Hello friends.  I give thanks for all of our friendships and am grateful for life and each breath.  Life has been challenging for a while. I have some health and financial issues.

               It has been almost six months since my sweet Mom has died on November 15, 2017.  I enjoyed taking care of Mom.  I was Mom’s full time paid caregiver, which was paid through Mom’s long term care insurance.  When Mom died, I lost my mom and my job.  I have been very sad and also trying to be positive through all these life changes.  We made it through the holidays with Mom’s memorial and burial the day before Thanksgiving.  I am so thankful my brother Eric, his wife Trinity and their new son Everest were able to be here all together for Mom’s passing, her memorial and burial, Thanksgiving and they were able to come back for Christmas.  There has been a lot of grief and a lot to take care of after Mom’s death, from all the legal paperwork to going through Mom’s house, fixing some water damage, putting on a new roof, and getting ready for renters.  Renters moved in the middle of March and brings in $350 in income.  I have applied for a few jobs, but didn’t get a job.  I have also had knee problems, which makes it difficult to do any job where I need to stand. The pain in my knee was one of the main reasons I closed Mountain Star Café, an organic café I owned for almost 7 years until we closed in September 2015.  I did physical therapy in the summer of 2016.  Knee got better for a while.

 I am unemployed close to 6 months now and have run out of money.  My insurance changed to Medi-Cal.  I started going to the doctor again in April when I received my Medi-Cal Insurance cards,  because the pain in my right knee was a lot worse.  I had an MRI of my knee on April 11.  I have a torn meniscus and cruciate ligament, osteoarthritis, sever cartilage loss and a cyst in my right knee.  I am wearing a sturdy knee brace full time to keep it all together.  I am not able to walk a lot.  I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon Friday May 11 to find out about knee surgery.  I just applied for disability through the social security office and will find out in 1 to 3 months if I will receive assistance. I have incurred quite a bit of debt taking care of my Mom the last few years.  There wasn’t enough money for all the bills and food.

I am asking for financial help now.  This is challenging for me, because I like to be sustainable and take care of myself.  I really appreciate any financial help you are able to give.  I know many friends have financial challenges of their own, so please don’t feel obligated.  If you can help it would be much appreciated.  This has all been very stressful.

For the past 20 years my jobs have been massage therapist, organic café owner, chef and caterer, and caregiver.  As much as I like doing all these things, they are all physically demanding and require a lot of standing.  I am looking to do a job with less physical requirements.  I do have a bilingual Spanish/English Bachlor’s degree.  I have a goal to get a lap top computer and learn more skills.  I want to take a TEFL- Teaching English as a second language- on line course and then get a job teaching on line. Maybe I can teach Spanish to the children here locally after my knee heals and I am more mobile.  I still love doing massage, but I can handle doing very little. I just turned 50 and I am grateful for this healing journey I am on.  I look forward to the future when my knee is healed and I am more mobile, able to do more and hopefully dance again.

Thank you for taking time to read my story and helping me if you can.  I appreciate all of you and all the love and friendships.  Please share if you like.  Blessings of love and health to you all!

Karen