[Cocosurviving]

In June 2024, I signed up for Ticket-to-Work through SSA, and started working part-time.

In Aug 2024, I started working full-time with the goal of gaining access to private health insurance. I signed up for private health insurance this month, October, and my plan is much better than Medicare. My specialist copays cost half the price!!!!

I never thought that having a rare illness, Hereditary Angioedema, would help me land a job. It turns out giving myself IV infusions came in handy. I work in blood collections.

Lupus SLE: I received a second opinion on Aug 16th, 2024, which confirmed a second time that I have Lupus SLE.

Food and Wellness: My rheumatologist also recommended I adhere to an anti-inflammatory food lifestyle. I walk a lot for mental well-being.

Stress: My work schedule varies between first, second, and third shifts, including some weekends. Stress is definitely part of my life. I try to reduce my stress by planning ahead such as meals, laundry and running errands. I avoid “woe is me” family members. I also put a big focus on rest and relaxation.

Fibromyalgia: Last month I started regularly experiencing muscle spasms. I take Hydroxychloroquine for Lupus SLE. Because of my work schedule, I had to buckle down and make sure I don’t miss any of my medication doses. I also started back regularly using natural products that help with pain.

Medical Cannabis: I surrendered my medical cannabis license in February to prepare for returning to the workforce. That said, medical cannabis absolutely helped me. I used to use gummies at night to relieve pain and sleep well.

On Saturday, I completed a DRS - Career Planning assessment, which is a step towards returning to school.

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[lizardlady]

Pflower, do you have a supplemental plan to go with Medicare? My supplemental premium comes out of my soc sec check before I even get paid.. Alternatively, if you also qualify for Medicaid there are cost free supplemental plans.

[lizardlady]

I'm here to vent. Don't need any advice just need to whine a bit.

I live in Florida. We just got snacked by TWO hurricanes. Stress makes fibro and CFS worse. Prepping, living through the storm, then dealing with clean up has me beat down. I spent days helping the friends I stayed with clean up the mess at their house. Was finally able to get home a week later. Spent days working on clean up here. Finally Sunday I told myself it was not a race to clean up. Am working on prioritizing what gets done. Downed trees that blocked access to the property HAD to be moved out of the way. Half a tree blocking my front door HAD to be moved. My storage shed got creamed by a tree that came down. There were things in the shed I HAD to move to protect from the weather. Spoiled food in fridge/freezer needed to be tossed. Needed to pick up some groceries. Eat hurricane supplies for a couple of days til I could get to the store.

At this point fibro and CFS are kicking my butt. I'm so tired I feel drunk. Am trying to pace myself now. Still need to wipe down the inside of the fridge. A week with no power let some interesting bio experiments start growing. I need to clean out a spot in the barn for the stuff from the shed, then move the stuff. After that I will be cutting up downed trees until the end of time.

Thanks for listening. I really needed to vent.

[Pflowers]

I'm sorry the hurricanes impacted you so badly @lizardlady ...
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To answer your questions, I don't qualify for Medicaid in my state, and the monthly premiums on the Medicare Supplement Plan (Plan G) are more than I can afford to pay for out of pocket each month.