Another memorial service
We had a beautiful memorial service tonight for the people who have died, and several stories from people who are struggling to survive in our broken system. One woman had her Medicaid canceled because she did some work from home and made $900 in four months. She has renal failure and is on dialysis. She can’t work full-time and she is deep in debt because she has to pay for 20 percent of all her bills. She and her husband have lost their home already. She is afraid she will lose her life. She has worked all her life, but she is treated as though she is worthless.
Steve Taylor of the NC Conference of the United Methodist Church spoke about his parents losing the family home his great-grandparents built because his father, a non-union blue-collar worker, committed the sin of getting sick. His mother also got sick, which happens to most of us as we age. They refinanced the house to keep their heads above water, but then the economy tanked and they couldn’t keep up the mortgae payments.
Then h talked about his friend, Wade, who sounded a lot like Mike — a recovering addict who devoted his life to helping other people get and stay sober.
But Wade couldn’t get treatment for chronic depression. Like any chronic illness, depression can be managed with treatment. But without treatment, depression gets worse, and Wade’s did; it finally took his life.
Treating depression is pretty simple; it is one of the most treatable of all chronic illnesses. With medication and therapy, more than 80 percent of people with depression live perfectly normal lives. Without treatment, depression just keeps getting worse.
As I always do when I tell Mike’s story, I showed his picture — the one Janet took seven months before he died. It puts a face on the problem. He looks so handsome in that picture. It’s the way I want to remember him — happy, serene and with more than a bit of mischief in his eyes.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a new peer support program for people newly diagnosed with chronic or serious illness or with a new disability and their caregivers.
Patient Pals are people who have experience with various illnesses and disabilities, who can help someone newly diagnosed or with a new disability work through the fear, frustration, confusion and grief often experienced in the first few months.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
People with new illness or disability fare better when they have a role model -- someone who can help them negotiate their new path in life.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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