Keep Scott Safe at Home Amid Health Struggles

Please help Scott Stone stay in his house while he fights for his disability claim

My name is Sally West. I am writing this for my nephew Scott.

Scott will be 47 years old next month and worked as a Customer Service Associate/Tech support at the U of M. He did his job well and was then given the added responsibility of training new staff and creating documentation used for that process. He worked there for 10 years and took great pride in being able to buy a small house and a modest car.

Then things started happening that made doing his job almost impossible. Scott developed Diabetes; one of his legs was amputated. He quit smoking and lost weight to manage his symptoms.

But that was just the start of Scott’s troubles. He developed diabetic retinopathy. His sight is randomly obscured by what looks like red worms. Those are broken and bleeding blood vessels in his eyes. Bleeds only persist for about a week, but it can take up to six months for his vision to clear back up. Laser surgery by a retina specialist helps to control the issue, but scar tissue has formed which makes his vision questionable. Scott took himself off the road after a couple of minor accidents within a 6 month period (no other vehicles were involved).

Because he was struggling to continue, Scott tried to apply for disability. He was denied. Then he missed his appeal date in court because he was in the hospital. He was experiencing loss of breath caused by fluid surrounding his heart. Doctors think there was a possible interaction of medication and complications of pneumonia that caused his heart issues.

Over the summer of 2022 his heart function was so poor that his body wasn’t able to keep up and the doctors admitted him to the hospital where they flushed an unbelievable 25 liters of fluid from his body. In about two weeks Scott went from 375 lbs. to 250 lbs.

With medication and the removal of fluid, his heart was able to begin to keep up again. However, after 2 years of monitoring, he received 2 stents. In spite of this, the ejection fraction rate still registered under 30%. Things were not going well. Surgery to place a pacemaker/defibrillator was done.

A second application for disability assistance was filed through a lawyer. A typical response is usually reached in 180 days. Nearly 1 ½ years later, it was decided that that he was indeed disabled. But even though Scott qualifies, someone has decided to reject his claim anyway. His lawyer is re-appealing this decision.

In spite of unrelenting troubles, Scott is still in his house. To continue paying his mortgage, he has burned through everything in savings and retirement that he was able to access. He thought about selling his house, but his house payment is less than half of the least expensive rent that he can find, especially when considering his handicap access needs.

In plain English, Scott needs some help to survive and keep his house until his disability claim is accepted. I’m asking you to please chip in a little to help this brave man carry on.