denied

[dokken67]

Hello everyone .
just got my denial letter , diabetic, peripheral neuropathy both legs,not as bad in my hands, also have this thing called charcot arthropathy , tho they caught it early so my foot didnt drop, currently in a crow boot , have lymphedema in that leg also, lightly in my other leg , swollen lymph node, im on a couple scripts for pain ,also on lyrica, high blood pressure, cholesterol, arthritis in back, taking insulin for when sugars are high, and lantus at night. coronary artery disease, gull stones , it says in my hospital notes ,but when i was in the hospital they never told me about the heart thing i found that when i was looking at my medical records , nice huh? LOL

anyways now that i kinda painted a picture here, my denial letter said with my 11th grade education , and i can independently walk with a cane , tho i cant do what i was doing, but it does not keep me from doing less physically demanding work ..

i do have a lawyer and in pa the next step is to see a judge , so i will be 48 when that happens , do you think the judge will take that i am close to 50 ? i only had to jobs in my life and i think they wanted a report of the last 15 years and i almost made that with the current job as a warehouse worker kinda job , and a mechanic all labor jobs on the feet jobs ,

i really couldn't believe they denied me but as the same i expected it, i am pretty nervous about sitting in front of the judge because i don't explain things very well , and when i spoke through email with the lawyers helper so to speak , they said the only time i will meet her is when i meet her at the hearing, she will do most of the speaking but i will have to speak on things as well and that's the part where i go ok don't you think i should meet with her before the day lol

also if my lawyer finds something in my medical reports that meet any of the listings can they file something to ssa saying that ? or once its been reviewed by ssa that's it ?

OK last thing , sorry to drag this out , what paper work does the judge get ? does he review the function report i did for ssa? or the medical records that was sent to ssa ? are these judges medical judges ?
thank you in advance ...

** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

[SEAMSGUY]

So sorry to hear this dokken67. I wish I had some advice to give you but I'm still waiting to hear on my application too. Maybe others here will offer something. Don't give up.

[dokken67]

So sorry to hear this dokken67. I wish I had some advice to give you but I'm still waiting to hear on my application too. Maybe others here will offer something. Don't give up.

thank you seamsguy yeah i hope maybe to get some insight, good luck to you as well , its hard enough dealing with the issues then they denie you and it makes you feel like a piece of crap ,

[pennstater]

Sorry for the denial. I was also, awaiting date for alj hearing. I met with my lawyer already, so it does seem strange that you won't meet before the hearing. I have to keep him up to date with all medical records and keep a log of good days and bad days, just a simple X in the calendar so I can quantify number of days where I get 10-12 hours sleep and still need 1-2 hour nap so we can quantify fatigue impact.

I know that between now and the hearing, all additional medical records can be included and if any criteria met, can be documented.

I was a technical office worker. The told me that while I couldn't do my job, I could be a movie ticket taker, as an example. I am 50, week shy of 51.

Wishing you good luck on the appeal.

[dokken67]

Sorry for the denial. I was also, awaiting date for alj hearing. I met with my lawyer already, so it does seem strange that you won't meet before the hearing. I have to keep him up to date with all medical records and keep a log of good days and bad days, just a simple X in the calendar so I can quantify number of days where I get 10-12 hours sleep and still need 1-2 hour nap so we can quantify fatigue impact.

I know that between now and the hearing, all additional medical records can be included and if any criteria met, can be documented.

I was a technical office worker. The told me that while I couldn't do my job, I could be a movie ticket taker, as an example. I am 50, week shy of 51.

Wishing you good luck on the appeal.

yeah i think they just have them letters on file and change the name, your 50 so thats i hear there are different rules (grid) rules or something , im close but not there. i have a lot of issues for sure , and being more of a labor worker and having a 11th grade education and being a solid worker in the past my help paint a picture of what kind of person i am .
were you recently denied? i know the lawyer told me it will take up to 14 months to get a hearing
and yes i thought it was weird not to at least talk to the lawyer before i go , i tend to talk in circles ,some people are good talkers some aren't, im not LOL
sorry to hear about your problems , its a horrible thing for sure! i ended up getting medicade through the state so i can at least see my doctors thanks god. i have always been the type of person who never went to the doctors until it came to the point where i couldn't stand it no more , i cant feel a thing in my feet but yet they kill me like you wouldn't believe! and my hands are very sensitive, so now i have to get one of those emg nerve test ? my back doctor said i have it in my hands but now i guess i have to prove it . so i will be getting a lot of doctors opinions now until i get my court date ..
i see your from phila , im not far at all from ya , and since you filed before me you gotta keep me posted lol your case is different but at least i will know what to expect of the process so to speak..
nice to meet ya.

[dokken67]

ps hopefully rich can give some insight on my case he thoughts etc.

[pennstater]

My lawyer told me the same thing - 14 months until ALJ hearing( judges retiring and not being replaced quickly or at all), so all we can do is hurry up and wait. I am glad you were able to get health coverage, I am fortunate in that I am on my husband's plan.

My lawyer did tell me that 1st time denial rate is high unless terminal or extremely disabled. He also told me that while it shouldn't matter, who the judge us hearing the appeal comes into play. Some have high approval rates, some very low and others in the middle. Just orau we don't get one of the judges that have high denial rate.

Yes, in Philly suburbs, think my hearing jurisdiction is Elkins Park and not Philly. At the time, Philly had 12 month backlog, Elkins Park 14 months.

Will update if and when anything happens.

[dokken67]

My lawyer told me the same thing - 14 months until ALJ hearing( judges retiring and not being replaced quickly or at all), so all we can do is hurry up and wait. I am glad you were able to get health coverage, I am fortunate in that I am on my husband's plan.

My lawyer did tell me that 1st time denial rate is high unless terminal or extremely disabled. He also told me that while it shouldn't matter, who the judge us hearing the appeal comes into play. Some have high approval rates, some very low and others in the middle. Just orau we don't get one of the judges that have high denial rate.

Yes, in Philly suburbs, think my hearing jurisdiction is Elkins Park and not Philly. At the time, Philly had 12 month backlog, Elkins Park 14 months.

Will update if and when anything happens.

yeah i think thats where i will go also , i know someone who lives close to me and they just got there hearing notice , well the place where they are going (elkins park) i did look up the judges for blanks and giggles , there are a lot of dismissed cases i seen, was wondering what that was about ? and if i dont see a judge for 14 months i may get approved by then because i may just loose my leg by the time that happens , so if that does indeed happen the lawyer may be able to contact ssa about the new medical , i sure hope that isnt the case, but in some ways maybe it would be better because of the serious problems i am having with this foot, then i will only have to deal with one foot killing me lol
and your lucky you didnt lose your insurance! i carried all the insurance for my family and its gone now, so i got a letter saying my wife may qualify for hipp insurance, still waiting on that answer ...

[pennstater]

Dokken,

I really hope you are able to keep your leg. I am so sorry to hear that you have such complex medical issues. I am starting to have balance issues, can't imagine what it would be like with just one leg. Best of luck to you.

[dokken67]

Dokken,

I really hope you are able to keep your leg. I am so sorry to hear that you have such complex medical issues. I am starting to have balance issues, can't imagine what it would be like with just one leg. Best of luck to you.

thank you one can only hope that's for sure. my problems aren't as bad as the ms thing i kind of feel lucky , its sad to read about all who have it here , im sure there are people who would trade with me in a minute. so i feel for everyone for sure , and you have balance issues so i can relate .
sorry to hear about your problems as well ..
when is your court date if you don't mind me asking ? have you been waiting a while already ? they told me 12 to 14 months just wondering how close that number is

[pennstater]

I don't have one yet. I don't expect to get one until early summer next year if the 14 months holds up.

[dokken67]

well here is some good news , your lawyer may submit this , i know someone who got this , never even seen a judge ,his lawyer must have prepared a letter and medical evidence and sent it in. or maybe its an automatic thing they do?
anyways here is the link check it out it explains what happens
http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/on-the-record.html

[sharon73]

On The Record

I recently received an On The Record decision. I was about 18 months into the the process (and under 40 at my Established Onset Date).

Here are my words of wisdom in this fight: Do NOT focus on the diagnosis, but rather make sure your doctors document how your impairments limit your ability to perform day to day functions. Would you miss more than 2 days of work per month due to doctors appointments? Would cognitive difficulties cause you to be "off task" for more than 10 minutes out of every hour? Would unscheduled bathroom breaks be disruptive to performing at an acceptable level?

These are not meant to be specifics, just examples of what has to be proven to win a case.

It's a long road, and I wish any of you on it all the best!

Sharon

[dokken67]

I recently received an On The Record decision. I was about 18 months into the the process (and under 40 at my Established Onset Date).

Here are my words of wisdom in this fight: Do NOT focus on the diagnosis, but rather make sure your doctors document how your impairments limit your ability to perform day to day functions. Would you miss more than 2 days of work per month due to doctors appointments? Would cognitive difficulties cause you to be "off task" for more than 10 minutes out of every hour? Would unscheduled bathroom breaks be disruptive to performing at an acceptable level?

These are not meant to be specifics, just examples of what has to be proven to win a case.

It's a long road, and I wish any of you on it all the best!

Sharon

thanks sharon.
are you from pa may i ask?
i asked my lawyer about that and they said chances are it wouldnt happen because of all the back log but one never knows i guess , my sister in law screwed her back up and has all these disks that are bad and her back doctor doesnt want to operate because it may do her more harm then good, she has been waiting almost 16 months now. now pa has been sending out forms because it is taking so long to do a video hearing it would speed things up a bit but for me i didnt take that because i think face to face would be a better choice that video thing is almost like talking to someone on the phone yes sometimes you can get your point across but id be afraid id miss something , so hopefully a lot of people do the video hearing thing and it does shorten up the wait time , or they do a on the record decision. i had a decent life and now it pretty much s*cks but i do count my lucky stars it could be worse i guess..

[Temagami]

My understanding is that they do have to take into account that IF they say you can work, you are able to do a similar job in terms of income and training. My memory, as it is, does not recall having to go from office worker to ticket taker as that is not in line with all the training one would have had to work in an office. They would not tell a surgeon that he/she could become a movie ticket taker. Please take the time to look into that.