A Concise statment of my situation.

 I am currently filing to gain full copies of my current medical records. As such become available, they will be adjusted for privacy and common decency and posted in addendum. I'm tired of screwing around. I'm going to lay my cards on the table, without any sugar coating. Bluntly: I am currently ill to the point I can no longer work in a standard 8 hour or limited 6 hour format. For some years now I have been unable to walk more than a dozen meters or so without lower back pain. For some years now, degenerative disk disorder in my lumbar spine has combined with a hernia to limit the amount of weight I can safely lift and carry. I have diabetes, which causes peripheral nerve pain. I have arthritis in my lumbar spine which extends down to my tailbone. I have venous insufficiency in my lower legs which causes lymph edema in the lower extremities, which causes blisters and ulcers if left untreated by compression wear. I suffer from sciatic nerve pain which can cause weakness in my upper legs and lower back. I am in desperate need of support, and have no one to turn to. I have few friends and no immediate family left besides my younger brother, who is bedridden with his own physical problems and whose low social security payment is our sole income at the moment.  In the coming days and weeks I will be adding to these pages, providing detailed explanations and adding what proof I can offer of these claims. I do not ask anyone to believe for long without such proofs in hand, I only ask your indulgence in allowing me time to present my case.

If you feel like you can help me and my brother, feel free to use this link : 

 Paypal.me/DarinCochran 

also see our fundraiser page at Gofundme.com : Help Darin and David Avoid Homelessness

I hasten to add: This is the absolute last thing I ever wanted to do. I have worked in one way or another since I was 14 years old, and generally made my way in the world one way or another. More to follow.

 

Update :

Some additional information: 

The main things limiting my ability to work, and negatively influencing my life right now can be summarized as Pain limiters, capability limiters and psychological/personal issues. 

First, let's take the physical limitations arising out of pain. 

As detailed above, I have arthritis in my lumbar spine. It reaches all the way down to my tailbone. due to the degeneration of cartilage in my tailbone, this has become a source of pain. Sitting for more than a couple minutes starts a pain situation where the longer I sit, the worse the pain becomes. In less than 15 minutes I find myself needing to get up and relieve the pressure from my tailbone. Over the course of a day, the pain gets to the point where it interferes with my ability to concentrate, to stay on task, and to focus my attention. Special pressure-relieving cushions help, but do not completely alleviate the pain. 

My lower back often hurts, due to arthritis and degenerative disk disorder in my lumbar spine. This pain often requires pain relievers, ice or heating pads to help ease the pain.(do not ask me why it's ice or heat, I don't know.) A prescription muscle relaxant also helps. 

Then we move downward into the legs. 

I have issues with my sciatic nerve. Sometimes I get pain in my lower back or thigh from this. Non-prescription pain relievers like Tylenol or Aleve help, but do not eliminate, this pain. 

Next, my knees. 

I have moderate arthritis in my knees. Steroid injections help, but can only be done one per leg per year. Fortunately, so far one shot seems to help both knees. (I don't know why.) But this pain sometimes still hits, especially during cold weather or in sudden weather changes. Sometimes all I can do is take Tylenol and lie down.  

Next, the lower legs: 

Owing to my other illnesses, I have venous insufficiency in my lower legs. This means that without compression devices, my legs swell up. when this happens the pain increases, and walking becomes more difficult. 

I have type 2 diabetes.  As a consequence of this, I have peripheral neuropathy. Diabetic leg pain. Without medication, my legs from the knee down feel as if they're in a bath of too-hot water, slowly cooking. The pain is intractable. Ordinary pain relievers barely touch it. Fortunately, my doctor prescribed Lyrica. Unfortunately, my insurance won't pay for that. Fortunately, Gabapentin, an anti-seizure medicine, also has the properties needed to control the leg pain. (both are calcium channel blockers, which helps control the pain without the risk of an opioid. ) But sometimes breakthrough pain happens. In that case, all I can do is try to rest with my legs elevated. Most days the swelling of the legs mandates some level of elevation of the legs, and many times the edema requires me to use diuretic as well. The frequent trips to the bathroom disrupt your day, and eventually that gets depressing. 

Next comes the fact that the swelling in the legs also causes ulcers. small to moderate open sores on the legs. They would ordinarily take 1-2 weeks to heal, but my venous insufficiency and diabetes increase that time to months. 

Balance issues. 

between the blood pressure medication, the gabapentin, the long term effects of diabetes and other issues, my balance is not what it once was. In fact, it's gotten worse in the last 3 years. If it continues to degrade I may not be safe to walk or drive. This is a major problem in potential. 

Falls: 

Because of the balance issues and diabetic neuropathy, I lose my balance and fall more often. Falls are a major cause of injury and death among the elderly. While not in my senescence, I am 62, and various physical systems are starting to degrade. Because of my degenerative disk disorder and arthritis, getting up from a fall is close to impossible. Further, I am a large man. at 6 ft 6 in. tall and 385 lbs, I'm not the kind of man you and your cousin joe can get on his feet. It takes a quartet of firefighter/paramedics using a team lifting belt. To make things worse, in December 2022 I fell because we were sleeping in my SUV and I got out to get a bottle of water from the cooler in the back seat. I took a step backward to pull the cooler out a bit so I could open it, and my foot hit the curb. I went down backwards and landed on a sharp rock on my right calf. the resulting 130mm laceration took stitches and a full year of wound care specialist treatment to heal, and left a real winner of a scar. Falls are now my big enemy. You can almost bet on it that my death will be precipitated by a fall. 

Well, now you see some of the reasons why I need help. I can't work, and according too social security I can't even attempt to work because that means I'm not disabled, so until disability actually approves my application, which they may not, I am in serious need of assistance so I can keep off the streets. If you can help me, please do so using one of the links provided above. 

Thanks for your time, and your support.

The Great Crusade

" . . . You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months . . . " 

These words are from the pre-invasion speech given to the Allied forces by Supreme Allied Commander Europe Dwight David Eisenhower before the June 6 1944 "D-Day" invasion. You can hear the speech here : Eisenhower Pre-D-Day Speech

Allied D-Day Invasion

The invasion fleet was massive. There have been very few times since when a larger fleet was mustered. (MacArthur, who was intensely jealous of Eisenhower, wangled a bigger fleet for his Inchon invasion in Korea. ) But I am not going to discuss ships used numbers of troops and tanks deployed and so on. Those numbers may be of interest in other times, but today I want to focus on the most important dimension: The People.  In the first wave, launched in the early daylight hours of June 6 1944, saw many thousands of seasick, exhausted and frightened men climb down into boats and motor off. Minutes later they got ready to wade ashore through intense fire from the German defenders. By the end of this longest day they would have gained for their armies a foothold in Western Europe, and for themselves an indelible place in history. 

The cost would be immense. Not just in terms of dollars and cents, or in terms of dead and injured, but in terms of mental health -- those who survived the day would never again be the same.   Men would see their friends shot to pieces in front of them. Men would face down the spectre of death, either their own or that of some unknown enemy across the way, in the next hedgerow, in the next street. I knew men who had been there and who would not speak of it. The few who would would do so in hushed tones, often over a drink, sometimes only after a few drinks. Even decades later the war still cost them. 

        So, remember when you see those very few left who survived, remember the horrors they lived through, and their deeds of valor. Valor that might simply have been getting down into those boats.  My personal thanks, you were in fact the greatest generation.