• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

For those on disability.. How do u hire someone to take care of u?

Messages
15
I am currently on disability for depression... I also developed CFS about 2 years ago and I'm in the process of getting a diagnosis.. If my condition gets any worse I am not going to be able to do certain things for myself and I do not have any friends or family that can help me out.. Does anyone know how I would go about getting professional help? Is there any help offered for low income people?
 

Sean

Senior Member
Messages
7,378
Hi Becky.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. All the best with that.

Would help in offering you advice if you could tell us where you live (country & state/region should be enough).

:hug:
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
Ok. I'm in Southern California.

I'm in southern California too. There is a California program for very low income people which provides some in-home care:
http://www.cdss.ca.gov/agedblinddisabled/pg1296.htm

I don't qualify - I don't have a lot of money, but I'm not poor enough for this program, I forget what the income limits are but it's worth looking into.

Can I ask who your CFS doctor is? Good ones are hard to find!
 
Messages
15
@Becky Ray - okay my earlier post may have been misleading. It looks like the income requirements are not as rigid as I thought - depending on your income, you may have to pay a share of the cost. You'd have to contact them to find out. Here's another link about eligibility: http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG135.htm

Thank u so much for looking that up for me.. I actually do not have a diagnosis yet I am in the process of going through all my lab test to eliminate anything else.. From reading others symptoms it is spot-on to what I'm going through . I'm just planning ahead.. If I get any worse than I am now.. I fear I'm not going to be able to take care of myself it's a struggle already.. I'm a bit of a loner and don't know too many people.. My best friend that I spend all my time with is my much-loved doggy :) she gives me lots of love.. But other than that she's not much help LOL. I'm going to need someone to help me walk her when I can't.. And even that I can't afford :-(
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
@Becky Ray - welcome to the board, it's a great resource with a ton of knowledgeable and helpful people, and I'm so sorry for what led you here! I have a cat who is my major companion - I wouldn't be able to have a dog because I couldn't manage the walks .... my cat is like a live stuffed animal, requires almost no care, she even bathes herself! (as cats do of course :cat:)

For what it's worth, I have made some progress over the years (albeit slowly). I strongly urge you to read as much as you can (it sounds like you're already doing that). For many if not most of us dealing with ME/CFS is an ongoing lab experiment with ourselves as the guinea pigs.

What I'm trying to say is I think there is some hope and also with the 2015 IOM report (http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/reports/2015/me-cfs.aspx) and NIH proposed research (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/new...ic-encephalomyelitis/chronic-fatigue-syndrome) we may get some real help in the not-too-distant future.

So ask all the questions you want and the search feature at the top of the page can be very useful in finding info on specific issues -

Best wishes --

Mary
 

KitCat

be yourself. everyone else is already taken.
Messages
222
Location
US
p.s.

It can take six months or more to get into a program like this. My suggestion is to start early so you will have more options.
 

KitCat

be yourself. everyone else is already taken.
Messages
222
Location
US
I'm in southern California too. There is a California program for very low income people which provides some in-home care:
http://www.cdss.ca.gov/agedblinddisabled/pg1296.htm

I don't qualify - I don't have a lot of money, but I'm not poor enough for this program, I forget what the income limits are but it's worth looking into.

Can I ask who your CFS doctor is? Good ones are hard to find!

Hi mary, I'm not sure where you are located. Some states will allow you to open a miller trust, that will let you keep access to your money and still qualify for medicaid. I don't know a lot about this, but it might be worth looking into.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
Hi mary, I'm not sure where you are located. Some states will allow you to open a miller trust, that will let you keep access to your money and still qualify for medicaid. I don't know a lot about this, but it might be worth looking into.

Hi @KitCat - I'm in California. In California we have Medi-Cal instead of Medicaid and I don't qualify for Medi-Cal. But I'll check into the miller trust - I've never heard of that before - so thanks!
 

KitCat

be yourself. everyone else is already taken.
Messages
222
Location
US
Hi @KitCat - I'm in California. In California we have Medi-Cal instead of Medicaid and I don't qualify for Medi-Cal. But I'll check into the miller trust - I've never heard of that before - so thanks!

Hi Mary,

I'm definitely not an expert in this area. It appears to me that miller trusts don't apply to california. If your income is close to the medical limit, you would be allowed to spend part of your income on medical care and then once you are below the limit you could qualify for medi-cal

I am not sure if income or assets are what is putting you over the edge financially. If it is assets, and you want to know more... let me know, I can write more, you may have a few more options :)