Woman With Multiple Disabilities Seeks New Start With Financial Stability

by Teresa Stephenson
(Newport, Tennessee, USA)

My Grandson Levi

Hello, my name is Teresa. I have lived in Newport, Tennessee all my life.

I am a 40 year old mother of one daughter, Shawnte Rayann and Grandmother of two grandsons, Cody, four and Levi, two.

I was married for three years before becoming divorced on February 2, 2009. I now currently live with my parents due to this divorce and to help with their care.

I am a member of Calvary Baptist Tabernacle Church and attend when health permits.

I have several medical disabilities that limit my daily activities. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in 1992.

Crohn's colitis, also known as inflammatory bowel disease, is a dysfunction of the immune system that overreacts to an environmental effect, something in the diet or an infection. It can be hereditary since my Mom has the disorder as well.

My symptoms were severe abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, multiple bouts of bloody diarrhea, joint pain, skin nodules and high fevers.

The weight loss was so bad that I weighed only 71 pounds when I was admitted into the hospital to receive life-saving surgery.

The first surgery I had was the placement of a Port-A-Cath, which was to be for my Total Parenteral Nutrition. That is an intravenous tube that was inserted into a vein in my left chest area.

I was also being treated for a blood clot that was in the left groin area.

Then on December 2, 1996 I had surgery to remove twelve inches of my small intestines and six inches of my large intestines. And by doing this I now have a permanent Ileostomy which is a pouch worn on my right abdomen to collect waste.

I am ever so grateful for this surgery because it gave me my life back. I was able to eat, gain weight and function with no pain.

Although this surgery helped it does not cure it. It is life-long and does on occasion flare up from time to time.

This disease requires constant monitoring and powerful medications that have some serious side effects.

I was also diagnosed with Lupus, a skin disorder that produces a rash from time to time.

I was diagnosed this year with another autoimmune medical condition called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, where the body turns against itself and in turn is destroying my thyroid.

I just recently went through a nephrectomy by having my left kidney removed due to damage from kidney stones and the surgeries to remove the stones.

I cope with my disabilities on a day-to-day basis. I have good days and bad days, more bad than others. I never plan anything because my health patterns are unpredictable.

I am under multiple physicians care along with multiple medications. So far the Crohn's Colitis is active, my Thyroid medication has been increased along with multiple vitamins and my check up with the urologist was positive.

I am thankful for all the doctors that have cared for me. Although I am fully disabled and cannot work, I refuse to let my disabilities control me, but I do know what my limits are.

Through the financial hardships I am still blessed. These hardships have kept me from being financially sound and to really have a home of my own and be financially independent.

I want to feel the pride of being self-sufficient since my divorce. I had to move in with my parents whom live in a small mobile home.

My room is only eight feet by eight feet. So space is cramped with all three of us living here.

I have not been able to work at all since 1992 because I have too many limitations. I cannot lift over ten pounds. And extreme fatigue and depression plays a major role in my day-to-day living.

My medications have many negative side effects such as the Humira injections I take every two weeks. They lower your immune system and this lowers my ability to fight infections such as the flu or viruses.

This can be life-threatening itself.

I have medical equipment I use on a daily basis for my Ileostomy, which includes an external pouch worn on my right abdominal area to collect waste.

I do have medical insurance but I am only limited to five prescriptions a month. The rest I am responsible for paying for if they happen not to be on the exempt list. I do own an automobile, but I cannot drive due to the side effects of certain medications I take.

I was working in 1990 when I started to become ill. I stayed in the restroom more than on the job. I finally had to stop working as the medical problems became worse.

I was on welfare for several years as I was waiting on a decision for my claim for Social Security Income. I finally received SSI in 1997 after almost losing my life and after my first major surgery.

I have never received any major help from any source, churches, grants or donations so far. I continue not to be able to work to this day, as my disabilities are lifelong and permanent.

I am looking for a grant to help me to reach financial stability. I would love to own a small quiet home to make a new start for myself and just to feel self-sufficient.

I cannot afford even a small home on the income I have.

I would love to build something next to my parents so I could be close by to help with their care as well as maintain my independence.

I would also love to make my parents home a bit more safe and a place they would be proud of.