Disability

[hilfgirl33]

I have applied for disability. I got a call the other day from my case worker and she said she was mailing out some more information that she needed me to fill out. Well it came today and it was very extensive questions related directly to my inabilities and fatigue issues. They asked me all kinds of questions like do you have problems taking a shower, cooking, gardening, being in heat, getting dressed, food shopping, sitting or standing for long periods of time. It seemed like it was custom made for me or for people with POTS in general and after I filled it out, I was actually getting depressed at all the things I can't do written on paper.

Is this common for disability?? After I answered all this, I don't know how I couldn't be approved. I did try and tell them that sometimes I do feel decent enough to do some normal things in a day, but usually that's it.

Thanks for any input.

Elaine

[WifeofPotsMan]

Elaine, I have news for you that is probably not what you want to hear....the forms only get worse. No matter what disability you claim to have the forms are the same initially at least. I can tell you that forms just get more redundant. My husband applied for disability back in March of this year. We were denied initially and are currently working on an appeal. Don't get frustrated or surprised if you are denied on the first try. Don't get frustrated with the forms. They do get very redundant. My advice is to keep a copy of everything that you fill out. That way you don't get "tripped up" and you know how you answered the question the first time they asked you. I would also advise you to take a look at the following link http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability/p...onals/bluebook/

This will give you all of the things that the federal government considers as criteria for claiming disability. Let me caution you not to be discouraged. This reads like a lawyer manual. If I can be of further assistance or you just want to chat you can email me personally at MTweet4U@worldnet.att.net.

It's very important to have doctors that are supporting your claims. We finally have doctors that are on board so to speak with acknowledging that Tim has a lot of disability doing "common" everyday things. Don't forget you can also get a lawyer involved in helping you. It cost's you nothing out of pocket. They will take 25% of the money you get from disability on retroactive pay. A lawyer generally won?t even get involved until you've been denied at least once. That way they are guaranteed to get money from helping you.

I think it's important to offer support for things like this. You and my husband suffer with a syndrome that isn't fully understood by doctors and leaves very little treatment protocols or possibility for "recovery". The best hope is to somehow stabilize the symptoms so that you can live with a certain quality of life. I'll be glad to offer any help I can. Good Luck! Let me know how it works out.

Melanie