Once upon a time I was a professional with a job I loved and pay and benefits that put me firmly in the middle class. Then I came down with an illness that the doctors were unable to diagnose. As I grew sicker and sicker, I finally could no longer work and ran thru all my savings. Once my COBRA expired that was the final financial blow and I soon lost everything. It was sheer accident that I finally found out what was going on. My hot water heater was giving off the smell of gas, so I called public utilities. They tested the air in my home and all the alarm bells went off! Not only was the hot water heater malfunctioning, but the 50 year-old furnace in my house was also burning incorrectly and giving off high levels of carbon monoxide. The CO detector that I had thought was working was actually broken, so I had no way of knowing what was happening since you can't smell CO the way you can natural gas. This had been going on for at least two years and had become so bad the utilities worker told me that he was surprised I hadn't died in my sleep. Sometimes I wish I would have. By the end I had sustained permanent brain damage from lack of oxygen in my blood supply. My eyes and my heart were impacted as well. Thanks to the resulting loss of short term memory and executive function, I can no longer work. I tried and tried, but it now takes me forever to do the simplest thing and my employers had to let me go because I was too "slow." I'm just one of many Americans with an "invisible" disability. If you don't know me very well I seem fine when I'm anything but. It took me 5 years to be awarded SSDI because my damaged brain just couldn't cope with all that paperwork.
Now I depend on medicaid, a tiny SSDI check, and food stamps (SNAP) plus a housing voucher. Take any of those things away and my entire life falls apart. I've existed in a constant state of low level fear since that SOB and his death-dealing republican pals were elected. I am afraid that many disabled Americans will die early deaths thanks to them and their cruel policies. When I express my concerns to my roommate, he just blows me off and tells me I'm overly fond of "apocalyptic thinking." Yeah, right. What I'm doing is following the news about 45's plan to get rid of the social safety net, so he can build an even bigger army and enrich himself and his pals at the expense of the American people starting with the poor and disabled. I try not to give into my fears, but it can be very hard. God bless and good luck to us all. We're going to need it. 
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