TGIF,
I have been thinking about
what you have written for several days, and here's what I think I would do. Wife should keep looking for work and as long as she has a Dr that says she can still work, she should be eligible for unemployment. She should be up front with any prospective employer that she is going through the Hep c treatments (which will probably keep them from hiring her, but she is still attempting and should qualify to continue getting unemployment). The key to whether she can still look for work is whether her Dr. clears her to work even through the treatments. MOST PEOPLE FEEL THE KEY IS WHETHER THEY THINK THEY CAN WORK. NO, IT'S WHAT DR. THINKS. Most folks I know that have gone through the treatments were not taken off work by their Drs., but oftentimes their employer worked around them feeling ill.
Will she be up to par to the point where she will actually be hired in this job market?....I doubt it. It doesn't make sense to quit looking for work, loosing unemployment ..at such a critical time...unless her Dr. says she absolutely can't work.
Well, that's my 2 cents worth. And boy, I understand that scared feeling of "how can I do all this myself financially." For her to apply for SSDI and SSI she will have to say that she can't work....and if her Dr's don't say that on paper...then she will get denied. Since the treatment for hep c is more short term (than the 12 months expected not to be able to work required by SSDI and SSI), I would work to keep the unemployment income. A LOT OF THIS PLAN WILL DEPEND ON WHAT HER DR'S SAY about
HER ABILITY TO WORK ONCE SHE STARTS TREATMENT.
I was not able to find any program so far, where someone is paid to stay home and take care of my ESLD hubby. Except for me to pay hourly out of pocket, which I couldn't afford.
Hope this was helpful in some way.
Angie 1953
Post Edited (Angie1953) : 2/23/2012 9:33:28 PM (GMT-7)