Any advice on specific situation welcome

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Hello. My name is Richard, but I go by Ricky a lot. I was diagnosed with epilepsy around 3 years ago, and it's been kind of hard to get on with my life since then, at a time when I absolutely feel the need to get on with it. The main reason I created an account here was to get any helpful advice that I can in regards to my current situation, so I'll try to explain it as best as I can, but it'll probably be a very spotty explanation. Right now I live with my father and his spouse (they're not married because he's still technically married to my original stepmom, who moved out years ago because he had an alcohol problem at the time) among a household of 7 people in the suburbs of Chicago. This includes myself, those 2, their child, his spouse's child, her sister, and one of my original brothers. I turned 26 on the 5th, and have been trying to figure out what I can do with my life way before that. Back when I turned 18, I got a sum of money from a trust fund that my grandparents won for me in court as a result of my real mother's death when I was 3. I ended up spending it all on various things (most of it went towards school and other people, compared to the small amount I spent on myself personally). The most I spent was on a car that I've been letting other people in my family use since I got it; a 2009 Pontiac G6 that I can't even drive now due to my epilepsy (and which is being used by my dad's spouse's daughter as if it was her own anyway. She doesn't live with us anymore so I rarely see it). While I was in college I was planning to major in business, but I have vast interests in acting, writing, and photography as well (so much so that one of the things I spent my money on was a very nice Canon camera) I both ended up running out of money, and a way to get to classes. This forced me to stop taking them and impacted my credit score pretty badly. Because of this, I never got any kind of degree. To make matters worse, I owe my bank account an unknown sum of money because I overdrafted, so they closed my account. I live in an area on a main street where I can't even walk to apply for a job. The closest places that could potentially be hiring are fast food restaurants a couple of miles away. For this reason I've been attempting to take surveys for the past few years online, which amount to pennies and points a day, and end up paying out mostly in gift cards anyway. Now, I'll explain my current problem. My grandfather, who is 92, drove here alone all the way from Colorado to spend Easter with us. My father wants me to go back to Colorado with him and stay with him, just to watch over him. I don't think this is a very smart thing to ask an epileptic individual to do, because I never know if or when I've had or will have a seizure, so I can’t trust myself to watch over someone else. Also, I'm on Illinois Medicaid, and I don't have any money whatsoever to go to any hospitals in the event that I do have a seizure out of state. I spend the majority of my time by myself daily trying to find ways to make money and fix my finances anyhow, and I need internet access to be able to even attempt to do anything or communicate with anyone (which my grandfather's community doesn't have). I tried explaining this to my father, which resulted in him telling me that I'm getting old, and I need to get out of the house. Before this scenario, I had been planning to move myself and the belongings I own to Texas to live with my sister, so that I might be able to get any sort of job and start fixing my finances. But she's saving up to buy a house, and can't help me in any way until June or July at best. I'll try to sum up my problem now, because my scenario probably doesn't make much sense the way I explained it, and I know that I left out a whole lot. Basically, I'd like to know what I (a person with very minimal life experience, no money/credit, no close friends or family to go to, and epilepsy, to boot) can do to get on with my life, if anything at all. I want to know what steps I can and need to take, where I’d be able go, and who I’d be able to trust to help me basically start my life anew. I don’t want to just move in with some random person and have to rely on them like I have been relying on others my whole life, because I really don’t think that will get me anywhere. If you have questions, please do ask, and I’ll do my best to answer. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Comments

Is Uber an option where you

Submitted by disneylover123 on Mon, 2017-04-17 - 19:54

Is Uber an option where you are? Before I got my license, I used care.com (I searched "senior care" because all I needed was a driver). $20 a DAY (one way, my Mom was able to pick me up in the afternoon), nearly a third of my monthly paycheck. So i wish I had looked into Uber more, even though Kelly P. was very nice XPLibraries and Starbucks (or just coffee shops in general) have internet access if you have a laptop or smart phone and it's not weird if you stay there a while. Whether it's online surveys, or looking for other jobs or whatever.As for "real life" stuff, I'm pretty sure seizures qualify as Disability, so check into those benefits.

Yes I'd also recommend

Submitted by Roald on Tue, 2017-04-18 - 20:54

Yes I'd also recommend looking into disability options to help with your financial situation. Also food stamps or whatever your state calls them can be a real help as food is a major living expenses and trying to eat healthy is important for everyone especially with seizures or other medical conditions. I'd look into selling your car or have your family member pay something to loan it each month to use it as they do. Finding an appropriate job that isn't going to strain your medical condition is a hard one. I've tried a couple different easy jobs and both brought back my seizures with vengence, one withing a matter of days and the other within less than 24 hours of starting the light work. Moving might be a good idea? You should be able to get all of the same types of state/gov assistance in any state in the USA although they will have different waiting periods or requirements for registering. Look into what you would have to do and how long it would take to get those benefits. I bet they are better than the ones I get here in NM and might be better than the ones available to you now. It might be worth the move though going through the that gov assistance office stuff can take a lot of time and effort and be frustrating. A change of scenery might bring some different Drs and treatment options as well as some new friends and income opportunities. Maybe go check it out for a couple weeks to see and then decide if you want to stay. As far as watching someone else and helping take care of them. You can help do some of the physical stuff with food and daily life needs etc and if you have a seizure the other person can call for help if needed. The main thing is if you had a seizure would you harm the other person? Unlikely unless you fell directly on them and repeatedly hit them or something like that. Probably safer than the other person living alone or for you to live alone either, but sounds like there is a lot happening where you live now and moving might bring a more relaxing, quiet, and peaceful place for your mind to rest and heal.

Yes I'd also recommend looking into disability options to help with your financial situation. Also food stamps or whatever your state calls them can be a real help as food is a major living expenses and trying to eat healthy is important for everyone especially with seizures or other medical conditions. I'd look into selling your car or have your family member pay something to loan it each month to use it as they do. Finding an appropriate job that isn't going to strain your medical condition is a hard one. I've tried a couple different easy jobs and both brought back my seizures with  vengence, one withing a matter of days and the other within less than 24 hours of starting the light work. Moving might be a good idea? You should be able to get all of the same types of state/gov assistance in any state in the USA although they will have different waiting periods or requirements for registering. Look into what you would have to do and how long it would take to get those benefits. I bet they are better than the ones I get here in NM and might be better than the ones available to you now. It might be worth the move though going through the that gov assistance office stuff can take a lot of time and effort and be frustrating. A change of scenery might bring some different Drs and treatment options as well as some new friends and income opportunities. Maybe go check it out for a couple weeks to see and then decide if you want to stay. As far as watching someone else and helping take care of them. You can help do some of the physical stuff with food and daily life needs etc and if you have a seizure the other person can call for help if needed. The main thing is if you had a seizure would you harm the other person? Unlikely unless you fell directly on them and repeatedly hit them or something like that. Probably safer than the other person living alone or for you to live alone either, but sounds like there is a lot happening where you live now and moving might bring a more relaxing, quiet, and peaceful place for your mind to rest and heal.

Yes I'd also recommend looking into disability options to help with your financial situation. Also food stamps or whatever your state calls them can be a real help as food is a major living expenses and trying to eat healthy is important for everyone especially with seizures or other medical conditions. I'd look into selling your car or have your family member pay something to loan it each month to use it as they do. Finding an appropriate job that isn't going to strain your medical condition is a hard one. I've tried a couple different easy jobs and both brought back my seizures with vengence, one withing a matter of days and the other within less than 24 hours of starting the light work. Moving might be a good idea? You should be able to get all of the same types of state/gov assistance in any state in the USA although they will have different waiting periods or requirements for registering. Look into what you would have to do and how long it would take to get those benefits. I bet they are better than the ones I get here in NM and might be better than the ones available to you now. It might be worth the move though going through the that gov assistance office stuff can take a lot of time and effort and be frustrating. A change of scenery might bring some different Drs and treatment options as well as some new friends and income opportunities. Maybe go check it out for a couple weeks to see and then decide if you want to stay. As far as watching someone else and helping take care of them. You can help do some of the physical stuff with food and daily life needs etc and if you have a seizure the other person can call for help if needed. The main thing is if you had a seizure would you harm the other person? Unlikely unless you fell directly on them and repeatedly hit them or something like that. Probably safer than the other person living alone or for you to live alone either, but sounds like there is a lot happening where you live now and moving might bring a more relaxing, quiet, and peaceful place for your mind to rest and heal.