Angie,

I am sorry you are having to go through all of this.

The whole financial picture really sucks. The "official" guidelines require you to be totally disabled for at least one year and the medicaid kicks in after two years. The exception is if the doctor stipulates disability will continue for at least one year or the patient is not expected to recover. I have a friend that has esophageal cancer, had most of his stomach removed and chemo with his journey starting in January and by June he had medicaid and disability insurance payments. I am sorry that I don't know if he was diagnosed as terminal and I haven't had the nerve to ask him as I am sure he would offer if he wanted me to know. He was laid off two years ago and before they would approve him, he had to spend all of his life savings and retirement. He paid off everything and paid rent in advance for two years. He used the rest to pay some medical bills and he was reimbursed for all of these as soon as they approved him.

The whole social security process seems so different across the country. You may want to check on disability insurance and disability income if you haven't. It won't be much but it could help.

Ed