Thanks everyone. LIT LOVE, what is state disability?

As far as losing the back pay, at this point I don't even really care. I just need to be able to survive. I am sure many people who see that I have been working part-time would automatically think then she must not really be disabled. As I said, my work is out of my home and I am getting away with more breaks than not without my employer to date suspecting. I worked for the same company for 10 years but this work I'm doing now is a different company. I think like with anything in life, there are different ends of the spectrum as far as one's disability(ies). From my understanding on the government website and from information from my lawyer, a person does not need to be bedridden to qualify for disability. I am certainly not bedridden, although have been at times, but I cannot sit or stand for more than 10 minutes without changing position.

I too have questioned if I would be better off just starting over because at least then I am not risking losing another year or two waiting for the Appeal Council. My lawyer was very nice and said she feels strongly about the errors and that it was erroneous, but if I decide I want to just start over, she still thinks I have a very strong case and will be there for me either way. My denial letter was literally about 4 pages long, with absolutely no explanation other than since she considered my work activity substantial then I have not met the 12 month duration. Go figure. I was told repeatedly by more than one lawyer and it says on the government website, if work is below the SGA, it will not be considered SGA and they will not just assume because of it that you can work more. Hum... In fact, everywhere I have read it says if you have an UWA and work is reduced below SGA then they will not considered it gainful work. Why do they state that if it obviously is not true.

Could I be working outside my home 16 hours a week, absolutely not. I have been able to plug along, waiting for a decision about SSDI, but I can not long push on. I have also read that many people hear back from the Appeal Council in a year.