November 14, 2007, Barrow, Alaska~

Dear Journal~

Sikik here. Sikik Grace Eegeesiak. I'm afraid I'm not doing too well at the moment: have managed to catch a cold. Now that's something: an Inuk with a cold! NOT good! LOL

The effects of the cold is playing havoc with my body: my fibro, my MS is flaring, which only makes me feel worse. I am sitting by the fireplace, in my wheelchair, wrapped up in three blankets; I'm wearing two sweaters, two pairs of pants, and I still shiver with fever. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to get warm!

I saw my doctor yesterday; he gave me medications to try to stave off the cold; it really doesn't seem to be helping. I'm just as congested, as miserable before I was when I went to the doctor; it doesn't seem to have made any difference. Very frustrating.

I heard from Jenna Doucet earlier today: she is really down in the dumps. Her baby boy is hanging on at the hospital; Michael, her husband, is keeping vigil at the hospital; but Jenna is now home; she continues in her recovery.

Jenna has been trying to get on SSDI; they have rejected her yet again. Same old bulls***: "not disabled enough". Yeah, RIGHT. Like she can work or function.

Let's see: Jenna is paralyzed on one side of her body due to a terrible car accident nearly three years ago. She can't walk but for very short distances; then it's on a walker or a crutch. She is hearing impaired (born this way). She has post traumatic stress disorder due to the accident; she has frequent flashbacks. She has emotional trauma. And she's not "disabled enough"?? Sad!

I'd say she's very disabled!

It's too bad when a person who truly needs disability (like Jenna Doucet) can't get it while a person who abuses drugs or alcohol or "has a mental disorder" can with relatively little trouble. Just how disabled does a person truly have to be in order to get disability?? It's really terrible how the government does disabled people!

Or those who come to this country illegally can get it with no problems, which really irks me. I get so frustrated about this it's all I can do to keep from smashing my walls down with my chair in anger!

I talked to Louisiana Sandusky about this; she is very upset at the news. She knows exactly what Jenna is going through; in fact she's had to go through this very same thing with some of her own children.

Her son Johnny who has muscular dystrophy was denied three times before he got it (last year), and her daughter Ronee' who has JRA was denied twice before they truly saw how disabled she really is (that took about a year and a half with her).

Even her severely handicapped daughter Jodie (who is both mentally and physically disabled) was told "she wasn't disabled enough". Jodie, who is now sixteen, can't function like a normal person: she needs total care; she can't feed herself, dress herself, or even go to the toilet without help. Then those stupid SSDI people have the nerve to tell Jodie's mother that "Jodie isn't disabled enough to qualify for SSDI?" How sad!

I tell you, this stupid nation has everything screwed up!!

Well, I am going to go to bed, lie down. I am getting too hot; it's starting to make my MS act up worse; am feeling weaker than a newborn baby kitten. I'm also having trouble seeing; I see two of everything; it's starting to make me dizzy. I will write in here when I am feeling better; until then, this is Sikik signing off. Take care!

~Sikik Grace Eegeesiak. :(