Hi Daily Kos Family,
This week is both of our birthdays, Val’s tomorrow, and mine Wednesday, Pearl Harbor Day. We are 17 hours and 13 minutes apart. I wish it felt joyous.
I wish this diary brought some good news, but it does not. In fact, my wife is in dire condition. Her kidneys have now begun to fail in earnest and it is only a short matter of time before she is forced into treatment with dialysis. The reason I am writing with such urgency today, is that her insurance has begun to argue with Mayo Clinic.
Val is facing examination for ovarian cancer, and even though the marker for it turned up irregular, Aetna decided not to cover the test, deeming it unnecessary. Again, I point out that Mayo Clinic administered a cancer test that showed up high number correlating with cancer and Aetna will not cover it. This is causing me some panic. She is out of pocket on that test, despite hitting her deductible, because it is uncovered. She can appeal, but I don’t know what they were thinking.
Mayo is not flexible when it comes to payment. In fact they don’t even take Obamacare, so while they are good, maybe the best, they are not patient. And I can’t let her lose their services. Her life is literally at stake.
She has to resolve this so she can continue the process of qualifying for a transplant. This is a bad Catch-22, and I truly need help. I am doing the best I can to keep up with the newsletter, and at some point I need to further evaluate my own condition, as it is not improving and I am surviving off tea for caffeine so I can stay awake.
This is what I am facing trying to cover: A large increase in rent, or, a $3000 deposit on a rental house we are looking at, $4200 in deductibles almost instantly at the beginning of the year, and $250 for the uncovered test. I am sick to my stomach with worry, and don’t know what I am supposed to do. I am working the best I can, and sleeping maybe five hours a night. Once Val can’t work, she gets a massive pay cut.
This is all the while my mom and brother are unable to support themselves, and Social Security drags its feet with her.
The thing with long term disability is that most people think that work disability plus SSDI equals pay. The reality is it only covers 60 percent of pay. I don’t know why. That doesn’t seem right. I need all kinds of help, subscribers to my newsletter, donations, advice, heck, I even need people to help me market my writing.
Most of all Val needs a kidney.
If you want to help with that, click here-mayoaz.donorscreen.org/...and tell them you want to help Valerie Robbins.
I am doing this all on my own, as Nan is too sick to continue her writing consistently, so anything you can do to help is massively appreciated. Please share this too. I am trying to contribute to the world with my work, and doing my best not to be a drag on society, but I am running out of extra gears to shift to.
I don’t feel eloquent anymore. I don’t feel all that useful, anymore. I want to feel like I still have value to the world, but my confidence is shaky. And I am so tired, still, I wake up and somehow, I am now the healthiest one in my family. After having cancer, Long Covid, an aneurysm, a leaky valve, that..seems impossible. But all I can do is keep trying.
Anything that you can do to help is appreciated more than you will ever know.
I really need your help.
I promise to do my best to make the world a better place, as much as I can, for as long as I can. Thanks for being a part of my family, and I wish only the best for all of you!
You can help support me at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-todd-rule-of-claw-rebuild-life
Love,
-Todd (ROC)
