Poor Health and Poor Finances Coincide

It probably comes as no surprise that being disabled and unable to work has also caused some serious financial issues in our household. I have already cashed out all of my retirement, hit up relatives and even some strangers for money, and I have exhausted the maximum amount of health payments coverage from my auto insurance. Despite all of that, bills don't stop coming, and medical bills are starting to trickle in as well, with the estimated total being in the thousands. We are in a pretty desperate situation, and I have been trying to find whatever options I have available to bring in what income I can without further neglecting my health. Today's financial endeavor was an appointment with a plasma donation center to see if I could donate plasma several times a month to bring in just a little bit more.

I had donated at this place before, but not since the accident. A lot of things had changed, so I didn't know if I would be able to donate or not. I was also concerned about donating plasma and how that could make my health situation even worse than it already was. But as we are pretty desperate, I called to ask some questions and see if there was even a possibility that I would be able to donate.

The call seemed promising. They asked me a bunch of questions about the nature of the accident and my injuries, as well as what treatments I had undergone. They were concerned whether or not I would be able to sit in the chair, but otherwise the person on the phone said they didn't see anything disqualifying. I needed to undergo a physical since I had been away for so long, but otherwise it seemed I would not be deferred from donation.

I get to the appointment today, and fortunately I arrived at a slower time so there was no wait to see someone. I answer some basic questions about what had happened to cover their missing medical history, and then they do all of the vital signs, blood iron levels, etc. I was a bit worried about my blood pressure, since it will sometimes spike due to being in constant pain, but my BP was fine.

So they started going over all of the questions that you have to answer at every appointment (plus some new ones since I had been away for a while), and there were several questions that I didn't answer the "right" way on. By this time I had been in the center for almost an hour, changing positions from standing to sitting (or vice versa) several times, and so I was in quite a bit of pain while I was sitting in the chair answering questions. That, combined with the fact that I verified that I am constantly in distress, and they said they had to defer me until my pain was at a more manageable level. I have already had a frank conversation with my pain doctor, where we discussed that we have to face the probability that I will have this condition for the rest of my life. So the chances of my pain being reduced to a point where I can donate are slim to none.

Pain and financial struggle are an ever intertwining duality for me. My pain makes it so that I am unable to do things that will improve my financial situation, such as work, food delivery or even selling my plasma. My financial situation makes it so that I am unable to have insurance or afford to see doctors, and therefore my pain gets worse. So my pain makes my financial situation worse, and my financial situation makes my pain worse. They just feed off of one another and just cause me to spiral downwards. Compared with the other major blows that I have received throughout this ordeal, this one was relatively minor. However, it is still yet one more blow among many, which doesn't exactly instill hope that things will get better.

Oh, the moral of the story? Don't get your hopes up that things will get better. Quite often they do not, and sometimes the universe seems to align all the planets in such a way that it drops a gigantic turd right in your lap. Quite honestly, at this point I am afraid to get my hopes up that things will get better, because every time there has been a promising treatment or a possibility of monetary aid, the hope ends up getting dashed on the rocks by a doctor, a lawyer, or some other person with the power to deliver a blow.

I apologize for the pessimistic attitude of the last paragraph, but I just have to be realistic and assume that the worst is going to happen, because it has repeatedly been the case for the last two years.