SSD

[Guest guest]

Colleen,

HURRAY!! I'm so glad to hear that your SSD got approved without too much

difficulty!! Here's hoping that this is just one sign of good things to come for

you, hon.

*hugs*

ccomm777@... wrote:

> Want to thank you all for your support and well wishes through all this with

social security-I finally got word that I was approved today. THANK GOD it is a

big relief and I can start making some plans to get out on my own etc. I am

lucky it went through the first try and without a really long wait

> Anyone trying to get SSD can write me for any extra info

> Hugs to all

> Colleen

>

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[Guest guest]

Thanks Barb Im sorry you are not doing too well and I will pray you get some

relief!!!! I am still letting all this sink in and will have to wait a while

to get my own place but it wont be too long and jsut knowing I get the ssd

now will calm me down. I was really encouraged by SRS that I could get into

a section 8 type deal to keep my rent down and have called all around and the

waitin list is 3-4 YEARS so there is an obstacle but I will find a way!!!

Hugs

Colleen

[Guest guest]

Hi Colleen!

Waiting list stink, don't they?? LOL

I sure do hope that they are able to expedite you and find you a place sooner

than that!

*hugs*

ccomm777@... wrote:

> Thanks Barb Im sorry you are not doing too well and I will pray you get some

> relief!!!! I am still letting all this sink in and will have to wait a while

> to get my own place but it wont be too long and jsut knowing I get the ssd

> now will calm me down. I was really encouraged by SRS that I could get into

> a section 8 type deal to keep my rent down and have called all around and the

> waitin list is 3-4 YEARS so there is an obstacle but I will find a way!!!

> Hugs

> Colleen

>

> The Being Sick Community

>

> Visual problems with colors?

> Click the link below and select the modify link to your right. Then select the

**Send Plain Text Email** option. This will stop you receiving emails with

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>

>

> Members Lounge:-

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resources, counselling via email, and a whole bunch of free things.

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>

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>

> Chat:-

> Scheduled Daily Chats at # on IRC DALnet.

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> Personal Complaints or problems:-

> Please contact a moderator should you require assistance with anything

technical or if you are upset by another. The email address for the moderators

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> Subscription Details:-

> 1) Individual email - means that every email sent to the list you receive.

> 2) Daily Digest - sends you 25 messages in one single email for you to browse.

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and receive no email.

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> “Hold on to what is good, even if it's a handful of earth. Hold on to what you

believe, even if it's a tree that stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do

even, if it's a long way from here. Hold on to your life, even if it's easier to

let go. " - Pueblo Prayer

[Guest guest]

My husband needs a liver transplant and had Unum through his employer......he was denied. We had to get a lawyer (had same policy as you) and had to hire a lawyer as he was denied his benefits, now the lawyer gets 331/3 of his monthly check. SSD is MUCH easier than Unum. They call.they offer to help and they LIE and turn you down.How much worse can a liver transplant candidate be? They denied him but SSD Approved him after 6 months. Unum said he could work doing something haha big joke.....I was offered time on TV when 20/20 did the story but we they started reevaluting him at that time and I thought they would cut him off completly.....I am just waiting on a class action suit on unum.........Look at .Finance...Unm to see what crooks they are

[Guest guest]

Bless your heart and I I know what it is like to lose everything due to unum,when you need a transplant...........I lost my car...etc and they were telling me I would be fine..............HAHA They told me we were covered due to the transplant and dropped us like a rock, but it took 1 letter from a lawyer....now he gets our money

[Guest guest]

Dian: What a sad story. My heart goes out to you and your husband. I agree with Jerry. Check with the bar association because it seems impossible that this lawyer would be eligible to receive 1/3 of your husband's disability for life.

I know that your whole heart and soul are with your husband and his illness now, but when you have the strength, fight for what is right!!

Love and prayers -

gina

[Guest guest]

Dian, my heart goes out to you. Insurances are scams for a big part. Let me share my one horrific experience.

May 15, 1992, our son was in an auto accident that left him with a severe brain injury and he was semi paralyzed on his left (dominant) side. The insurance wanted him to go to rehab, as did the doctors, BUT only for 3 weeks at a time. Well, you cannot get much rehab when you are learning how to do things all over again in 3 weeks. We went through this for many times UNTIL I (LOOONNNGGGG Story) finally called someone and they pushed it through for us.

But then, we had another insurance and got to start our "big buck" benefits again. That meant that our Million & 1/2 began again. Well, the insurance company figured out that I was not going to quit. We finally got him in two facilities, but they were extremely expensive. One place was close to $1500.00 a day. He was in a high intensive brain injury unit then. Next he was moved to a lower end place....a great place where he was able to learn to live on his own. This was only something like $865 a day.

BUT....when you add it up, the Million & 1/2 comes up fast. The insurance was going to pull the plug on us. What I KEPT telling them, was that we had double coverage, and we were entitled to both benefits....

Well, the war ended when our son was killed....but I have battled many fights with insurance. Got pretty good at the fights, too.

So, my heart goes out to you with your battle for your husband's life! You probably had people say you should have gone on TV, but you did what you thought was right. Sometimes people don't understand that you walk a fine line with insurances.

Good luck with getting a tx!!!

Debby

Re: [ ] SSD

My husband needs a liver transplant and had Unum through his employer......he was denied. We had to get a lawyer (had same policy as you) and had to hire a lawyer as he was denied his benefits, now the lawyer gets 331/3 of his monthly check. SSD is MUCH easier than Unum. They call.they offer to help and they LIE and turn you down.How much worse can a liver transplant candidate be? They denied him but SSD Approved him after 6 months. Unum said he could work doing something haha big joke.....I was offered time on TV when 20/20 did the story but we they started reevaluting him at that time and I thought they would cut him off completly.....I am just waiting on a class action suit on unum.........Look at .Finance...Unm to see what crooks they are

[Guest guest]

Marty...my prayers are there...but don't feel doomed....you are still on

the good side of the grass.....

love jerry

[Guest guest]

Marty, Sorry to hear the news. God bless you, you are in my thoughts &

prayers. Sue

msaire wrote:

Hi Group:

I met with my GI Thursday. Dx Cirrhosis

confirmed. AIH dx 1989. I am scheduled for EGD in July. After that I

am being referred to Ann Arbor (U of M) for transplant evaluation. I am

currently on short term disability from my employer, but I am going to apply

for SSD now I guess. I feel doomed.......I am still stunned by the information.

All prayers appreciated.

Marty

[Guest guest]

Jerry:

I keep telling myself that and I do realize it. It all seems a bit overwhelming right now. You and Patty and others who are on the other side of a transplant are amazing to me. I cannot imagine what you have been through.....Marty Re: [ ] SSD

Marty...my prayers are there...but don't feel doomed....you are still onthe good side of the grass.....love jerry

[Guest guest]

Jerry,

While it is true that you can get SSD even if getting other benefits, many

disability plans deduct part of all of what you get from SSD from your

disability benefits. That's how it works with Federal employees. For the

first year I'm on disability retirement, I get 60% of my previous salary

minus 100% of any SSD I get. From the second year on, I get 40% of my

previous salary minus 60% of any SSD I get. Also, if your income is higher

than about $800 a month, you cannot begin getting SSD until you have been

out of work for 5 months. In my case, my last day at work was March 21st.

I applied for SSD on that day but even if it's approved, I will not get paid

anything from SSD for the time period from March 21st to August 31st. I got

a denial letter a couple of weeks ago. I have 60 days to file my appeal.

I've been working on it and will fight them tooth and nail! They didn't

even use info from some of my current doctors. My internal med doctor wrote

a letter saying that I am totally disabled and unable to work. He wrote

that my prognosis for recovery is poor. They didn't even bother using info

from him. However, they did use info from doctors I had not seen since

2000. I had to apply for SSD back in 2000, when I initially applied for

disability retirement with my job. I guess they still had my old doctors in

the system from when I had applied back in 2000. I didn't even list my old

doctors when I applied this time, but the denial letter stated that SSD had

used info from three of the doctors that haven't seen me in 3 years!

W

[Guest guest]

Marty,

I know the statistics say transplant is only necessary in a small number of people with transplants but I know 5 people with AIH who received transplants from UM within months of me five years ago (they are all doing well) none are on this board and it makes me wonder if there are thousands of us (AIH'ers with transplants) out there. If your time comes Marty you will be fine as will anyone else in our situations.

Patty

-----Original Message-----From: msaire [mailto:msaire@...] Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2003 11:18 PM Subject: Re: [ ] SSD

Jerry:

I keep telling myself that and I do realize it. It all seems a bit overwhelming right now. You and Patty and others who are on the other side of a transplant are amazing to me. I cannot imagine what you have been through.....Marty Re: [ ] SSD

Marty...my prayers are there...but don't feel doomed....you are still onthe good side of the grass.....love jerry

[Guest guest]

Dear Marina,

I quit a job I loved in October of 2003. It was the most difficult decision

I ever made, but it was the right one! I, like you, have LTD and I applied

for SSD and got it on the first go round. It took exactly 6 months from the

time I had been off work! I am 56 now, so my age helped me, I think. Please

take care of yourself and remember how much stress really accentuates the

pain.

Take care,

Carol M. in CA

[Guest guest]

Marina, I'm so sorry that you have to face such a decision about your

career at such a young age, but, if you're too ill to work, you're too

ill to work.

That is also a HUGE amount of prednisone to have been taking daily for

RA, and that makes me worry about you. I'm also having trouble

understanding how you went from that much to 0 mg in that short of a

time span safely.

Since your RA does not seem to be under control, have you considered

getting a second opinion from another rheumatologist?

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[ ] SSD

> hey everyone!! I was wondering if someone(s) could offer some

> advice for me. My rheumy had offered to put me on full disability.

> I told him that I would think about it but I didn't think I would

> want to go that route but I told him that I would think about it.

> Well, opportunity is knocking right now. With my long term

> disability plan, I have to be off work for 4 months straight. That

> has happened for other reasons, but as long as I was off that time

> frame it doesn't matter to them. Anywhoo, I know that if I go back

> to work that I will be in a world of hurt. I love my job and the

> people I work with, unfortunately, when I am working, the stress

> just triggers my RA terribly to the point that I have to take a few

> days off because I am bed-ridden. For the past 2 years I have been

> on 80-100mg of predinisone daily to keep the RA in check. This is

> ontop of Remicade, Methotrexate, & plaquinel. Since I have been off

> work these last 4 months, I have been able to stop the steriods and

> only take them when needed. I still have a lot of pain at times and

> just moderate pain the rest of the time. I have been bed-ridden a

> few times in this 4 month period but for a much shorter time frame

> and the intensity doesn't last as long as it used to. I knew the

> steroids were doing a lot for me, but on the flip side, they can do

> a lot of bad things to me too (risk for osteoporosis, ect..).I just

> don't know what to do. I am only 34. I hate to go on full disability

> at my age. What to do what to do. I am guessing I would have to go

> onto medicare eventually. And I will need to apply for SSD (sure

> that will be a joy ride to get!!). Please, any suggestions, advice,

> or something would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Marina

[Guest guest]

Carol, Thank you for your insight. It is a difficult decision. I

love what I do so much, but I am not very happy at the place I do my

job. I just need to make sure I am not basing my decision on that.

With the LTD, I will be bringing home pretty much the same amount I

was taking home when I worked without any overtime. That helps my

decision making. I just worked so hard to get my degree. I have

come so far and I am damn good at what I do. So that makes things

more difficult for me. I suppose I could always go back to work

once I get this RA under control. I appreciate your response,

Carol. Thanks again.

Marina

> Dear Marina,

> I quit a job I loved in October of 2003. It was the most

difficult decision

> I ever made, but it was the right one! I, like you, have LTD and

I applied

> for SSD and got it on the first go round. It took exactly 6

months from the

> time I had been off work! I am 56 now, so my age helped me, I

think. Please

> take care of yourself and remember how much stress really

accentuates the

> pain.

> Take care,

> Carol M. in CA

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean that, at the same time apply

for SS disability as their is a waiting period and lots of hassles getting it.

Be sure to do your research so the doctor can word everything just right the

first time so it might cut out some of the time.

Becky

[ ] SSD

hey everyone!! I was wondering if someone(s) could offer some

advice for me. My rheumy had offered to put me on full disability.

I told him that I would think about it but I didn't think I would

want to go that route but I told him that I would think about it.

Well, opportunity is knocking right now. With my long term

disability plan, I have to be off work for 4 months straight. That

has happened for other reasons, but as long as I was off that time

frame it doesn't matter to them. Anywhoo, I know that if I go back

to work that I will be in a world of hurt. I love my job and the

people I work with, unfortunately, when I am working, the stress

just triggers my RA terribly to the point that I have to take a few

days off because I am bed-ridden. For the past 2 years I have been

on 80-100mg of predinisone daily to keep the RA in check. This is

ontop of Remicade, Methotrexate, & plaquinel. Since I have been off

work these last 4 months, I have been able to stop the steriods and

only take them when needed. I still have a lot of pain at times and

just moderate pain the rest of the time. I have been bed-ridden a

few times in this 4 month period but for a much shorter time frame

and the intensity doesn't last as long as it used to. I knew the

steroids were doing a lot for me, but on the flip side, they can do

a lot of bad things to me too (risk for osteoporosis, ect..).I just

don't know what to do. I am only 34. I hate to go on full disability

at my age. What to do what to do. I am guessing I would have to go

onto medicare eventually. And I will need to apply for SSD (sure

that will be a joy ride to get!!). Please, any suggestions, advice,

or something would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Marina

[Guest guest]

Marina,

My mom is on SSD. I realize you might get the same amount from your

company's LTD plan, but I believe your income could be drastically

reduced once you are off that and only on SSD. It's something you

might want to look into. I recently got a SS statement and I think

it showed the amount I would get in retirement and I think also the

amount I would get on SSD if I never worked another day. Their

website might have something similar, or others who have done this

may have had a way of estimating the amount.

Another thing to consider is that if you get SSD and then get your RA

under control and think you might want to go back to work, that's an

equally tough decision to make. If you are on SSD and go back to

work and then a few years down the road find yourself unable to work

again, it could be a lot tougher to get SSD again or maybe

impossible - but ask your doctor or an attorney about this.

Also, I know my mom's medication is affected by being on SSD. Her

medicare kicks in the end of this year. She is on my step-dad's

insurance but he is about to retire. She will now have to pay out of

pocket for many drugs and she has to switch from Enbrel to Remicade.

Medicare considers Remicade a treatment and not a prescription, so

it's covered.

Just some things to think about. But overall if you can't work you

can't work.

I saw how much prednisone you said you had been on. Is your rheumy

monitoring your bone density? I was on 5.0-7.5 mgs daily for about a

year and have osteopenia from it. I know it's the prednisone because

I had a bone density scan shortly before going on that. I now take

1500 mgs of calcium daily and do weight bearing exercises to

counteract the bone loss and hopefully avoid osteoporosis. I'm only

33 so I have a long time to try and stay it off.

Jennie

> > Dear Marina,

> > I quit a job I loved in October of 2003. It was the most

> difficult decision

> > I ever made, but it was the right one! I, like you, have LTD

and

> I applied

> > for SSD and got it on the first go round. It took exactly 6

> months from the

> > time I had been off work! I am 56 now, so my age helped me, I

> think. Please

> > take care of yourself and remember how much stress really

> accentuates the

> > pain.

> > Take care,

> > Carol M. in CA

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the information Jennie. I am trying to collect as

much info as I can so I can make an informed choice. As far as I

know, I will collect from LTD. The amount I would collect from SSD

is then subtracted from LTD. They just pay the difference. I have

also talked with my health insurance carrier as well about

supplemental coverage.

Thanks again to all for your input!!....Marina

> > > Dear Marina,

> > > I quit a job I loved in October of 2003. It was the most

> > difficult decision

> > > I ever made, but it was the right one! I, like you, have LTD

> and

> > I applied

> > > for SSD and got it on the first go round. It took exactly 6

> > months from the

> > > time I had been off work! I am 56 now, so my age helped me,

I

> > think. Please

> > > take care of yourself and remember how much stress really

> > accentuates the

> > > pain.

> > > Take care,

> > > Carol M. in CA

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

I have hired a lawyer to get my SSD. Here is some info I found out from

the lawyer and I thought you all should know about.

SSD does things like an ER does. It takes care of the most obvious or

severe cases first. You first time applying is more like triage. If you

are dying, paralyed or blind, you can get approved automatically. If

you are not those three listed above, you are denied and forgotten

about. To them you are just medical records and reports. They do not

want to see you because then it gets personal.

Since the economy has gotten so bad, SSD is backed up. People are

trying to get SSD, even if they are totally able to work. My lawyer

told me that someone came to him because SSD denied him for dandruff!!!

That is totally crazy!!! He said people are applying for hangnails and

everything else under the moon! I guess people are just so desparate

for money these days they will try anything. I wish I could work

because I am totally despressed and feel so lazy. I can't even clean my

house. I can dust because I am sitting down, but I can't vacuum or mop.

Anyways I have not posted lately because I have been in so much pain. I

just wanted to let you all know I do read each post and I am updated on

everyone who posted. I am not forgetting about you all. I continue to

pray for the whole group, even the ones who do not post.

Have a great pain free day!

Dawn