Just Had My Disability Hearing

[lieze]

I'm not sure we were able to speak much to the POTS and I'm not sure there was a chance to explain much about it actually. The good news is she didn't bring up the anxiety question.

It seemed she was focused in on symtpoms particularly.

There was no medical examiner there.

It seemed she just wanted to get it over with.

It was mentioned that I had West Nile Virus and chicken pox and that all of the symptoms started after,

The hearing was about 45 minutes in length.

I'm not sure what advice if we look to this as what could be done differently?

My medical history was kind of weavy windy because I did not know what was happening to me at first and went to a nurse therapist who accused me of being anorexic and non med complient which did not sit well with the judge, it seemed she focused in more on that then the nice summary my doctor added at the end clearly outlining my restrictions.

I could not take the meds because I reacted to them and I lost the weight when I got sick and have not been able to gain it back. That is what I told the judge. I currently eat between 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of meat daily and I eat every hour.

It would be nice if we could have inaccurate medical reports stricken from out record to avoid this type of zeroing in on the wrong facts which weren't accurate in the first place.

But I think as people usually state the medical records hold the key so having a doctor who understands where you are at and the limitations you face seems to be my best advice.

Any other questions maybe myself or some of the other members that have been through it can answer.

I never had a chance to talk about my IV iron and how expensive it is that insurance won't cover. I'm not sure she wanted to hear that.

It seems like in the impression I have of this a lot of information potentially gets left out but maybe I just don't understand the process.

[Katybug]

Lieze,

I'm sorry. It doesn't sound like you are too happy with how the hearing went. Did the judge allow your attorney to question you? If so, that should have been the time that your attorney could /should have brought out all the other information. Did she give you a decision or do you have to wait to get it in the mail?

[lieze]

Oh it went okay.

I think I just got a reality check as to the process of the disability hearing,

I think it's just the reality of it.

They found that I could do no jobs so my chances are at least decent.

I just overall felt that with everything we go through with POTS there wasn't a real audience for POTS education or info.

I highlighted the fact I was so ill I could not take care of my kids had to move in with my parents on three different occasion.

And that when I walked up the hall at work my heartrate went to 179-190.

There was a day I had to call an ambulance. My heart was in an abnormal rhythm.

I gathered enough strength to get up out of that ambulance and finish my day.

I tried so hard to keep working.

There were other occasions though where I experienced presyncope at work that got pretty bad and called 911 left and was down for the rest of the day.

Perhaps she'll find time to do POTS research after the hearing because she seemed puzzled as to why these things would be happening to me.

I'm waiting on a decision and that's okay. : )

[bebe127]

I do so hope things go well for you!!

[lieze]

Thankyou.

The only other thing that I got really mixed up on was the dates I went part time.

My last day worked,

When I left my employer.

There was quite a bitof questioning as to this.

So if you can have those figured out and written down that may help.

I had about 3-4 changes,

One was a switch from full time to part time, then to PRN on call basis. Even at that I went for a period of 6 months that I was not able to go in at all before I received basically what was a termination letter.

I'm mainly thinking of the things that I wish I would have known going in that I didn't just from lack of experience.

I really didn't have much time with my attorney just 15 minutes prior to the hearing.

I wish we would have had more time.

[HopeSprings]

I had mine today too. My attorney warned me that I would feel like I didn't say everything I wanted to and she was right. I don't feel like I explained my limitations very well. Lieze, my judge was also focused on treatment. The fact that I'm on no medication, what treatments have I tried, when was the last time I tried a medication etc. was questioned quite a bit. I previously submitted pharmacy records which show the many medications I've tried over the years, sometimes re-trying the same ones. It seemed like the judge knew nothing about me or my case, like this was the first time she was hearing any of this. I don't understand because my attorney previously submitted a brief, there were letters from Doctors, statements from family members, my own letters and of course all the forms I filled out and a TON of medical records. I went in thinking she would at least be familiar with some of the back story. Maybe she was, but just didn't act like it? I have no idea. There was a vocational expert who said I couldn't do my previous job, but found some jobs I could do based on the judge's first set of hypotheticals and then no jobs based on the second set. I think the fact that they found NO jobs for you might be helpful, Lieze. It ended with thank you, you'll have a decision in 4-6 weeks. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.

[lieze]

Kudos to you Naomi for everything that you put into this and also all the work your attorney did,

Maybe as she reviews your case that will pay off.

Everyone says that getting disabiltity is a tough thing near impossible is what some people claim and today we got to experience why that is.

I started questioning right away when I was looking at length of time that hearings last-I read anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour how in the world we could share our experience the whole depth of our trials and tribulations in that time period.

I have had experience taking it up a notch with activity and it has not gone well at all.

I either see cognitive issues or physical ones which if they don't present right away I end up laid out the next several days.

I don't know that rehabilitation is even possible based on that.

[lieze]

I think just one more thing that comes to mind and this seems simple but I froze.

Be ready to list some things that you do while sedentary.

I have done so many things like jigsaw puzzles, word search, online scrabble, reading magazines, books or newspaper, reqding inspirational quotes, playing games with kids, helping with homework, writing out checks for bills, sorting through mail and other misc, folding laundry etc, peeling potatoes, stirring baking mixes like cookies or murfins, I really choked on this for some reason. I think I feel self conscious of how much time I do soend on the internet no 1 and it was a question that I thought of months back but then did not anticipate in my trial prep.

So maybe it wasn't a big deal but that is something to be ready to give some examples of ways you pass the time if you are planning to go for disability.