Keep Jack In His Apartment After Injury
Donation protected
Hi, folks:
My name's Jack. I'm a 32-year-old trans man living in Maine. I have a degenerative disease affecting my spine for which I have had two surgeries in the past five years. Those surgeries were largely successful for the issues they were meant to fix, but involved removing some vertebral discs, meaning my spine would become more unstable and prone to injury. This meant that I can no longer work a job which requires standing or walking, but was lucky enough to find a job working in an insurance office; it provided me with health insurance, personal leave that could be used for sick days, and short-term disability benefits.
Unfortunately, starting in late 2017, I began having further pain, weakness, muscle stiffness, and difficulty moving involving my lower back and legs. I was tentatively diagnosed with facet joint disease, a form of arthritis affecting the joints between vertebrae. As my insurance wouldn't cover the diagnostic test to determine whether surgery would be helpful, I had to return to work with the increased pain and decreased motion. I had missed a significant amount of work, but a short-term disability claim was approved, providing some amount of income.
I woke up one day in late August of 2018 almost fully unable to move. Any amount of sitting was incredibly painful, and my muscles were so stiff it could take me several minutes just to fully straighten my back when standing up. After a few appointments with my GP, I was referred to a neurologist. Imaging eventually showed the arthritis is now affecting my tailbone, causing a severe dislocation (there's a space between two vertebrae larger than the actual vertebrae themselves, and when sitting, my tailbone points UP at about a 40° angle to the rest of my spine). After a couple unsuccessful epidural injections, I'm being referred to a neurosurgeon who specializes in spinal surgery with the plan to remove my tailbone entirely.
Meanwhile, since August, I've been out of work three separate times for several weeks each due to the amount of pain I'm in. I've now been out since March 1st, and have no idea when I will be able to return. Lying down is the only position that I can maintain for longer than a half-hour at a time without causing severe pain for the rest of the day, so at this point I'm largely bedridden.
Unfortunately, my short-term disability claim for these absences was denied. The doctor at the insurance company agrees that I have two separate conditions causing severe pain when sitting, but does not believe that should keep me from a job where I have to sit between eight to twelve hours a day.
I'm in the process of appealing this decision with my doctors' support, but in the meantime I'm struggling to make ends meet. I'm able to pick up some piecemeal data entry and editing work that I can do on my phone, which is bringing in between $30-50 a week, but that's barely enough to cover groceries and cat food.
By now I've gone through my savings, my emergency fund, my tax refund, and my performance bonus from work. I've borrowed all I can from my incredibly supportive family, who I suspect have loaned me far more than they could afford. I was hoping to have my short-term disability appeal approved and at least some money coming in by now, but that hasn't happened.
My rent is due on May 1st, along with my car payment, and though I hate to admit this, I can't pay it. Rent is $900, and although I've got part of the car payment covered, it looks like I'll be $100 short. I just don't have it, or any idea where to get it. I know these days literally everyone is struggling to cover their own bills and I hate to ask for help with mine, but anything anyone can spare would be an amazing amount of help. I'm at my wit's end with this, and I just don't know what else to do.
My name's Jack. I'm a 32-year-old trans man living in Maine. I have a degenerative disease affecting my spine for which I have had two surgeries in the past five years. Those surgeries were largely successful for the issues they were meant to fix, but involved removing some vertebral discs, meaning my spine would become more unstable and prone to injury. This meant that I can no longer work a job which requires standing or walking, but was lucky enough to find a job working in an insurance office; it provided me with health insurance, personal leave that could be used for sick days, and short-term disability benefits.
Unfortunately, starting in late 2017, I began having further pain, weakness, muscle stiffness, and difficulty moving involving my lower back and legs. I was tentatively diagnosed with facet joint disease, a form of arthritis affecting the joints between vertebrae. As my insurance wouldn't cover the diagnostic test to determine whether surgery would be helpful, I had to return to work with the increased pain and decreased motion. I had missed a significant amount of work, but a short-term disability claim was approved, providing some amount of income.
I woke up one day in late August of 2018 almost fully unable to move. Any amount of sitting was incredibly painful, and my muscles were so stiff it could take me several minutes just to fully straighten my back when standing up. After a few appointments with my GP, I was referred to a neurologist. Imaging eventually showed the arthritis is now affecting my tailbone, causing a severe dislocation (there's a space between two vertebrae larger than the actual vertebrae themselves, and when sitting, my tailbone points UP at about a 40° angle to the rest of my spine). After a couple unsuccessful epidural injections, I'm being referred to a neurosurgeon who specializes in spinal surgery with the plan to remove my tailbone entirely.
Meanwhile, since August, I've been out of work three separate times for several weeks each due to the amount of pain I'm in. I've now been out since March 1st, and have no idea when I will be able to return. Lying down is the only position that I can maintain for longer than a half-hour at a time without causing severe pain for the rest of the day, so at this point I'm largely bedridden.
Unfortunately, my short-term disability claim for these absences was denied. The doctor at the insurance company agrees that I have two separate conditions causing severe pain when sitting, but does not believe that should keep me from a job where I have to sit between eight to twelve hours a day.
I'm in the process of appealing this decision with my doctors' support, but in the meantime I'm struggling to make ends meet. I'm able to pick up some piecemeal data entry and editing work that I can do on my phone, which is bringing in between $30-50 a week, but that's barely enough to cover groceries and cat food.
By now I've gone through my savings, my emergency fund, my tax refund, and my performance bonus from work. I've borrowed all I can from my incredibly supportive family, who I suspect have loaned me far more than they could afford. I was hoping to have my short-term disability appeal approved and at least some money coming in by now, but that hasn't happened.
My rent is due on May 1st, along with my car payment, and though I hate to admit this, I can't pay it. Rent is $900, and although I've got part of the car payment covered, it looks like I'll be $100 short. I just don't have it, or any idea where to get it. I know these days literally everyone is struggling to cover their own bills and I hate to ask for help with mine, but anything anyone can spare would be an amazing amount of help. I'm at my wit's end with this, and I just don't know what else to do.
Organizer
Jack Meraxes
Organizer
Lewiston, ME
