NeuroTalk Support Groups - View Single Post - hello new here , scared , confused worthless

tamiloo · 03-17-2010, 01:51 PM

I posted on your thread in the New Member Forum. So sorry this is so long...I wanted to let you know that I have been where you are a few years back. I felt that there was no way I could qualify for SSD. I applied like you did and got turned down. I think everyone gets turned down on the first try.

When you are turned down they give you time to appeal which is when you get an attorney working on it. I was at this point feeling pretty down. My husband who is also disabled...has MS...made me drive an hour away to where he saw a billboard talking about SSD put there by a SSD attorney. We sat there under the sign and called his office and with luck caught him before he was leaving the office. He set up an appointment with me and told me that from what I had told him that there would be no problem.

We went to the appointment and talked about my back. He filed the appeal and of course we were turned down again, which is also normal for most people. He set up an appointment and we went from there.

After I was turned down again he asked me if I have any other health issues that cause me to have problems. I have Fibromylgia and also PTSD. He asked me to start a journal, I called it my "Ouch Files". He wanted me to write about my pain and how it made my days a challenge. I would write when I was woke up and couldn't sleep because of my pain. I wrote when I couldn't do the stuff needed to keep my house in order...what a joke! I wrote when I needed to go out...to shop or church or just anywhere and the pain either kept me home or made it hard to go out. I would write where the pain was and the level, based on the 1 though 10 system docs use. Because I also have PTSD I wrote about my anxiety and why on many days I couldn't leave the house. I put this journal on my word program and set it up with a password so it was private...so I could vent also. Do back it up...I hadn't and lost it and my caregiver journal recently when I had some computer problems. When it came time for my hearing I edited my journal to pick out the worst days and gave it to my attorney. The journal did help.

I'm sorry for the long post but I just wanted to let you know there is hope. I know it feels like there is no way you can convince people that you are in horrific pain because there is no test they can do to show it. Believe me they will listen.

Right now while you are waiting to hear from SS you should probably be looking for an attorney...Google SS law attorney for your state and start making calls until you find the one you can trust! Whenever I would call my attorney because I felt like it wasn't worth it his assistants would say Tammy, if we didn't know think we could win we wouldn't be working for your cause. They don't get pain unless you win....they will win for you!! Don't go to a regular attorney because they will want money from you.

If you ever want to talk just pm me or email me...I'm online everyday!!

Take care, Tammy