I can’t keep this to myself anymore.
I’ve been in and out on Tumblr for a while and I’ve alluded to my situation here and there but I’ve never actually…..sat down and explained it and right now everything is so hopeless that I just don’t know what to do anymore. So please….if this resonates with you in any way, please help me. I really have no other choice.
As a lot of you know, I suffer from debilitating chronic pain all over my entire body. It started when I was a child and has progressively gotten worse year after year. No one can tell me what it is. I’ve had constant tests, tried every treatment imaginable, and my condition has just gotten worse and worse. Doctors treat me like shit, they either refuse me treatment or to even see me half the time. I had painkillers for a while, but then about two years ago the doctor I was seeing abruptly took me off of them.
I come from a very abusive, toxic family who doesn’t understand or support my illness whatsoever. Their abuse got so bad I fled about five years ago to come live with a friend across the country. I have no ability to work and no income, so she has had to support me all on her own. At first I was able to contribute in small ways like cleaning or cooking her dinner, but after my painkillers were taken away I lost more and more of my ability to do things. I could barely stand. Moving my arms and legs was torture. I constantly felt–and still feel–like my body is attacking itself, that my muscles are being torn apart, and it’s pure agony. At my worst all I can do is lie on the floor, screaming and drooling and babbling incoherently from the pain. Doctors were useless. I’d go to the ER and they’d just sedate me and send me home. For two years I suffered this with no pain relief whatsoever. It was brutal, endless torture. I hated everyone and everything around me. I couldn’t think, could barely speak, couldn’t focus on anything but getting through the next second with the least amount of pain possible. I suffer from debilitating ADHD, OCD, depression, anxiety and PTSD which make everything fucking worse. I lashed out at people. I couldn’t clean or do anything by myself, and I walked (and still do walk) through life completely detached from reality because it’s the only way I ever learned to cope and I can’t break out of it. I drained everyone around me, and lost the people closest to me. My best friend since before high school, someone who promised to always be there and take care of me, completely broke off contact with me. And my fiancee, the love of my life, my partner of ten years, told me she couldn’t handle the responsibility of taking care of me and ended our relationship.
My roommate is also chronically ill, and she can’t support my anymore. Her parents flat out hate me. They think I’m this manipulative person trying to take advantage of their daughter and even though that couldn’t be farther from the truth I can’t fault them for thinking that. Even though I’m back on painkillers and can contribute more and be more independent, they still don’t want me around anymore. At first, they welcomed me in and treated me like family. Now, this fucking disease has poisoned them and everyone I know against me. I have no support, no help. I have to do things like drag my laundry around all by myself and I can barely manage it without ending up on the floor sobbing from the pain. I can’t even take care of my cat, the only being on this earth that really loves me, because I can’t handle litter or bending down to clean his litterbox or even to feed him. I still can’t work and I’ve been fighting to get on SSD for six years now. My disease isn’t something that can be seen on a scan, or tests, or anything. This thing that has destroyed my life for over 20 years is something some people don’t even believe exists.
My entire life I’ve been abused by people who are supposed to take care of me. My parents and sisters have systematically stripped me of every ounce of self-worth I’ve ever had, and they continue to be horrible. My mother is an alcoholic and I’ve had to do everything from scrape her drunk ass off the floor to practically raise her son because she was too busy drinking herself into a stupor. And she just made it incredibly clear, just recently over text that if I come back to live with them she and my father will not work to accommodate my disability in any way. She accused me of being selfish and said I was trying to bring more drama to the family just because I asked her if I could have my own bedroom and access to hot showers. I have no friends left. My partner left me. Now I have to move out in a few months, and I have nowhere to go.
My disability hearing is on June 12 and everything is riding on it. Everything. Even if I do get it, though, it’ll be some time before I get my money and even then I won’t have very much. My roommate has made it very explicit that she expects me to be out before the summer is through. I have nowhere to go. I can’t go back to my parents. All of the growth and healing I’ve done over the years in the wake of their abuse will be completely undone. Besides, they’re way back in Michigan. I’m stranded here in Washington state where I don’t know anyone and have absolutely no connections. My roommate is literally all I have and now I have to somehow break off and be independent when I’m so fucked up from pain and all my mental illnesses that I can barely function as a human being. In a few months I could very well become a statistic, another disabled mentally ill LGBT homeless person, except I know I won’t survive a day on the streets. With all my medical conditions I will certainly die. That’s not even an exaggeration.
I’ve kept this inside for as long as I can manage. I’m a proud person. I’ve had to rely on people for everything for years now and I’m so tired of it. I’m tired of being a burden on people. And now I have to be a burden on you guys. I’m so sorry, but I have no choice but to reach out to the internet for help. I can’t survive on my own. I’m asking for donations now but if anyone knows of any housing available in the Spokane area, please let me know. I can’t work. I can barely contribute anything. I’ll drain your water tank with my showers and mess up your house because I’m in too much pain to clean. I’ll need help with a lot of things. I’ve come to learn that most people can’t handle that and that’s okay. I understand. But if someone could just open their heart and reach out and give me a place to stay, I swear that I’ll do everything in my power to contribute to you and be as little a nuisance as possible. I would, after all, owe you my life.
I know that’s a lot to ask, so I’m opening up a fundraiser just to get me in a place where I can either give my roommate some rent money or get myself a place of my own. Any little bit helps. Like I said, my hearing is in June so I have a few months to get some money together to at least cover rent and necessities until I receive my money from SSD (provided I win my case). I also have a ton of bills that are overdue. I just…desperately need help, so if you could contribute or at least get the word out I would appreciate it so much. And while the pain prevents me from drawing as much or as quickly as I’d like to, I can still take some commissions if you’d like something in return. It’s the least I can do. My art can be found here.
Here is a more detailed account of my story and how I ended up in this situation. Please give it a read if you can.
YouCaring - here
Paypal - chidorisparkles @ gmail
Ko-fi - here