SSDisability

[Guest guest]

My attorney took my case before I applied at all and preferred that so I

would not have, by mistake, fill out the forms incorrectly - or with answers

that could easily be mis-interpreted by social security.

There are a couple of things to be careful about:

(1) The attorney, by law, gets a % of the initial amount you get, so, in my

experience, you need to be eligible for benefits for at least a year before

it becomes beneficial for them. They do have to make a living and you do

want them motivated.

(2) See if you can find an attorney who knows about Lyme (or has Lyme) so

you won't have to spend time educating them. Educating them is worth it,

just easier if they are lyme literate and you are not their first Lyme case.

(3) Before you go for it the second time - just about everyone gets denied

the first time, write a paper about who you were before you came down with

lyme - what you could do and where you worked and what responsibilities you

had and then how Lyme affected your life and how you find yourself adjusting

to now with this illness chronologically. This is very helpful and, in my

case, the thing the judge spoke about to me when we had to go to SS court.

He also asked how I could write it and I told him, truthfully, how long it

took (months!!) and with many people assisting with editing and, of course,

spell-check. I then compared it to when I was responsible for much more

complicated reports in my job I could no longer do.

(4) When/if you need to go to court, no nail polish, no new haircut or " do, "

no new outfit - just your normal self so the judge can see how you live your

life daily (I guess not sweats or pjs but you know what I mean!) When asked

questions, answer for your normal day or bad day - not your best day - you

can tell some of the differences since this is such a roller coaster ride.

That is all I can think of......

It can be done.....

Ann