My name is Joshua Swatosh. I am 45 years old and live in Austin, Texas. 

I am blind and have epilepsy. I had a left temporal lobectomy in 2015 and have gone from having seizures every 2 weeks to every 6-8 months. I also have severe asthma which I am treating with Trelegy, and my pulmonologist and I were just discussing adding a biologic shot to my routine as well to control my asthma. That tells me it’s a lot more severe than I even thought. I also am on a BiPap machine for sleep apnea as I have both central and obstructive sleep apnea.  

I’d give anything if they could come up with something for treating both types of sleep apnea, as I despise wearing the mask when sleeping. 

I am in a manual wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, however, I can get around well indoors but need help when outside. I am not afraid to ask for help when needed. 

I also have both Medicare and Medicaid insurance coverage because of my diagnoses. 

It’s really been a pain when having to change medications fairly regularly prior to my temporal lobectomy, because of all the paperwork and back and forth with insurance, although I will say, it has helped me to get to know some of the important people on the inside, and they know that I am not afraid to advocate for my needs. 

We should all have more affordable prescription drug prices, as I feel it is not right that drug companies are bringing in massive profits when it does not cost them near what they want you to think it does to manufacture these medications.