My eldest daughter, Heather, has an autoimmune disease that flared up at the end of July making her extremely ill. At that same time she experienced severe back pain which up to that point had been successfully treated with steroid injections, but this time the injections did not help. What she was experiencing was nerve pain running all the way down her leg. Between the flare up of my autoimmune disease and the back and nerve pain, she could no longer walk unassisted. She had to start using a cane. Presently the nerve pain is excruciating. By the last week of October, she could no longer work. She can’t cook, clean, shop, or walk any distances longer than a few steps. She exhausted all her sick leave by Oct 30, so she has been without pay since. She has applied for short term disability which, if approved, will pay 66.7% of her regular salary. She doesn’t know how she will make ends meet. There's a 15 day wait period before Short Term Disability kicks in, so she is concerned about her daughter, Karlyn's, birthday in a few days and Christmas which is swiftly approaching. The earliest her spine surgery could be scheduled is Dec 31, and recovery can take up to 12 weeks. If you can find it in your heart and budget to help her a bit she and all of us who love her will greatly appreciate it.