I live in Orange County and my world has been turned upside down.

In 10 days, I will have yet another major back surgery that will leave me as one fused piece of bone from the pelvis to T1. I will be able to move my arms, shoulders, legs, and turn my head from side to side and extend my neck in every direction. Those are the only motions I will enjoy. No twisting, bending, in any direction.

I anticipate that I will be terminated from my job. No love lost there. I have a discrimination lawsuit pending, among other things. I'll have EDD for a year, and I have a pending claim for permanent disability with Social Security. I resigned myself to the fact that after that, if I do not find other sources of income, that my standard of living will decrease immeasurably. I harbor no delusions about obtaining what I need from the systems currently in place, for they are designed to *not* provide for our needs. We can observe these dysfunctional systems collapsing right before our eyes.