Posted by drummer (209.105.134.42) on January 30, 2000 at 09:09:44:
In Reply to: intro and some questions posted by stephen on January 30, 2000 at 07:06:05:
You sound like a VERY honest guy. I would like to try and help you. I've had CH for 16 years straight with no more than 14 days in a row without a "headache". I've never had the threat of losing my drivers license, but I HAVE had the threat of losing employment, girlfriends and I have absolutely had the concern of paying bills.
First of all; depending on how many Neurologists that you have available to you in your area; you CAN fire the idiot that you currently have "working" for you and get another Neurologist. If you are unable to fire your Neurologist because he/she is the only one in your town or the only one covered under your Health Insurance; you need to educate him/her about Cluster Headaches. Believe it or not; Neurologists are NOT taught too much about CH when they go through College.
Explain to your Neurologist that you are NOT one of his/her Epileptic patients that may have a seizure at any moment in time when driving a vehicle. Explain that CH attacks come with a bit of notice and that you are able to recognize the "warnings" of a CH attack and calmly pull your vehicle over to the side of the road and "handle" the Cluster Headache without harming yourself or others around you.
You MAY want to educate your Supervisor where you work with this same knowledge. Tell your Supervisor that you are able to recognize the "warning signs" of a Cluster attack and you will have plenty of time to shut down the machinery; thereby preventing harm to yourself and to others.
Now for the Banks. I work in the Financial business. It's a cruel and unfeeling world sometimes. Normally, the only concern that a Bank has regarding Loans and Interest rates is your "Financial Character". Unfortunately the Banks don't care about your "Personal Character".
Here's what I mean about "Financial Character". Most Financial Institutions only care about your (Beacon Score). The (Beacon Score) is a HUGE National database that is compromised of your "Credit History", "Employment History", "Debt to Income ratio", etc. This database doesn't care about your personal life at all. Most Financial Institutions will base your Interest rate on your (Beacon Score) and the current Federal Reserve's "prime" Interest rate.
I would suggest that you NOT tell ANY Financial Institution about your Cluster Headaches. They do not need to know, unless you intend to add Life or Dissabilty Insurance to your Loan. (These two Insurances, however, will cause your monthly payment to increase). Anyway, you may want to look into a Credit Union for a Loan. Credit Union's tend to have much lower interest rates than other Financial Institutions. Also, you may want to look in your phone book under Family Services. Sometimes these agencies can help people in our situation.
Or you can do what Bob G suggested. :-)