Thank you Lit Love.

I’ve calmed down quite a bit since writing this post. Thanks for reminding me not to take this personally

You are right about the initial and recon stages being the same.

I thought that the GRID rules were automatically applied once that someone turned 50 (I was 55 when I applied and 56 now). But I’ve always been confused about the prosses. Lol

I talked to my lawyer and Iam feeling more confident about the hearing.

I told my lawyer to request an OTR and told her that I wanted done ASAP, you told me and I’ve read that some lawyers wait until the last minute to request the OTR. I don’t think that there’s anything to lose in asking for it. I did read this last night :

“One group of claimants that are good candidates for OTR requests are those who are 55 years old or older, are clearly unable to perform their past relevant work, and are limited to unskilled work. Social Security's Medical-Vocational Guidelines direct a finding of "disabled" for such claimants, so an OTR decision is a strong possibility. “

On the Record Decisions - Maine Social Security Disability Lawyer

but other than age, I don’t know if any of this applies to me.

I will be requesting a CD, I'm kinda afraid to see what's on it, but we need to know so we can move forward .

Thank you so much for responding. I greatly appreciate it .