Young Bipolar Disabled Man Seeks Grant Money And Counseling To Better Self

by Matthew A. Reale
(Oakland Gardens, NY, USA)

I am a 31-year-old bipolar disabled male who is currently on disability. I am receiving SSD and SSI.

I am divorced and I have a child who lives with his mother.

Before disability I was a productive member of my community. I worked in local family-run food businesses.

Now I am trying to better myself and get back in to the workforce but it has been a difficult and lonely path.

I also have a failed spinal fusion, which has attributed greatly to health issues.

I need to have further extensive spinal surgery to correct the damage in my neck and my lower back.

I have spine damage from C3-T2. In C6-C7 I have a non-union from the surgery. Plus I have lumbar damage from L2-S1.

Disease and injury has caused my spine to deteriorate rapidly since the car accident and failed spinal surgery.

I started to show symptoms of an ailment in the summer of 2001. I started to have neuropathy of my upper extremities, but very mildly.

It plateaued and I never addressed the matter.

Thereafter due to my inexperience and inability to understand and receive proper and extensive medical treatments, I never properly addressed the matter at hand.

The ailment also never made it difficult to work. It was merely an inconvenience at that stage of my life.

I applied and was approved to receive disability after I was in an automobile accident in November 2005.

As a direct result of the trauma from the accident I had to seek medical treatment and advice from multiple specialists, which ended up with myself receiving spinal surgery.

It was an anterior laminectomy from C5-C7.

The accident seemed to exacerbate my original symptoms from 2001.

Upon seeking further medical advice I had to undergo many extensive neurological tests.

These tests and procedures showed that I have a neurological condition called ALS as of 2008.

In the summer of 2010, I had a biopsy, which showed that I do not have ALS but an autoimmune disease called Multifocal Neuropathy.

Multifocal Motor Neuropathy is an autoimmune disease that affects the basic and fine motor skills of my upper and lower extremities.

Currently I am receiving infusions bi-monthly to treat and digress the ailment. I receive IVIG, which is an infusion of immunoglobulin administered intravenously.

The treatments are very expensive. They cost roughly $7000 per treatment.

Fortunately my current insurance plans cover the treatments that I receive. I have Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare charges me $500.58 per infusion as a coinsurance payment. Medicaid supplements the Medicare coinsurance payments.

I have become depressed as a direct result of the ailment and trauma that I have undergone through the years.

I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder in 2009-2010 with a GAF score of 41-50. I was having falls and self-help issues at all my places of residence.

I had to move a few times due to economic hardship. Luckily, my parents are helping me out but I would like to become self-sufficient.

I am receiving $195 in food stamps and SSI and SSD payments totaling to $775 per month.

It is difficult to support myself even with the support that I am receiving now.

I take medications as well, which will become expensive if I was to lose the combined insurances that I have.

I also have a son that I pay $40 a month in child support for.

I have attempted to become employed. It has become a difficult and egregious path. I have been unsuccessful in finding gainful employment.

I have worked in many fields but my main area of expertise has been in the food business, which is now not an option for me to be in.

I have not been able to find a job that can give me the means that I need to be self-sufficient.

Any and all jobs that I have found have not been able to provide me with a salary and/or medical insurance plan that can better my current situation.

I have never applied for a grant or donations in the past but I feel that now is better than later.

I feel I can work under certain circumstances. I can do work which is not physically demanding and that can revolve around any and all medical treatments.

It is hard to find gainful employment with any company due to my medical needs and medical condition.

I am looking for assistance with my current and future medical expenses, like a grant to dilute the cost of my infusions.

I want to be able to work and be self-sufficient and better my life. This is what I am looking for.

If I was to return to work my medical expenses will be astronomical. The infusions and cost of medical care will be roughly $1500 a month.

In the return-to-work, I would receive Medicare for 9 months. After the 9 months I would be off disability and have to figure out how to continue to pay for treatments.

I have missed bi-monthly infusions before and I become ill when I do not receive the treatments as prescribed.

I am also looking for advice and counseling if it is possible so I can better myself and be able to support my son better than I am currently doing.