i applied for my ss and was aproved within a couple of months. within a week and a half or 2. i recieved the check for the time i should have been covered (there is an entire year that falls into the you took to long to file gap. They base the decision of when you could feasibly not do anything for yourself. they use the day you stopped doing things you normally would. did you go back to work between the time you were hurt and the day you had surgery. if you give them a call or email them they can send you a documentation of the decision. on that you can see when they decided you became injured to an acceptable degree and the payment schedule, so you will know when and how much you will get.