I haven’t worked since we've had our daughter Kristen. She is special needs and has many medical, behavioral, and mental challenges. I have to be readily available at a moment’s notice to care for her in case of an emergency. But, now that we are facing Jim’s cancer, things are changing. I have a job interview tomorrow. I have not worked outside the home in over 15 years.
We have had many financial increases lately. The bottom dropped out of our world (emotionally and financially) with Jim’s lung cancer diagnosis. Jim’s last day of work was January 24th, 2013. We are a payday-to-payday type of family… and now our one income family went to a no-income family. Jim will receive short term disability (soon I hope) at 60% of his gross pay, but no payments have been received by him as of this blog date. We are blessed that we will have 60% of his income, but we will still have 100% of the bills, and right now we have 0%income. We had a small savings account, but that was emptied last week to cover Jim’s medical deductibles to date, and to cover our monthly expenses. We learned very quickly that co-pay’s ($35 per appointment) do not go towards deductibles. Jim has six appointments this week, which comes to $210 in co-pays alone, plus deductible. Another item that I had not budgeted for was additional fuel for the car. Normally I do not travel much but now we have several trips to the doctors and to various appointments. My gasoline fuel budget has tripled. As of today, we are still current on our bills, but now we have no savings account to fall back on, and no income. That can be scary sometimes. So, that is why I am applying for a job.
My classmates surprised me by providing meals for us during and after Jim’s pneumonectomy hospital stay. That saved us so much time, stress, and grocery money. That was such a blessing to us, a need that I did not even realize that I needed.
Please keep in mind that I am not complaining. I’m just writing about the unforeseen financial challenge that we will have to face. We are a proud family and we want to cover our own expenses without going on public assistance. We do not want to ask for help. So that simply means that I need to find a job since Jim cannot work.
I am applying for a part-time, morning shift job, so that I will still be available to drive Jim to his many appointments. This job will allow me to get the kids off to school, and to be home when they return, while allowing me to transport Jim to his appointments. The job is only minimum wage, but considering the time constraints that I have to work around,minimum wage is something that I will just have to accept. I know that it will be a job that I will love, so that is a blessing. Maybe I should have finished my bachelor’s degree, lol.
I know that there will be many unforeseen challenges along this cancer journey, and this is simply a blog post about one of those challenges. I will have to step out on faith and ‘play the cards that are dealt to us’… because ‘it is what it is’. I think I have those two phrases drilled into my head. Wish me luck!
Edit: I wrote this blog at 7am. At 2pm we received a wonderful surprise, financial help from my dear friends and classmates! Yea for stepping out on faith! Happy tears and grateful tears were shed. We just need to say a huge thank you for the financial assistance that was given to us at the exact moment that we really needed it. We were blown-away by the kindness and generosity that has been shown to us. We really appreciate it very much, more that you will ever know. I don't know how they pulled it off without me finding out, but they certainly did!
You all mean so very much to me, and to Jim, and to our family. Thank you.
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