Yes that, but it’s my guess that they will probably state that it took some time to properly diagnose the problem. I’m sure there are multiple reasons the doctor will list that will support paying out despite missing the 49th day.
My mom suggested that since this appears to be an “irreversible damage” issue with the deposits at the bottom of my lungs and the granulomas that have formed in the rest of the lung tissue, I should also go ahead and get started on the long term disability SSDI paperwork as well, because that will very likely take some time – maybe years --before I am awarded any income.
TRIVIA: I was curious about the rarity of EGPA so I looked it up. It is indeed classified as “rare” in the United States, meaning less than 200,000 people out of the 342,000,000+ US population suffer from it at any given time.
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My timeline:
July 3, I take Ruby and Dulce to the Humane Society of San Diego. Hoping everything goes as smoothly as it did with Mama Kitty and Tony, because they’re both looking kind of weak.
July 8, after hospital follow up at the clinic. At that time, hopefully I can give them the paperwork needed for me to apply for state disability insurance payments. I have left a message for the pulmonologist to contact me to make sure I have an actual diagnosis that we’re following.
After that, I have an ENT referral across town at 1 pm, a 25 minute walk from the closest bus stop. Ugh. (EDIT) I was sent a little cash to cover an Uber from the bus stop, so I can give that a shot.
July 10, taking Gremlin the final cat to the Humane Society. She’s big and healthy, so I don’t forsee any issues. This leaves me with one cat to keep, Pastel.
July 11, if all is still according to plan, I get my surgery to remove the melanoma mole on my back and stay for 24-hour observation. (EDIT) The oncologist’s office says the 11th isn’t good if I choose the 24-hour observation instead of a friend picking me up, so they’re trying to schedule me for the 15th if they can. Basically, once they finish working on me in the outpatient surgery facility, then they truck me over to a room at the hospital until 23 hours later when they can discharge me. That’s okay. The hospital food is decent up in La Jolla, and all the Jell-O I can eat.
July 25, a follow up visit with the pulmonologist who’s been managing my case, Dr. Sanchez.
July 28, I should have my melanoma mole removed from the edge of my ear, and get a wedge of tissue cut out. I don’t think there’s any opportunity to stay under post-op obsevation, so I hope my Mexican buddy Tomás can take me home.
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Tony is up on the San Diego Humane Society website, with searchable ID number 957681.
He looks a little scared in the photo, but I think that’s the case for all of them.
Mama Kitty is taking a little time to be posted, but her ID number is 957680. Maybe she’ll be up in a couple of days.
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Wish i could take one but i’m sure they’ll find good homes
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Here is his page!
He’s VERY handsome Tony!!!
But yeah, Mama Kitty isn’t up yet… I just did a search for her ID number…
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Tony has tons of friendly personality, so I’m sure if a family with kids wanders in he’ll win them over easily. I think when Mama Kitty finds someone, she’ll likely be a contented lap cat.
When Ruby comes in, I’m not sure what they can expect. At home she’s a loud chatterbox, but at the shelter who knows?
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Okay, I took Ruby and Dulce to the Humane Society today. Of course it will be a few days until their profiles are on the website, but Ruby’s number is 244291, and Dulce’s number is 958615.
The admin worker took me around to the new cat display case they call the “aquarium” to see how Tony and Mama Kitty are doing, and they seem to be handling it well. Tony was climbing around on the cat trees and Mama Kitty was sleeping in a basket with a blanket like she was Duchess from the Aristocats.
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I’m glad you were able to see Tony and Mama kitty!
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I was glad to see them, but I don’t think they recognized me. You can’t smell or hear past the glass, so I think he had no cues to tell him who I was.
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Ya’ll. YA’LL.
Mama Kitty is not on the adoption rolls anymore. I think she got adopted!
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Yay! She got a forever home!
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Alright, if I cannot slip into a US-based VPN feed Monday morning, I will be headed to the library in San Ysidro so I can use the internet to begin my SDI application (short term disability) on the California EDD website.
I believe that normally I would be applying for DEIC (for self-employed) rather than the normal SDI, but the fact that I had been “actively” looking for work (a regular 9-5 jobby job) at the time my disability began puts me into the regular pool of applicants who are employed by a company. I will have to pay a quarterly fee out of my pay for the privilege.
The website calculator says if I qualify, I should receive about 52 dollars a week, minus 400-some odd dollars for the pay-in for the year, divided into a quarterly payment. So, really not much but still better than nothing, and luckily nowhere near enough to affect my SNAP benefit.
As far as I can tell, they are specifically using the term “wages” on the website, so I think they will make sure to define what income is pay and what income is cash gifts, so any money I have received or will receive as gifts should not reduce the outcome. Even so, they are basing it most likely on the tax year 2024’s income, not current day, and if you did not earn enough to calculate the minimum $50 weekly disability pay they still pay out $50 minimum weekly.
Once I’m into the second week August, I will be free of some of my medical worries like the two melanoma moles, and I can hopefully have a better idea of whether SSDI looks like a possibility or not. From my viewpoint, I think my main issue will be the fact that businesses now have less inclination to hire me because of existing permanent and possible progressive damage to my lungs and how it would affect my work vs. whether the Social Security Agency will eventually consider my condition worthy of SSDI long-term disability. If you had seen the look on the MTS interviewer’s face when I showed up for the hiring event in May, you would know what I mean.
If things continue to look bleak in August, I suppose it would be time to do a crowdfunding attempt to reach out to any and all friends, family, and strangers for a minimum goal of somewhere around $5,000 that would allow me to make safer personal investments like ground-level foreign currency exchange (using exchange windows instead of the internet) to survive off the capital gains.
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Got my initial application in for SDI, but there won’t really be any movement until I have my hospital follow-up and the doctor agrees to verify my non-work status and medical reasons for April through now.
I had to fix my IDMe account to be able to get in, and that really took some time because no matter how good my images were of driver’s license, the app wouldn’t accept them. It must have taken an hour for a ten minute process.
At least now I’m up to date, so future domestic travel and renewing my driver’s license should go more smoothly in the future.
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Had the hospital follow up with the doctor this morning.
If I am approved for Dupixent, the clinic pharmacy can order it from “special pharmacy” so I don’t have to truck all the way up to La Jolla every two weeks.
I learned that Dupixent is much like Prednisone in that it deals with symptoms but not the cause. It will help with the asthma and the nasal polyps, but it won’t actually fight the cause – EGPA/Churg-Strauss. This is why they are trying to get me a rheumatology referral.
My glucose levels are fine despite the Prednisone.
I’m trickling a little extra protein out of my gas tank, so I’m on another medication that I can’t remember the name of. I will remember when I have the chance to commit the image of the label to memory.
I’m close to a follow up with the pulmonologist Sanchez on the 25th, the doctor who diagnosed me. We will get to the important stuff when I see him, I hope.
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Seems like somewhat positive news, and at least things are moving forward. How have you been feeling lately?
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I made that ENT appointment in the afternoon, but even with the 1/2 mile Uber ride I still feel beat up from all the walking and doing. My wrist joint is acting up and being sore, which worries me because that’s a Churg-Strauss sign. Or it could just be from being out of shape.
“Crackles” when the doctors listen to my lungs is the norm now, because of the brittleness of the lung tissue.
I think we’ve nailed down the shoulder mole removal time to Wednesday morning the 16th, and discharge from 23-hour observation the next morning. At least with the new appointment I can get there by trolley instead of hiring an Uber at odd hours.
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CAT UPDATE:
Mama Kitty is still at the shelter. I laid eyes on her today, still sleeping in her favorite basket.
Tony is with a foster, probably living the high life.
Gremlin was dropped off today, and displayed some anxiety during the stranger test, but she still passed.
Ruby and Dulce are both listed, but I did not see them in a physical search. Maybe in another location?
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