Re: Has anyone ever had a rheumy do this??

[Guest guest]

>

> After over a year with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today that

> I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has been

> pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head and

> that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom to

> 3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

> he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought he

> was behind me.

>

> Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how I

> feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue, but

> very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

> every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> really even that sick.

>

> What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an appt

> in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so this

> may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I come

> home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to be my

> life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I have

> an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight the

> insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

> (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

>

I HAD TROUBLE EVEN READING THIS NOTE--IT IS SO BAD-WHAT THSE DOCS DO TO US-I

KNOW YOU ARE A LAWYER BUT YOU STILL NEED A DISABILITY LAWYER WHO KNOWS THE

ROPE-YOU HAVE THE DIAGNOSIS AND ARE ON HEAVY DUTY MEDS-WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

THEY ARE ALL JERKS-PLEASE DO NOT STOP FIGHTING -DON'T GIVE UP-FIND NEW

DOCTORS WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR ILLNESS AND ARE COMPASSIONATE.I HAVE

BEEN WHERE YOU ARE AT SO MANY TIMES IT HAS TAKEN ME 4 YEARS TO FIND THE RIGHT

DOCS WHO REALLY LISTENED TO ME AND UNDERSTOOD ME AND THIS AWFUL ILLNESS. I

HATE WHAT YO ARE GOING THROUGH--BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC OR DRUG ADDICT THEY

HAVE NO TROUBLE GETTING DISABILITY--MAKES ME SICK--JUST AHNG IN THERE.LYNN

[Guest guest]

Forward this email to your rheumatologist. Maybe if he sees it in writing,

he'll feel differently. Good Luck

eemalawyer <eemalawyer@...> wrote:After over a year with RA, on a

progression of drugs up to and

including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today that

I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has been

pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head and

that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom to

3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought he

was behind me.

Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how I

feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue, but

very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

really even that sick.

What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an appt

in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so this

may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I come

home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to be my

life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I have

an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight the

insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

(I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

[Guest guest]

Hi

I totally sympathize and relate to your situation. I struggled with

the pain and symptoms of RA for three years and worked 40hrs a week at

a secretarial job under a female boss who was sure I was a slacker and

faking it. I went to my GP and had numerous tests, MRI, carple tunnel,

physical therapy, swelling in my hands, feet, extreme head aches, neck

pain etc. off work numerous times, my boss switched me repeatedly to

harder physical jobs mixed with secretarial wrote me up constantly

until finally I was forced to take early retirement with 17 yrs in and

$800.00 a month. Fortunately I kept my medical insurance paying

$360.00 a month. I couldn't take the stress and pressure which I now

know is what intensified the RA. I was also struggling with thyroid

cancer, finally surgery to remove my thyroid RAI treatment fortunately

my cancer was very small and is hopefully totally under control but the

RA is going crazy. After retirement and being left with only

$500.00 a month I thought I would take a no stress job at a ice cream

parlor part-time and hopefully get another part-time job to make up the

difference. No such luck. Working in " cold " really brought the RA

out. Finally I was diagnosed and have a rhuemy. I was encouraged by

my GP to file for SS Disability. I was turned down and am appealing it

with an attorney. It's a battle to say the least. BUT..... I am a

fighter! I have earned it. I deserve it........ I WILL get this! I

will NOT tolerate insensitive people. I am determined at 56 years old

to lead a happy life. I am single and stubborn as a mule! However

I am not as strong as a mule....... anymore!! Others don't believe

that because I've always been able to handle anything the world threw

at me. Time has taken a tole.

So GOOD LUCK.. don't give up! Remember you came in kicking and

screaming....... go out the same way!

Carol in california.

keep in touch.

On Nov 23, 2005, at 4:43 PM, eemalawyer wrote:

> After over a year with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today that

> I think it's time to apply for disability.  (My internist has been

> pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head and

> that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom to

> 3 kids is destroying my health.)  Rheumy has said before that

> he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought he

> was behind me.

>

> Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> week.  Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how I

> feel.  Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue, but

> very few objective signs of illness.  He's happy to take $3,000

> every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> really even that sick.

>

> What do I do?  I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an appt

> in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so this

> may mean another year at work.  I'm at the end of my rope -- I come

> home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> yell at the kids when they fight.  Really, if this is going to be my

> life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore.  I have

> an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> there's just nothing to look forward to anymore.  I can fight the

> insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor. 

> (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have 2 wonderful lawyers lined up - one for the federal disability

retirement, one to try to collect on my private policy. Both tell

me that if the doc will say what they need him to say, my chances

are very good (although the private policy may mean a fight and 2-3

years of litigation before they pay). But they tell me that the

diagnosis isn't the key for these kinds of disability payments

(unlike social security) -- the key is the " nexus " between my

illness and my inability to do my job, and my doctor has to talk

very specifically about WHY I can't work. If he says, yeah, she has

RA, yeah, she takes these drugs, but she can sit behind a desk and

think -- I have NO chance. I won't even try, because even if I come

back later with a new doc the old doc's opinion will still be in

their files and they can still point to it to deny me. I have to

get to the new doc, get to know her, slowly bring her around to the

position that it's all too much for me.

I just don't know that I can do this for another year or two. I

FINALLY made the decision that this was necessary for me and for my

family, even though it meant giving up a career, a lot of education,

a nice standard of living, etc. -- and now it appears that there's

no way out after all, at least not for now. If I get fired from my

job -- hard for a federal worker but not impossible -- query whether

my old doc would back me up THEN, or if he would still think that I

was exaggerating. The only reason I haven't been fired is that 1)

my boss is basically a nice guy and 2) it's more trouble for him to

try to get rid of me than it's worth to him. I certainly don't do

much work, I " work at home " once a week, and I'm usually out sick 2-

3 times a month on top of that. And when I'm there I'm frequently

too wiped out or in too much pain to focus on much unless there's a

huge deadline hanging over my head. After which I have a flare.

I really hate to complain like this -- I've always been a really

positive person. I've been working full time, raising my kids

almost 100% alone (dad lives out of state and I have no family),

people always said that they didn't know how I did it, but it was

really OK -- I adore my kids, I liked my job, and I felt that life

was really pretty good in spite of everything. Even after I started

to get sick, I had a lot of hope that it was just a matter of

finding the right drug and things would get back to normal, or close

to it. Now the Remicade doesn't help, the doc won't try another

drug (he won't say why except to say that I " don't want " to self-

inject, and I know that all of his patients are on Remicade), and I

don't see a clear way out of this, except by going on disability and

at least having the time and energy to eat properly, exercise, rest

and try to get healthy, and to be able to devote the energy that I

do have to raising my kids and running my house. And now I'm being

told that I don't have that option, and I'm freaking out.

>

> --- In , " eemalawyer " <eemalawyer@y...>

wrote:

> >

> > After over a year with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> > including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today

that

> > I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has

been

> > pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head

and

> > that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom

to

> > 3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

> > he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought

he

> > was behind me.

> >

> > Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> > week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how

I

> > feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue,

but

> > very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

> > every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> > nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> > dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> > really even that sick.

> >

> > What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an

appt

> > in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> > can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so

this

> > may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I

come

> > home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> > yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to

be my

> > life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I

have

> > an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> > there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight

the

> > insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

> > (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> > backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

> >

> I HAD TROUBLE EVEN READING THIS NOTE--IT IS SO BAD-WHAT THSE

DOCS DO TO US-I

> KNOW YOU ARE A LAWYER BUT YOU STILL NEED A DISABILITY LAWYER WHO

KNOWS THE

> ROPE-YOU HAVE THE DIAGNOSIS AND ARE ON HEAVY DUTY MEDS-WHAT IS THE

PROBLEM?

> THEY ARE ALL JERKS-PLEASE DO NOT STOP FIGHTING -DON'T GIVE UP-FIND

NEW

> DOCTORS WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR ILLNESS AND ARE

COMPASSIONATE.I HAVE

> BEEN WHERE YOU ARE AT SO MANY TIMES IT HAS TAKEN ME 4 YEARS TO

FIND THE RIGHT

> DOCS WHO REALLY LISTENED TO ME AND UNDERSTOOD ME AND THIS AWFUL

ILLNESS. I

> HATE WHAT YO ARE GOING THROUGH--BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC OR DRUG ADDICT

THEY

> HAVE NO TROUBLE GETTING DISABILITY--MAKES ME SICK--JUST AHNG IN

THERE.LYNN

>

[Guest guest]

Maybe you should say, " If you don't think I have a real illness, then why are

you giving me this drug? Is it ETHICAL for a doctor to prescribe a drug like

this for an imaginary condition? " I'd also ask him if he considers

" self-reported " to be a synonym for " you're a liar. " Gosh, this is a sticky

situation. I will be rooting for you.

laura

eemalawyer <eemalawyer@...> wrote: After over a year with RA, on

a progression of drugs up to and

including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today that

I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has been

pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head and

that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom to

3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought he

was behind me.

Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how I

feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue, but

very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

really even that sick.

What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an appt

in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so this

may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I come

home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to be my

life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I have

an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight the

insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

(I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

[Guest guest]

My internist (who has been actively pushing me to go on disability

for months) is going to talk to him. If that doesn't work, then I

think I might mention that I owe him about $1500 for copays for

Remicade that he apparently prescribed inappropriately and that I

have no intention of paying for it (and that if he pushes it I'll

tell the insurance company and the state board). At least I'll save

some money.

After over a year

with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today

that

> I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has

been

> pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head

and

> that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom

to

> 3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

> he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought

he

> was behind me.

>

> Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how

I

> feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue,

but

> very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

> every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> really even that sick.

>

> What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an

appt

> in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so

this

> may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I

come

> home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to

be my

> life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I

have

> an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight

the

> insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

> (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I hope your doctor will turn and support you, I know how difficult it is for you

to finally face the decision to no longer work.

I was forced to leave my job around four weeks ago after four years with the

one employer and I have found that decision to be harder to deal with and more

devastating as the diagnosis itself. I loved my work and I did it well, but the

last 12-18 months have been hard to continue it took me injurying my right hand

at work to pull me up and say enough is enough I have to look after myself so

that inturn I can look after my three boys

My Gp signed forms for my application of the disabilty pension on Wednesday in

fact he was the one to suggest it when I said my family could not afford for me

to not work as hubby is also currently not working. He feels that a work cover

claim is valid but would be a hard fight due to the RA so I dont think I am

strong enough for that So I am lucky to have his support behind me with the

disabilty pension doesn't mean I will get it I still have to jump through the

governments hoops so heres hopeing.

eemalawyer <eemalawyer@...> wrote:

I have 2 wonderful lawyers lined up - one for the federal disability

retirement, one to try to collect on my private policy. Both tell

me that if the doc will say what they need him to say, my chances

are very good (although the private policy may mean a fight and 2-3

years of litigation before they pay). But they tell me that the

diagnosis isn't the key for these kinds of disability payments

(unlike social security) -- the key is the " nexus " between my

illness and my inability to do my job, and my doctor has to talk

very specifically about WHY I can't work. If he says, yeah, she has

RA, yeah, she takes these drugs, but she can sit behind a desk and

think -- I have NO chance. I won't even try, because even if I come

back later with a new doc the old doc's opinion will still be in

their files and they can still point to it to deny me. I have to

get to the new doc, get to know her, slowly bring her around to the

position that it's all too much for me.

I just don't know that I can do this for another year or two. I

FINALLY made the decision that this was necessary for me and for my

family, even though it meant giving up a career, a lot of education,

a nice standard of living, etc. -- and now it appears that there's

no way out after all, at least not for now. If I get fired from my

job -- hard for a federal worker but not impossible -- query whether

my old doc would back me up THEN, or if he would still think that I

was exaggerating. The only reason I haven't been fired is that 1)

my boss is basically a nice guy and 2) it's more trouble for him to

try to get rid of me than it's worth to him. I certainly don't do

much work, I " work at home " once a week, and I'm usually out sick 2-

3 times a month on top of that. And when I'm there I'm frequently

too wiped out or in too much pain to focus on much unless there's a

huge deadline hanging over my head. After which I have a flare.

I really hate to complain like this -- I've always been a really

positive person. I've been working full time, raising my kids

almost 100% alone (dad lives out of state and I have no family),

people always said that they didn't know how I did it, but it was

really OK -- I adore my kids, I liked my job, and I felt that life

was really pretty good in spite of everything. Even after I started

to get sick, I had a lot of hope that it was just a matter of

finding the right drug and things would get back to normal, or close

to it. Now the Remicade doesn't help, the doc won't try another

drug (he won't say why except to say that I " don't want " to self-

inject, and I know that all of his patients are on Remicade), and I

don't see a clear way out of this, except by going on disability and

at least having the time and energy to eat properly, exercise, rest

and try to get healthy, and to be able to devote the energy that I

do have to raising my kids and running my house. And now I'm being

told that I don't have that option, and I'm freaking out.

>

> --- In , " eemalawyer " <eemalawyer@y...>

wrote:

> >

> > After over a year with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> > including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today

that

> > I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has

been

> > pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head

and

> > that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom

to

> > 3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

> > he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought

he

> > was behind me.

> >

> > Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> > week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how

I

> > feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue,

but

> > very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

> > every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> > nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> > dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> > really even that sick.

> >

> > What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an

appt

> > in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> > can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so

this

> > may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I

come

> > home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> > yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to

be my

> > life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I

have

> > an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> > there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight

the

> > insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

> > (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> > backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

> >

> I HAD TROUBLE EVEN READING THIS NOTE--IT IS SO BAD-WHAT THSE

DOCS DO TO US-I

> KNOW YOU ARE A LAWYER BUT YOU STILL NEED A DISABILITY LAWYER WHO

KNOWS THE

> ROPE-YOU HAVE THE DIAGNOSIS AND ARE ON HEAVY DUTY MEDS-WHAT IS THE

PROBLEM?

> THEY ARE ALL JERKS-PLEASE DO NOT STOP FIGHTING -DON'T GIVE UP-FIND

NEW

> DOCTORS WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR ILLNESS AND ARE

COMPASSIONATE.I HAVE

> BEEN WHERE YOU ARE AT SO MANY TIMES IT HAS TAKEN ME 4 YEARS TO

FIND THE RIGHT

> DOCS WHO REALLY LISTENED TO ME AND UNDERSTOOD ME AND THIS AWFUL

ILLNESS. I

> HATE WHAT YO ARE GOING THROUGH--BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC OR DRUG ADDICT

THEY

> HAVE NO TROUBLE GETTING DISABILITY--MAKES ME SICK--JUST AHNG IN

THERE.LYNN

>

[Guest guest]

Why don't you get him to let you try Enbrel or Humira? I was

needle-phobic, too, but I soon got over it when I saw how much Enbrel

helped. Now I don't mind it a bit, because I know it's going to keep my

RA pretty much at bay. Different drugs work for different people. It

would be worth a try while you're trying to get disability, because no

body gets it quickly, from what I understand.

Sue

On Thursday, November 24, 2005, at 07:25 AM, eemalawyer wrote:

> Now the Remicade doesn't help, the doc won't try another

> drug (he won't say why except to say that I " don't want " to self-

> inject, and I know that all of his patients are on Remicade),

[Guest guest]

I'd like to see how well your doctor uses his brain if he was in

constant pain and had

3 young children to take care of.

At 3000 per treatment, he's making a fortune off of you. $10,000 per

year is what

I've read that the treatment costs. If you're getting an infusion

every 6 weeks, you're getting at least

8 treatments a year at a cost of $24,000. With this kind of income,

it's doubtful he'll be in any rush

to change your treatment. I sure hope that this isn't a reason to

keep you on Remicade.

Is it helping you? I take Enbrel and can tell you that the injections

are painless.

As far as him not supporting you going out on disability, all I can

think of is that he is hopeful

that with the right treatment, you will feel well enough to work.

Many people find the right meds

and can continue to work, while others aren't so lucky. I have to

admire him for not prescribing

prednisone. It causes so many other problems that sometimes I wonder

why it's even prescribed

except in life threatening cases.

I hope your internist can talk some sense into him.

a

On Nov 23, 2005, at 7:43 PM, eemalawyer wrote:

> After over a year with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today that

> I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has been

> pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head and

> that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom to

> 3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

> he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought he

> was behind me.

>

> Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how I

> feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue, but

> very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

> every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> really even that sick.

>

> What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an appt

> in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so this

> may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I come

> home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to be my

> life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I have

> an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight the

> insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

> (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh geez! See, this is exactly what I'm worried about as well! I've

been for the most part, off work for 3 months now. I can't hardly do

anything most days. However, I haven't actually seen a 'rheumy' yet.

My husband thinks I truly need to be on disability...I'm in SO much

pain & I'm exhausted ALL the time!!

I'm getting ready to start a new job this next week...I've all ready

lost 2 jobs because of RA...I hope I can 'keep' this one. I don't

know though...there is some physical work required (like lifting 55

lbs. of dog food above my head to stock the shelves - not often, but

right at this EXACT moment, no can do).

Plus, I'm using to making really decent money...I've been reduced to

taking $7/hour jobs that have no future in them.

Cami

--- In , " eemalawyer " <eemalawyer@y...>

wrote:

>

> After over a year with RA, on a progression of drugs up to and

> including a high dose of Remicade, I finally told my doc today

that

> I think it's time to apply for disability. (My internist has been

> pushing me to do it for months, says my pain is NOT in my head and

> that working full-time at a stressful job and being a single mom

to

> 3 kids is destroying my health.) Rheumy has said before that

> he'll " back me up " if I get into trouble at work, so I thought he

> was behind me.

>

> Turns out that he sees " no reason " that I can't work 40+ hours a

> week. Says I'm only " using my brain " , so it doesn't matter how I

> feel. Says that I have a lot of self-reported pain and fatigue,

but

> very few objective signs of illness. He's happy to take $3,000

> every six weeks from the insurance to give me Remicade (and the

> nurse gives it to 2-3 patients at a time so I'm sure he's double-

> dipping on the charges), but apparently he questions whether I'm

> really even that sick.

>

> What do I do? I know, find another rheumy (I actually have an

appt

> in February with someone who's supposed to be very good), but I

> can't exactly bring up disability at my first appointment, so this

> may mean another year at work. I'm at the end of my rope -- I

come

> home and crawl into bed, don't eat dinner or clean up the house,

> yell at the kids when they fight. Really, if this is going to be

my

> life, if it were just me, I wouldn't want to live anymore. I have

> an obligation for my kids, I know, and I won't do anything, but

> there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. I can fight the

> insurance company, but not without 100% support from my doctor.

> (I'm an attorney, I know that I have NO chance to win unless he

> backs me up completely, and even then I'm in for a fight.)

>