Support Allen's Journey to Recovery

Hello, and thank you so much for checking out our story.

My husband, Allen has been diagnosed with autism, severe depression, severe anxiety, and a near inability to walk.

In June 2000, Allen and I met on AOL and fell in love instantly. We have been inseparable since. As the years went by, we started to notice that his brain was not the same as everyone else's. He is an intelligent man, but it became almost unbearable to have a conversation with him. He memorizes everything he reads, especially Veterinary medical knowledge, but lacks the couth to control how he states facts when in conversation with people. He states facts, but in a way that it drives people away. We have lost so many friends due to this. People think he is a know-it-all, when in fact, he memorized everything he reads and can't control himself telling people they "are wrong." People have been telling me the entire time we have been together that we need to "break up" or "get divorced". When you love someone as much I as I love him, you don't just run away. You try to help.

About 8 years ago, it really started to affect him. He developed severe depression & severe anxiety. With a lack of medical insurance, because it's very difficult to pay for on a Vet Tech income, and usually not offered by small clinics., he began to spiral into his own mind.

We scraped by and got him some medical help. Once started treatment, we couldn't stop. He started taking medications to help, but there were several trial and errors. He also couldn't work. People start telling him that he can get over it by going for a walk, or reading a book, or doing things to distract himself. That doesn't work for Allen. He lost his job and was unemployed for a little over a year and a half. Finally got himself well enough to start working, and got fired within 6 months. Depression gets worse and the anxiety of always being "a loser" starts to develop. He gets worse and worse as time goes on and he can't find a job again for another 6 months. Gets hired as a Vet Tech and was on the path to recovery. He got a job at the University of Miami and I had a break down. We lost everything because I was unable to work for 6 months. Getting out of bed in the morning was nearly impossible. I baker acted myself and took in everything I was taught and got better. We had to move to central FL and live with Allen's parents. We were both struggling for almost 7 years before we were finally able to save up enough money to move out and back on our own again.

Allen finds a great job that he loves and was there for 5 years and his memory has deteriorated so bad, he gets fired again. He forgets simple things that normal every day people don't think twice about, like flushing a toilet, or forgetting to close a door (and more). They fire him after being written up several times.

His depression gets worse. He is yet again unemployed for a year and a half. At this point, his resume is not looking so great because he keeps getting fired. He got lucky and got his dream job, working at a zoo. But again, his memory fails him and he forgets to do things that he is required to do, plus his anxiety of forgetting gets the best of him. He gets fired after 6 months.

He started to think about suicide and developed a plan on how he was going to do it. Luckily, he baker acted himself but the bills started to rack up. Without health insurance, we received our first bill of $15,000, then another $18,000. We take out a credit card, and a 2nd credit card, to try to make ends meet, but that doesn't help. That has added to the stress. We currently have 4 maxed out credit cards that we can't pay. We have over $100,000 in medical bills, 8 medications that we're paying out of pocket every month and are so far in debt that I am selling off all of my music memorabilia and collectable toys that I have had since childhood to try to keep a roof over our head, food in our bellies, electricity, etc.

Our car broke down and in a panic, I bought the first car that I could, not thinking about car payments because I need transportation to work. It's a 45 minute commute one way. There are several days where we just don't eat because we can't afford it. As I type this, our fridge and freezer are empty. Friends and co-workers of mine have given us food from their pantry, some expired, but we're still eating it. Surviving on expired canned corn, green beans, and rice isn't healthy. Eating a bag of beef jerky over a week so we have protein isn't healthy either.

Since April 2024, Allen can't work. He has been trying to find anything, even a work from home job, but with him getting fired from his last 4 jobs, no one wants to hire him. He gets rejection notices or doesn't hear back from companies he has applied to. His depression and anxiety are terrible. He can't function like a normal person. He recently broke his foot in 5 places and couldn't get it checked out because we couldn't afford to go to a doctor and get treatment. We opened another credit card just for this and maxed it out very quickly. He has been using a cut piece of bamboo as a cane to help him get from one point to another. He can't stand or walk for too long because he is in severe pain all the time. Even sitting on the couch he is in pain.

We are asking for your help to try to get us back on our feet and get him the proper medical treatment he needs to get himself back to where he was, or at least close to it. If you can find it in your heart to help us, anything helps. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Hopefully you can help make a difference in our lives. We would greatly appreciate anything. It all helps!