Amy (15 year plan)

April 10, 2004

Hi Amy,

I vote for the 15 year plan for you :-) I am pulling for you to make it 15

years.

By the way, how frustrating about disability! Can you appeal the decision?

Take care of yourself and don't work too hard trying to meet the minimum

income requirements Amy. Your family and health are far too important.

April 10, 2004

I'm shooting for that 15 year plan....or perhaps the 25 year one. ) At

my last neph appointment he said " Your results are great, especially with

how fast you were headed toward dialysis when we first started 6 months

ago. " Then he turned to my husband and said " We're very lucky the

prednisone has worked as well as it has so far, you do know that right? " I

think it was the first time the extent of my damage really sunk into my

husbands head.

As for the social security thing...well I shouldn't have to work too hard

for it as you only have to make $3,560 minimum a year to be covered. You

gain 4 " work credits " each year and you have to have 20 credits over the

past 10 years to qualify for disability. You earn 1 credit for each $900

earned up to a maximum 4 credits a year. The problem I have is I took off

most of 2000 to get our house ready for sale and to move into our current

house, then I took 2001 off to take care of my husband after a bad car

accident, then 2002 we remodeled this house so I had my business shut down

for most of the year, then 2003 I got sick and was closed down for most of

the year again. 2004 started off o.k. and I should make the minimum easy

this year, pending any major change in my health that is. Then I just have

to pull the minimum for the next 2 years before I can qualify again. I

guess it's the down side to running your own business and not really needing

the income to some extent. (my income goes for paying down credit accounts

and for emergency funds) I can shut down whenever I feel like it but I

guess it's going to bite me in the rear if I don't make the minimum for

disability now. Once on dialysis it doesn't matter if you have the number

of credits needed I guess, but for now if I get to the point where I can't

work it would be nice to be able to collect if just to cover the costs of my

Rx's and co-pays at the doctors.

We are making some lifestyle changes this year to take some of the

stress off of me. We've cut down on the extra stuff we were doing with the

kids or have worked out with other families to pick them up and take them to

events so that I don't have to go if I'm in one of my exhausted states. This

is something we would have never considered doing prior to my dx. We are

also finding activities for them closer to home so I don't have to travel as

far for them to do things with other homeschoolers. And I've cut way back

on my work load with my business. Now I'm just focusing on what I need to

make minimum a month and if I do more that's great, if not it's no big deal.

It's been tough for me to do this as I tend to be a work-a-holic in one

way or another. If I'm not working to make $$ I'm working in other ways

with the kids or on projects for others. I've had to learn how to say NO

and I've found that saying no has become easier over time. )

Amy

Amy (15 year plan)

> Hi Amy,

>

> I vote for the 15 year plan for you :-) I am pulling for you to make it 15

> years.

>

> By the way, how frustrating about disability! Can you appeal the decision?

>

> Take care of yourself and don't work too hard trying to meet the minimum

> income requirements Amy. Your family and health are far too important.

>

April 10, 2004