Hello friends -

I find myself in an unusual situation and I am requesting your help.

On December 9 I had a stroke.

Due to a combination of some bad investments, some poor decisions and some bad luck, I find myself now without a home, without any savings and without any income. I need some financial assistance to cover my living expenses over the next five months at a care facility while my disability application is being processed.

Some background :

In 2022, my mother started showing signs of early onset dementia. By 2023, I made the decision to move in with my mother and provide full-time supervision for her so that she could remain in her own home. This eventually proved to be far more challenging than I realized it would be. My own health severely deteriorated. By September 2024 it became clear that she required professional care. She is now living in a full-time memory care facility.

Having given up my San Francisco apartment while I was caring for my mother, in October I rented a temporary home in Inverness to begin my recovery. A visit to the ER in November confirmed that I was experiencing congenital heart failure.

On December 9 I had a stroke. I found myself on the floor of the shower, fully paralyzed on my right side and unable to move. I spent the first three weeks following the stroke in a Santa Rosa hospital, and then was transferred to a skilled nursing facility in San Rafael. The stroke impacted mainly the right side of my body, and my ability to speak. I am able to walk now, but still have not recovered the use of my right arm and my speech remains problematic.

I will be discharged from the nursing facility soon, moving to a care facility which will not be covered by Medicaid.