Getting organized

Now that we are settled in to our new house, I am doing something I never thought I would do: Apply for SSI disability.

I quit working last fall when working four hours in a day made me have the need to take a nap. My fatigue levels are very high. For example, if I go out for  more than a few hours, I need to come home and lie down. I have been known to walk in the door and head straight for the bed or couch - which ever is closer - before anything else.

When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid in the fall of 2012, immediately I began to have problems with fatigue. I left my other job at the cancer center because it took too much out of me. It also required evening meetings and weekend events which I could no longer do. First I cut back on my hours by by June of 2013, I left completely.

Then I tried to work closer to 20 hours at my remaining job (the one I just left) but over the next two years I had to cut back my hours because I couldn't last through a 6 hour day, three times a week. Then it was 5 hours a day, and then 4 hours a day. Then it was two days a week instead of three.

I am a fan of social services programs which provide help for those in need. But I am not in favor of those who abuse them. I do not agree with people who feel they provide a free ride in life. I never thought I would be the one who would need one.

But in a couple of weeks, I meet with some one at the local office to fill in the paperwork and begin the process of applying for benefits. I do not expect it to happen miraculously, instantly. I assume it will take some times and appeals to get through the process. I realize I could be denied and not receive the benefits. But I have hope.