Invest in a bright future

In July of 2014, I found myself in the ER and was admitted to the hospital with surgery afterwards. All in the midst of trying to move! I was able to get immediate needs covered but now I find myself  still overwhelmed financially and emotionally with debt.

Shortly after surgery, we relocated and I became unemployed. I was able to find a contract project back in April/May 2015 that paid well enough for me to pay down some of the debt incurred in 2014. The copays and deductibles of the hospital stay and surgery were quite high. I was unemployed most of the year. My long-term partner was able to cover our housing (we were in the SF Bay Area so this is very high). Plus he took on some of my medical expenses from previous year and paid for the copays that I could not. However, I still have outstanding student loans in excess of $50,000 which I was able to get deferred for a time. I do have about $10,000 in other education related debt that I was paying on when I had income. I was able to find a decent part-time job to stretch our budget to cover our bills, food, pet supplies and the like.  Unfortunately, I did not thrive in the Bay Area.   

We moved back to Arizona in Sept 2016 with the goal of returning to a place with more in person support available plus lower living costs and more sunshine. I was able to work for a brief time but was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and impaired kidney function. I was finally diagnosed in October 2017 with chronic kidney disease.  I have made changes to my diet and am hopeful that the progress of kidney damage will slow or reverse.  Feb 2018: I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and a herniated disc.   I also have chronic joint pain and type 2 diabetes.

My partner truly does what they can but a single paycheck only stretches so far.  In the meantime, I'm trying to find a steady source of income.  Since I am not able to work at a regular job and the whole process of getting disability has been soul crushing, I have started turning my hobby of jewelcrafting into a business. Dragon & Wolf Crafts      It is both therapy and a very irregular source of money.  Right now, however, I need a bit of help. 

So I thought I would send this out into the universe and see what happens. Where will the money go? To help offset the costs of attending events in order to sell product and for marketing.  I would like to be able to apply for spots at as many events over the next year as possible.  Fees run between $75-$350 depending on size of event.   Ideally, I'd like to do at least one event per month.  We do pretty well in person vs online sales so getting out into the community would boost my business viability.  


More about depression and its effects on physical health:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/D/depression/

http://www.healthline.com/health/depression/effects-on-body

For chronic pain: 
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/pain-and-depression/faq-20057823