I am sorry for the delay in posting, we have had a lot on our minds lately, as you will read below. This is a long one so please bear with me!
John and I worked in residential group homes for about fifteen years. We loved our jobs, got a good salary, plenty of vacation days and sick leave. We worked (live in) for ten days on, four days off. We had superb medical insurance, could afford to send our two sons to private school, and had a very nice van that was paid off. Our food was paid for while we were on the job, our off-duty housing was also covered by the company. For the most part, we had it made. It was great job and would have provided very nicely for us for the rest of our lives, if not for our drive to make a difference in the world.
Turning in bi-weekly progress reports on the residents was our main, and most hated, chore. Pushing papers was the most important part of our job to stay employed, and all the company really cared about, so we provided redundant progress reports every two weeks. We were to document progress in these reports for adults who had all but lost the window of opportunity to learn basic skills. It was an exercise in futility.
We loved the people we were caring for, but teaching them new skills was difficult. For years they had their basic needs met but were never encouraged to learn or to do things for themselves. We spent our days there trying to teach them self-help and community living skills, but also trying reverse their self-centered behavior. It had never occurred to most of them to have any concern for the feelings or needs of others and we hoped to change that. We made a lot of progress, but it became apparent that these behaviors were ingrained for so long, that changing their mindset completely, or permanently, would be impossible. This reinforced our desire to work with children. We were as successful as we could be under the circumstances, but we knew that for true success we needed to start as young as possible. So, we began adopting. It soon became apparent that our hypothesis was correct, as we watched our children grow, learn and love beyond anyone's expectations.
We never sought out children, but God continued to send them our way, and when it came to the point where we could no longer work in the group home, we quit. John got a job as a part time nurse and I stayed home with our children. It was a big pay cut, but one we were willing to take in order to pursue our dream. We relied on John's income, the children's SSI benefits and a whole lot of coupons to get by!
Upon quitting our job, we lost our medical benefits, but were covered for eighteen months at a lower rate, under the COBRA law. Once that time was up, we bought individual coverage at a much higher rate, with fewer benefits. Thankfully, we rarely had to use it. We continued to pay for this medical coverage, as the cost went up each year. When we were in our fifties we were paying $900 a month for what was essentially catastrophic coverage, with a $10,000 deductible. It was at that point that we finally decided we had to give up insurance for John and me, as the cost was more than we could afford.
When we hit our sixties it was suggested that we apply for Medicaid for ourselves. We were approved, and received it for one and a half years until John turned 62 and applied for his social security, which ended up being only $769 a month. It was at that time we were told that we no longer qualified for Medicaid, and even if we wanted to, we couldn't go back on the Social Security and receive Medicaid instead. We never realized we would lose money by applying.
During the one and a half years we received Medicaid I began losing sight in my left eye. After trying all options, I ended up needing a shot in this eye every six weeks in an attempt to reverse the damage. Once we lost Medicaid I skipped my second visit because I knew the shot would cost us at least a thousand dollars, but as my vision continued to deteriorate I chose to try to work out a self-pay plan for fear of going blind in that eye. When I went in for the appointment the doctor chastised me and stressed how important these shots are. When I explained my dilemma, he said he would give me these shots at no cost! I thought I was going to cry, and not because of the shot. I am so thankful there are still kind hearted people in this world! This man was a Godsend.
Everything would have been going smoothly after that, but shortly after losing Medicaid, I began experiencing pain in my right leg which has progressively gotten worse over the months and is now quite severe. After sitting for any length of time I have to hobble around bit before I can walk properly. The pain starts dull in the morning and progressively gets worse, by nightfall I am almost in tears. It makes it so much harder to accomplish what needs to be done every day. I need to see a doctor, but the cost of diagnosis and treatment would likely be well beyond our means.
We have adopted twenty-four special needs children in our lifetime. If we had simply fostered them, or cared for them in a personal care home, or worked in any government-funded facility, not only would we be much more wealthy, our medical care would be completely covered. We adopted because we wanted our children to be raised in a family, rather than an institution, a decision that has saved the government hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) but has left us in this precarious situation, with absolutely no medical coverage for John and me. Because of $769 a month, between the two of us, neither of us can now qualify for care.
If we had the choice, we would do it all over again. Even though we don't have all the benefits that a paying job would give us. We love the life we had chosen, our children are the light of our lives, I just wish the bureaucrats had more compassion and understanding for our unique situation. Other than my two ailments, we are very healthy right now, which we need to be. All we can do right now is pray that this will not end up affecting the lives of our special needs children. I am afraid of it getting to the point that we can no longer care for them, due to our inability to pay for proper medical care and treatments that John and I need. I would greatly appreciate all of your prayers that God will continue to provide and lead us to the right decisions, as he always has. We love you all.
