I Am So Tired of The Stereotypes (I Get Welfare)

   I worked as a home health caregiver for nine years.  It is not an easy job.  That is why there is such a high turnover rate.  Last year, I was at work when I began to feel the sickest that I have ever felt in my life.  My chest was tight and every muscle in my body ached and felt bad.  I knew something was going on, but I continued to work my shift anyways.  I went home and collapsed into bed.  Over the next few days I slept around seventeen hours a day.  I was off work and was physically exhausted.  It was not until two weeks later that I found out some shocking news.  I had an EKG done for a colonoscopy that was scheduled.  I took it all in stride until the doctor called me into his office and told me that at the age of 35 I had a heart attack.

    This began my quest into the world of stereotypes.  The first cardiologist I saw said I was too young and he was sure the hospital put the leads on wrong.  I found a new cardiologist and he ran some tests and said that my EKG had changed so he confirmed the diagnosis of a heart attack.  I was also diagnosed with neurocardiogenic or vasovagal syncope and peripheral artery disease.  The effects of this illness became worse over the next couple weeks and I was forced to quit work.  I have had to quit driving due to the blackouts and have been seeking disability.  I finally had to get a lawyer involved because Social Security kept saying that I can do a sit down job.  I can not sit down or stand up more than 30 minutes at a time.  

    My husband and I applied for and got welfare benefits; Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance.  I am still fighting for disability but in the meantime we are surviving thanks to the income I have been able to make by doing various programs on the internet.  There are many people out there in our situation, yet the media still has people believing that if you are on welfare, you are lounging in your yard drinking alcohol and smoking cigars and taking advantage of the taxpayers money.  I do not drink nor smoke and the only reason I am forced into this situation is because I got sick through no fault of my own.  Some people insist if you are receiving welfare that you should be drug tested.  News flash- not everyone on welfare is a junky or drunk.  There are many people who lost their jobs or got sick getting assistance.

   Then there are the continuous cuts.  The politicians always target Medicaid and Medicare first for cuts.  These are the programs that are used by the chronically ill and disabled population.  What they are doing is essentially crippling these programs.  A program can only take so many cuts before it becomes weak and is destroyed then the politicians will have a whole other set of problems on their hands.  People will be in these programs with terminal illnesses and it will cost the system even more.