I just came on this site, however I cannot tell what an impact this has had on my spirits. I nearly cried when I read all of the great responses. Thank you so much. Unfortunately, I have been laid off some employers with STD or LTD. I am now working at $12.00 an hour for a firm that does not have any insurance (not even health). I am struggling to work full time. The fatigue and pain is overwhelming. I really appreciate your guidance on all of this. My boss has agreed to let me work two days from home, however she does not think she will be able to be in business past February. It is a recruiting firm and no one is hiring. I have the potential of living with my mother and waiting for the approval, but it would mean my children being one hour away from me. This is all so scary. Thank you for your guidance. My motto in life is "We do this together." That means even more here.
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Originally Posted by grammyto09
Sweet P,
The filing of your disability can be done and depending on your situation many times it is an automatic approval. I submitted my husband's disability for him(he too had MS) and it was approved the very first time submitted. I did some research at the SS/gov website and very deep into the maze, there is info that tells you how to submit a good claim. This is what I did: I obtained a letter from his regular physician and his neurologist that stated his condition and that they concurred that he had MS and was not able to work due to extreme fatigue and memory proplems etc. I also obtained medical records from both doctors including written reports about labs, MRI's etc. I also kept a detailed journal for 30 days and wrote down every little detail of his day and how his body was reacting on each day. For example, on some days he needed help out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. It is important to really put down the amount of difficultly you have have with your daily living activities. Daily living activities are very important in the approval process. I know that most people with MS that I have met, still try to do everything without assistance no matter how long it takes. It is very important to disclose how difficult it is just to get through the day. Once you have all of the information, put it in order and insert a dived in each section and label it. I put the physician letters firsts, the journal, then MRI/ CAT scans and medical records. Make the info very easy to review for whomever is going to work on it.
The most important thing to do , even before you obtain the above, is to call the Social Security office and set up an appointment to talk with someone and personally file your claim. It took a few weeks to get on the calendar, but you will not have to wait for a long time and you will have their undivided attention. You will need to have with you the folowing info: names, dates of birth, marriage dates and divorce dates of any spouses; basic summary of jobs you have had and appoximate salary from them. If you have all of this info available to them, it will make their job easier and you will be pushed through disabilitywebsite for women and filing for disability and other programs available to you. I will look up that site for you and send you the link later.
Also, there are lots of other available programs for you. The National MS Society even has special apartments that are available all over the USA. There are also programs that will help you make your home more user friendly.
I had to do lots of research to get as much help as possible for my husband. I was so overwhelmed by trying to find help for him but it can be done. I am avaiable to anyone that I can help.
Let me know if you have questions and I will try to help in any way I can.
P. S. Don't forget the Americans With Disabilties Act, get a copy of it for yourself, review it and know your civil rights.
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