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terbaer

Senior member
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Messages
430
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
10/2010
Country
US
State
WA
It has been a while since I have been on this forum. I have a few friends that I have become acquainted with that are disabled and wanting to apply for disability. I thought about it and figured I would share with all of you that may be in the same boat.

I am 51 and had to stop working at 49. I had been working for the state for almost 30 years (34 total in my lifetime). I had enough credits that I qualified to apply for SSD. What I can tell you is that I was approved the first time but it is extremely rare.

When I determined (or I should say my body and mind determined) that I would no longer be able to work and decided to go the disability route, I looked on Social Security's website and found out what I qualified for and how much approximately, I would get if approved. I then made a phone call to an attorney in my area. The attorney I spoke too no longer handled SSD cases, but he gave me some great information that I'll pass along. I truly believe this is what tipped the scales for my approval.

1. I actually started priming my physicians (primary care, neurologist, gastro, counselor, etc). I let them know it has gotten to the point that I didn't believe I could continue to work full-time or consistently part time (that's the key for disability, unable to work full-time).

2. The attorney suggested that I request a copy of my medical records and look at them to see what is documented. It is likely that they don't have complete information in there that documents all of your ailments (amazing, huh?). I did this and realized that he was RIGHT!

3. (This is my recommendation and something that I personally did) Type out a list of all of your ailments, the approximate date you developed them and the physician that diagnosed the ailment. I was amazed that it was a page long when I broke each issue down. Don't just list fibro, but also break it down to the little details, like, cluster/daily headaches, chronic severe fatigue (can't function or get out of bed), chronic pain (neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, feet (make it applicable to you)), insomnia/difficulty sleeping, spasms in neck and shoulders/back, pass out when I push during a flare up on a regular basis, horrible gas (if you have IBS or colitis), etc, etc. Truly list each specific thing.

Take the list to your next appointment and hand it to the doctor. When I did, my doctor was kind of taken aback. I don't think he realized how much I was going through because we usually go in here and there for just specific issues, not everything at once. (It also then is part of your medical records!) :smile:

4. Ask each doctor if they would write a letter to Social Security on your behalf, providing a bulleted list of your ailments. (This is beneficial for two reasons. 1st, it is a concise detail of your ailments that helps the social security reviewer decypher what is going on rather than having to read pages and pages of notes. And 2nd, it really shows that the physician is supportive of your decision to apply. I was able to get my primary care physician, my gastrointestinal specialist and counselor to all write letters. My neurologist was meticulous in his notes so his records alone were sufficient.

5. Apply for disability. In the last section of the online application, there is a block that you can add additional information. USE IT! I explained that I had worked almost 30 years for the state and had consistently started missing more and more time. That I passed out numerous times on my way to work because I believed I had to be there as a manager....blah, blah blah. State your case!

6. After you are assigned a federal case worker, contact them periodically if you have additional information to support your request. I had been on FMLA for five or more years so I was able to send her copies of each of my FMLA documents. I also believe this is a good way to make a personal connection with the person. If I went to another appointment after I applied, I asked for a detailed copy of the appointment and purpose of my visit. I then called and the gal sent me a cover letter (which is how you submit additional information). Once I got the cover letter, I attached the new visit information and sent it to Social Security. When I was approved for long-term disability through my employer, I called her and asked if I could include that in the file. She sent me a cover letter to include.

I was asked by Social Security to meet with one of their psychiatrists. They wanted to know if I needed transportation. I said that I can usually drive, but if I was having a flare up, I would have one of my parents drive me. The psychiatrist was kind. He actually mentioned that my counselor thinks very highly of me and that he was impressed with how much I had accomplished given my health conditions.

I was very honest about my condition. I indicated to him that when I don't have a flare up, and if my colitis or IBS isn't acting up, I can function pretty good, unfortunately, it's unpredictable and that in a given month, I was probably less than 50% capable due to the flare ups, whether fibro, fatigue or colitis.

I told my husband, my last job was to get approved. It was very overwhelming at first, but once I started I just plugged along. It took them 5 months, but I was approved the first time. If you aren't approved, appeal it and get a good SSD attorney. There are a number of them. Ask people you know, ask other attorneys. Be proactive. Good luck to you! I hope this information is helpful....
 
Brilliant post terbaer....hopefully might help a lot of people.
 
Thank you for sharing this, and glad to hear that you managed to get this approved! I'm sure a lot folks on here will find this super useful, we really needed a post like this in the forum, it will bring a lot hope into a lot people's lives!
 
I'm exausted just reading. Lol. Sorry but it's true. I. In such a fog I retained 1/4 of it. How sad.
 
thank you for all of the tips! i'm actually disputing their decision tonight on my first attempt at applying for disability since i tried in 2000 when i first got diagnosed.
 
Sorry Moe1959 that it was so long, I just wanted to document what I did and It's a difficult process.

Good luck Feeling Defeated! I hope you get it.....

Trellum, I think they should have a section on applying for disability. Otherwise these posts just get dumped after inactivity and lost until the question comes up again. As you can see, it's not easy to type all of that! lol

Gentle hugs...
 
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