am able to work around 15 hours, but that is the absolute limit my body will allow.

For the past eight years I have managed to survive by combining my disability payments with the limited work I am able to do.

Recently, however, everything changed.

Social Security suddenly cancelled my disability benefits.

My attorney believes strongly that we will win the appeal, but the system moves very slowly. We have been told it may take 9 to 10 months just to get a hearing.

Without those benefits, I simply cannot cover my basic living expenses.

My faith has carried me through many difficult moments in life. I believe that everything we face is part of God’s plan, even when we cannot fully understand it. I try every day to remain positive and encourage others who may also be struggling with pain or hardship.

If sharing my story helps someone else find strength, then my struggles have meaning.

One of the hardest things about this situation is that I have spent my entire life doing everything I could to support myself. Even when doctors said I would never be able to stay on my feet for long, I spent more than four decades working in construction and pushing through pain most people never see. Asking for help does not come easily to me, but right now I simply cannot make it through the months ahead without it.

Right now, I need help.

This fundraiser will help cover rent, utilities, food, and other basic living expenses while my disability appeal works its way through the system.

If 300 people donated $50, the goal of this fundraiser would be reached. Every donation, no matter the amount, helps keep me going during this incredibly difficult time.

If you cannot donate, simply sharing this fundraiser would help tremendously.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for any support you are able to give.

Even the smallest contribution can help me keep moving forward during this difficult time.

God bless.