My sister and I decided to pursue our formal education in our late 30's/early 40's. It wasn't until I began showing similar symptoms to my sister that we put two-and-two together. My sister, upon finishing school, was walking with a cane and progressed heavily from there. Although we have the same number of repeats and she's only 6 months older than me (same father/different mothers), she already needs a walker to get around. She is on SSI and will never get the opportunity to put to use her newly-gained knowledge and skills.
I, on the other hand, still have mild symptoms. I have a little bit of vision problems because of the nystagmus and balance problems or spins on occassion. I plan to stick with my current employer for the duration of my work years and will probably never make the money I intended to from my college education. The problem is, if I tell an employer about my condition in the beginning, it is likely they will consider somebody else for the job. If I DON'T tell them up front about my condition, I will likely be sick sometime in the first 90 days (these jobs usually come with a 90 day probationary period) and get fired anyway. Neither me or my sister would have pursued our formal education in our late 30's/early 40's had we known in advance of our genetic condition. Once we linked our two conditions, we found out that our biological father has been disabled and in a care facility since the age of 50. He never knew his condition was genetic and kept trying to blame it on exposure to agent orange during his time in Vietnam. He was adopted by his step-father and never got to know the biological father he inherited this disease from. Are there any programs out there to help assist us with paying back the loans we must pay or does anyone know if I can help my sister with getting her loans forgiven?
Hi, I will try to help answer your question. I too had many loans to repay as I continued my education in my thirties without knowing I had a mitochondrial disorder. There is forgiveness if you are completely disabled and unable to work at all. To accomplish this you must notify your student loan lender and they will send you a form that you and your doctor must complete. Once the form is submitted it takes six years of continued disability until the loans are dismissed. It sounds to me as since you are still working you can contact your lender and ask them for a forbearance. Unfortunately if you are capable of sustaining full-time work, there really isn’t any program to help you. They will not forgive a loan if your working, if you graduated your degree is yours for life no matter if you will use it or not. Sorry, I wish there was a better answer for you.
Garry
Thanks for the reply Gary! Well, I think my sister has been filling out these forms now for two years and they just keep resending them to her. Here is the issue at hand at this moment in time. She is on disability and her income is the only income coming into the household. Her husband stays home to care for her. They are threatening to take money for payment out of her SSI Disability checks and are claiming they have the right to do so because her school loans were government loans. Is it attorney time? The problem is she has no money in the bank and they live month to month. I would help her if I could, but we've been sucked dry from medical bills, school loans, car loans, home loan, and credit card debt.
Gary gckak said:
Hi, I will try to help answer your question. I too had many loans to repay as I continued my education in my thirties without knowing I had a mitochondrial disorder. There is forgiveness if you are completely disabled and unable to work at all. To accomplish this you must notify your student loan lender and they will send you a form that you and your doctor must complete. Once the form is submitted it takes six years of continued disability until the loans are dismissed. It sounds to me as since you are still working you can contact your lender and ask them for a forbearance. Unfortunately if you are capable of sustaining full-time work, there really isn't any program to help you. They will not forgive a loan if your working, if you graduated your degree is yours for life no matter if you will use it or not. Sorry, I wish there was a better answer for you. Garry