It’s been almost three years now since I packed up our place in Hyde Park and started on this scary, unknown journey into homelessness.
After years of raising a family and working to provide for them, my health took a turn for the worse. I’ve gained weight from multiple surgeries and meals high in carbs, which has left me diabetic. I have permanent nerve damage in my right leg from spine surgery. My upper spine also has fractures and bulging discs. My right leg collapses randomly and I’ve taken some nasty falls — one tore three of the four tendons in my rotator cuff in my left shoulder. I now have a steel brace that I wear when my leg gives out. Severe neuropathy in both of my feet. I also have osteoarthritis in my joints. My right hip has been replaced, and my left hip is going.
With my ex remarrying and the last child off to college in South Korea, I had few options left open to me. Disability is notoriously slow. I’ve been fighting with them for the better part of 6 years. I had no income and little saved. Options? Come to think of it, I really only had one.