What it means for me to be disabled in Canada.
I was born with the right leg shorter by an inch, the ball part of the hip joint for the right hip had a chunk of the ball missing, scoliosis (S-curved back), a hernia in the groin area, some ribs partially formed and of course one kidney.
Many X-rays were taken in my preteens that mapped out practically my entire skeletal structure which showed a lot of arthritic joints ( basically telling me that the physical part of my life will suck ).
At thirteen i had my first operation, they put clamps in my left knee to try and retard the left leg's growth and allow the right leg to catch up. Today i have about 3/8th's of an inch difference.
In my early 20's i was prepped for hip surgery, but it was decided by the doctors that it was too early and wanted to allow the skeletal structure to fully mature.
In my mid 20's i had a hernia ( groin again ), it was redone a year later because it didn't take.
By 27 i was ready for my surgery to my right hip but i had started a college course for retraining in electronics and i really wanted to finish the course so the surgery was put off till i graduated. A 3 year course turned into a 5 year course and my right leg at the end of the 5th year had lost a lot of muscle mass and was now half the size of my left leg. At that point my right leg was in severe 24/7 pain. Any pills i took would barely touch the pain.
Now I am 32 and the day i was to graduate from my electronics course is the same day that i go in to have a total hip replacement. For the surgery i was given the choice of a total hip replacement which would give me full motion or simply fuse the hip and be peg legged for the rest of my life. At this point i wanted full motion but this required a longer recovery time.
Since i was denied disability benefits by the government because I had not paid enough into CPP ( Canada pension plan ). Oh you mean the cpp that is deducted from my paychecks from work that i was unable to do because i was disabled, Really !
At 33 or so i start working for several companies until February 2015
It wasn't long into my working years that the trouble had started, the main problem was walking. It would start with one ankle swelling up and made it feel like I was walking on a cushion of water ( very painful ) but it wasn't uncommon for the entire foot to be affected with the pain and swelling.
The cycle would be the same every time ( it starts, it peaks, it heals and usually retraining is required ). A cycle that lasted usually for 3 to 4 weeks, then a reprieve for a week or two, then the cycle repeats with the the same foot or any other joint that wants a piece of the action.
The final blow came in February of 2015. I was at work where felt a severe pain across my chest and the bottom of my rib cage and my right arm was numb for a second. I left work early and at the doctors office a day or so later, I told my doctor that it felt like i had a hernia and described what had happened at work, well, his reply was, Oh you probably pulled a muscle, wow!. I knew it was more then that.
By the last week of march of 2015 i end up at the hospital for a week on oxygen, my stats at that point were a breathing rate at 26% and heart rate at 40%. The doctor was puzzled as to how I was still walking, I was but barely.
After that it was basically being treated for severe asthma. Disregarding all details of what happened in February 2015 of what i called a hernia.
I had my second hip surgery only 11 months ago and last month I had the test result from a flora scope that said I had a hiatus hernia.
Four weeks ago, the hernia slipped back out and then things started to improve but I am not out of the woods yet.
Now I have been looking into ways to make some extra money and it seems to me I have two choices. One is a Walmart greeter and two is Steemit .com.
@serfer4