Lungs in Crisis IV

Day 124 – August 22, 2003: Having run out of sick time and other employer provided benefits it was time to navigate the state bueracracy and apply for state disability. I had completed the necessary forms about two months prior and was still awaiting approval. Navigating their human less phone system for information was the equivalent of a day spent in purgatory. Pushing button after button eventually returned you to where you began none the wiser for your journey.

Therefore it became necessary to make a trip to the local office in hopes of finding if not a wizard at least finding someone who knew what they were talking about.

I believed that my bureaucratic nightmare had come to an end when I walked into the office and found no line waiting to be navigated. I was able to walk right up to the window and I was in seventh heaven believing that from here on end it would be a piece of cake.

Wrong.

After providing all of the required information from my name to my blood type I was informed that I did not qualify for benefits. After picking my jaw up from the floor I explained that I had been working for twenty some odd years and surely I qualified for something.

Wrong again.

The system only takes into account the most recent five years that you have worked. My most recent employment was with the City of Los Angeles and according to the EDD office the City of Los Angeles does not contribute to the system, hence no benefits.

Having already been off of work since April this came as a surprise to me. On several occasions I had spoken to people in the benefits office and no one had bothered to clue me in on this little piece of information.

Day 127 – August 25, 2003: Emboldened by the new information that I held in my possession I called the benefits office and asked the correct questions this time. I discovered that disability for the city was handled by a private insurance company, which also handled the cities long-term disability program. This was good to know, as the date I would have to apply for long-term disability was looming ever closer.

With number in hand I contacted the newest cog in my disability wheel and began the approval process. In order to complete the short-term disability process I would be sent a bundle of forms some of which I had to complete and some to be passed on to my various doctors.

The good news was that I would receive retroactive payment if and when I was approved. The bad news was that the bureaucratic highway was just beginning.

Day 155 - September 22, 2003: Back socializing with my fish friends apparently they were not planning on seeing Finding Nemo at least that was the impression I had.

My lung doctor was in possession of the results of my sinus x-ray, ct scan and sputum test.

The ct scan and the x-ray were both normal, which of course was a good thing.

The sputum test showed that I had thrush in my throat, which is a form of yeast infection you get from taking to many antibiotics. Which stands to reason since I had been on several antibiotics.

My doctor felt there was an outside chance that my problems might possibly have been caused by a long-term thrush infection. He prescribed a new medication that I would need to take for a month that we hoped would eliminate my problem once and for all.