For Carol Brower, it’s not just one disability that’s affecting her. It’s four. In 2007, Carol was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome and celiac sprue.

Carol heard about MAWD from her disability attorney. At the time, she was employed as a manager of Carriage House Apartments in Sioux Falls. She was scheduled to have surgery and they would only allow so much time off, so she quit. It took her five weeks to recover. In that time, Carol lost a lot of energy and it took about six months for her to get completely better. At that point, she filed for disability.

Her family and her husband pushed her to keep going. Carol said finding employment was a struggle, but recently started a new job at Y’s Buys and is a supervisor at the call center.

With help from MAWD and the Department of Social Services, her medical expenses are more easily paid for now. MAWD also helps Carol with getting an annual checkup and going to the chiropractor.

With her disabilities, Carol said, “The more I move, the better I feel.” The rheumatoid arthritis, Carol said, causes you to ache all over, but once she gets up and moving, she is OK. It is hard to get her mind to quit thinking when she is trying to go to sleep at night. The fibromyalgia is the cause of this. She said, “It’s tough to get going in the morning but once I do, everything is alright.”

Her advice for employers is to be patient with people with disabilities. They might need time off to go to the doctor.

MAWD has helped Carol, mainly financially. She said because of MAWD that she doesn’t have to worry about medical expenses. MAWD frees up money that she can use for other things besides medical needs.

Carol looks forward to a fresh start at her new job.