I am 55 and have been working the last 10 years at the same job. 20 years previous I owned my own business in the same field. For 25 plus yrs of high white blood cells On and off muscle weakness, neck weakness fatigue, numbness in face, legs and hands little use of left arm after repetitive motion. Many Doctors/tests but would always get better. Some surgery cervical fusion. Until next time 2-3 yrs ago fatigue was so bad had to cut down on working to 3-4 days and work from home occasionally when it got to bad to go in. Reduced pay but my employer is a long time friend and was willing to accommodate me due to my illness. January 2011 husband gets hit by drunk driver. Long story...Lots of stress due to his medical for 18 months. (He is doing good now) Late Aug 2013 I woke and could not breath well or get around due to weakness of muscles. Many doctors later and not functioning well enough to go to work unless driven. Tested positive in Dec 2013 for MG. On mestinon 60mg 4x day and time release at night. Ivig treatment for 5 days 2 wks ago.(swallowing problems) Still weak and fatigued.
Problem .... Employer needs someone to work since I have not been able to for over a month. Now I will be unemployed but not well enough to work away from home. I need to rest every 2-3 hrs to keep functioning. So my question is since they are letting me go I'm not sure if this is an unemployment claim or disability.

Since in order to collect unemployment, you have to be actively searching for another job, the question is, do you think you will be able to work a full time job? If the answer is no, you probably need to think about applying for disability. Did the company you worked for have disability insurance? If so, you need to apply right away. If they didn't, you need to start the process of applying for social security disability - just be aware that it can take up to 2 years to be approved (took me 18 months). I worked with ALLSUP to get my SS disability. They are one of the largest nationwide companies who handle SSD claims and they can answer a lot of your questions. They only get paid if you receive disability and they are paid directly from SS (it is an amount preset by the SS administration). To me, it was well worth it. I'm sure you can get their contact information through Google.

Good luck whichever way you go.

Juanita

I agree with Juanita in that if you are unable to work full time applying for unemployment will not help you because it is a short term solution.

You should apply for SSD. I did this when I was diagnosed in 2009. You apply on line and they will call you to verify the information. It is very important to hire a lawyer who has experience in SSD. I was lucky in that my boss had a very good lawyer who I had a good relationship with and I knew that he didn't handle SSD cases but he would direct me to a competent lawyer. Once the social security administration issued a claim number for my case, my lawyer sent a form to me to have my neuro fill out comfirming my condition. The lawyer sent this form along with a letter comfirming my diagnosis. It took about 30 to 45 days to hear back from the social security admin. and during that time my lawyer was ready to write another letter saying that if they denied my claim we were ready to appeal.

I was approved and they were going to start my benefits back to June 30 when I lost my job even thought I had started the process in November. Also they will decide whether you have to "reapply" in a period of 3 or 7 years depending on the severity of your illness. I was given a 7 year reassessment period. It is true that the government sets the amount your lawyer will receive and it is a percentage of the initial amount you receive.

I'm lucky that the process was so easy but I believe that having a good lawyer helped tremendously. Good luck with your journey.

Southern Bell

Hi There,

It sounds like applying for SSDI would be the best bet for your situation. With unemployment, you have to be actively seeking employment, which you are not able to do at this time. As such, disability would be the route to take.

I also used ALLSUP. They were great.

Yes, I agree with everyone apply for SSDI. I am only 32 but applied for SSI and SSDI a few months after I was diagnosed. MG had progressed to the point where I tried to work but even 4 hours was hard. Speech and visual as well as generalized weakness is big for me. I tried to work, but as I said couldn't do it. I miss working though, I pray for remission as to work would make me happier. Get a lawyer though, k. I was denied and had to get one due to a doctor SSDI sent me to, saying I was fine. He saw me for 10 minutes...the judge that read my case, said to dismiss him completely. I had been in the hospital after aspiration pneumonia that led to a crisis. I even died. I pray things work out for you. Keep faith!