My Business Venture: Embracelet

So, at night I sit and make bracelets.  I enjoy doing it and it keeps me busy....I can't just sit still.  Friends were always complimenting my bracelets and a little extra money never hurt anyone.....so......I decided to try to sell some.  I was skeptical.  I wasn't sure that I'd make any sale but to my surprise I started making quite a few sales!  So I guess I'll keep at it!  Feel free to check out my Facebook page Embracelet and give it a like!  I don't have a store.  I just do business through Facebook and PayPal.  If you see something that you would like to purchase just message me on my fan page with your choices along with your email address and I will send you an invoice via PayPal.  It's that easy!

My Breast Cancer Scare

I finally got to get my biopsy done on the lump in my breast that has been worrying me for months.  The procedure itself was really easy and pain free.  It was the 2 days of waiting for the results that was the worst.  2 days of fear and worry.  2 days later I had an appointment at 12:30 to get my bandage removed and hear the results.  At 10:30 the phone rings and the doctor tells me that there is no need for me to come in because the biopsy showed NO CANCER!  I can breathe again.  A huge weight has been lifted.

North Carolina Coverage Gap

At the time of my interview with WRAL about my health and waiting for my Medicaid application to get approved I was unaware of the larger problem, the coverage gap.  I thought that 1700 people waiting for their applications to get approved was bad but what's even worse is the fact that over 300,000 people aren't able to get any coverage at all.  They make too much to be eligible for Medicaid and not enough for coverage from the market place.  This is the case for all of the states, with the exception of Wisconsin, that refused the Medicaid expansion, states with a Republican governor, a GOP controlled chamber in the legislature, or both.

I make too much to be eligible for Medicaid here in the state of NC but I got "lucky" because I have unpaid medical bills and need a biopsy so they add up my medical bills and add the cost of the upcoming biopsy and I meet the Medicaid deductible/spend down by the skin of my teeth.  So, for me, that means I will get Medicaid coverage for 6 months.  After that 6 months I will have to meet that deductible again (which would involve me wracking up another near $5000 of medical bills that I can't pay) or I will not be eligible for Medicaid.  And this is when I fall in to the coverage gap along with the over 300,000 other people in my state.

My Medicaid Struggle

Clicke HERE to see the interview and read the story

Earlier this week on Monday I reached my frustration limit.  Again, I called the Department of Health and Human Services and again I was transferred to a voicemail box that was full.  I've been doing this since I applied for Medicaid in November of 2013.  The only answer I have been able to get out of them is that they are 3-4 months backed up.  Here is was 5 months later and still nothing.  Meanwhile I have a lump growing in my breast that needs a biopsy.  When you're low income there is so much red tape to go through to get any kind of free or reduced cost care.

So, on Monday I reached my limit and wrote an email to WRAL, Raleigh's news channel, and told them my story and let them know that I would like to see a story done on this situation.  I did not expect to get an email back and I definitely did not expect them to request an on camera interview.

I've never been comfortable in front of a camera and I get very nervous and anxious.  I hesitated in replying because I wasn't sure of myself.  But, it's an important issue and I knew I had to speak out, so I accepted the offer.

Laura Leslie interviewed me yesterday and I was amazed at how easy it was.  She made me so comfortable that I forgot the camera was there.  I can't even tell you how proud I am of myself for having stepped way out of my comfort zone and in doing so did something good, something important.  I can only hope that this will open people's eyes and help to change perceptions of who people requesting government assistance are, who people living in poverty are.

After the interview aired yesterday at 6pm the station got calls in from people offering to help.  People offering to pay for my biopsy out of their own pockets!  I also got a message from Duke Hospital to call them and that they would get me in for my biopsy asap.  I can't tell you how powerful that was to me.  My faith in humanity has been restored.

I am also so appreciative of my friends and family who are so incredibly loving and supportive!  I really don't think I could have made it through the interview without my friend Jacqueline's calming presence!  And the outpouring of support from everyone else has been overwhelming!  Much love to all of you!

Bunny

We adopted Bunny a little over a year ago.  Her name was Mandy but we call her Bunny and it's become her new name.  Mandy just didn't fit her.  She's not like any other rabbit I've ever owned.  She doesn't like to be touched unless it's on her terms and that's just fine.  She keeps me company all day while I work and I just get so much joy out of watching her bounce around.  She makes me happy!

Instagram

Follow me on Instagram! 

http://instagram.com/saskeen77

My Compassionate Daughter

For the time that Lily and I lived in Fuquay Varina and my daughter Lily was being bullied at school and at home by the girl who lived next door I felt so defeated.  No matter what I did, including talking to the school and talking to the bully's mother, nothing helped.  But now that we have moved away and Lily is thriving in her new school I can see how that experience has helped mold my daughter in to a compassionate little human being.

There is a boy in her class this year (3rd grade) who is being picked on and bullied.  For the past month or so Lily has been expressing some really deep concern for him.  I believe her concern is so deep because she know what he is going through having experienced it herself.  I talk with her about it and remind her of her time in Fuquay Varina.  I ask her what she would have liked someone to do for her.  I let her know that she knew deep inside what the right thing was to do.

One night after having gone to her room for a while she comes out and shows me a card that she had made for the boy in her class.  I could not have been more proud of her.  Here is the card:

She explained to me that the reason she asked him not to show anyone the card was because she was afraid that the other kids would pick on her for being nice to him....a fear that she was right to feel.  Kids can be cruel.  The following morning she left it on his desk before he got to school.  At lunch he approached her and asked if she was the one who made the card for him.  She told him that she was and he smiled and thanked her for being so nice to him.

I had written the teacher and explained the situation.  She wrote back a few days later and told me that Lily had talked with her about it and that she was going to keep a closer eye on things.  She also told me that she watched the boy find the card and read it.  She told me about the smile that spread across his face and stayed there all day and how he keeps the card in his desk so he can see it every day.

My daughter stepped up when nobody else would.  She did the right thing and she showed me that while I may doubt myself from time to time, I am raising her up right.  I love my daughter more than I could possibly put in to words.