Mike Ewald

Mike Ewald of Hanover quit his job in 2004 to take care of his wife, Beth Helderman, who has multiple sclerosis.Ewald and Helderman were together for eight years before she was diagnosed. Two years after the diagnosis they got married in 1998.

“When we got married we said our vows, ‘for better, for worse’ and unfortunately that was (for) worse,” he said.

Helderman’s condition started to worsen — she has limited mobility and spends most of her day in a hospital bed — and they had to hire a nurse to care for her in their home.

Medicaid covered the cost of the home care, but soon after, Helderman qualified for Social Security Disability, or SSD, and was no longer eligible for Medicaid. Ewald found himself faced with a tough decision.

“It was either have her go to a nursing home, or have me leave my job to stay with her,” Ewald said. “At her age (39), I couldn’t see her going to a nursing home.”

In 2004, Ewald went from operating a machine at Southpoint in Jackson to preparing meals, brushing teeth and tending to other personal needs for his wife. In addition to the SSD, the couple also receive food stamps.

“We were young when this happened,” Ewald said. “At this point, our life was pretty much over.”

Now, Ewald and his wife find themselves sitting in front of the television watching the SciFi Channel and reading e-mails from relatives.

“She likes to go shopping from time to time and it causes her a lot of pain to get out of the car and a wheelchair accessible van would make things easier,” Ewald said.

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