I was approved, but it took 2 denials and my requesting an appointment with the disability court. I didn't actually have to go to court because once the judges assistant read my file, I was approved immediately. Fortunate for me because I had one month before my COBRA insurance ran out. Since I was approved for SS Disability, I was also approved for Medicare at the same time so didn't have any gap in insurance coverage. It usually takes quite a while to get approved, but it helps to have an attorney who works exclusively with SSDI to get you through the process. I was very fortunate that my company had a disability policy through work so I had disability payments while the SSDI process was ongoing. As part of the disability insurance, they provided a company to help me through the SSDI process. Of course, once I was approved and received my back disability payment, I had to reimburse the insurance company who had been paying me for the 2 years (approx.)

As I said earlier, it is a process, but it can be done.