Okay - so back in June I applied for SSDI locally at the SSDI Office. Provided everything I needed and than some. Even was accompanied by my boss the President of my airline. Yup he is that kind of guy. Really into the well being of his employees. He was there to help them better understand how I can no longer do my job as I use to. However, to be safe I introduced him as a friend and co-worker. It still went great.

In the meantime everything got worse wnd worse. Than they call me and ask me abruptly if I have anxiety issues becuase I take Lexapro. I say NO. I take it because it helps me for my pain. Than they hang up.

A couple of months goes by and everything is getting worse and worse than the phone rings and it is them again this time they ask if I need a shrink. Normally Yes (Helllooooo) but I tell them I am closely monitored by my doctor and if she feels I need to go or if I ask to go to a shrink I will. They hang up.

In the meantime everything gets worse and worse. Than finally the big day comes and I get my letter in the mail. Dear blah blah. We are sorry to inform you that even though you are stricken with RSD and am in pain 24/7 and your life sucks just as bad and you can't even wipe your own buttocks anymore we must TURN YOU DOWN because - ready for this? I can still climb a ladder and they feel I can still hop and skip which are not evident of items that would prevent me from doing my job.

Well there! Know what I think. Time to get a attorney. So off I go and I find a great lady here on the Cape in Massachusetts. She shakes her head in disbelief and says Mark I am sorry but you gotta do the Game of Twista. In other words you gotta do it all over again. "Soup To Nuts". Talk about frustration. And she tells me she cannot guarantee me that SSDI won't shoot me down again. What do we have to be these days? Dismembered? Dead? She did say that she has gotten many WOMEN approved with RSD but that it is very very hard to get MEN approved.

So It's off to Sweden for a "Sex Change" first. and than I'll be back for another round of SSDI. You ladies will have to help me come up with a new name. Also where can a gal like me find shoes in a size 15??? Hmmm???

LOL Chin Up!! Love ya all

Mark

well...by your picture it looks like you have the blonde hair already.

i bet we can find some white vinyl boots in a size 15 and a matching bra on ebay.

so after all this they didn't leave you with a set of hoops to jump through?

sheesh....you are one tough choccy chip cookie mark. hang in there.

oh..since you can climb a ladder, you wanna come sit up in my tree with me? i throw "stuff" at ssdi employees.

Hey Mark.

I shouldn't laugh but your post had me in stitches - you could write comedy scripts with that speaking programme, no sweat!

So well, you could drag out the grass skirt and coconut bra, then stop off at a clown shop for the shoes. Oh, and you can pick up a big curly wig there, too - pink? or orange?. Just watch out they don't look up that skirt while you're climbing ladders, might give the game away

But...I'm stunned. Hopping, skipping, ladders, how do they know? did you have to do that in front of them??? Curious is right, jumping through hoops...it's, it's, it's....incredible!!!

Know what? Shades of the Topomax adventure rear in front of me. Maybe we can all send you to Sweden, go get that big shiny car of yours, we can start you off on the journey. Maybe we can come with you...Can you get there by Hong Kong - I think you can...if you go from the West Coast, pick up Debbie and the others...then you'd pass through Hawaiiiiii too..anyone for Sweden?? methinks a plan is hatching ..... Yes! Are we off???

take care, all the best.

So, mark...did they say what kind of jobs are available for someone who is able to skip and jump while on top of a ladder wearing a skirt and size 15 shoes?? At least dirty old men won't be able to see past those shoes to see what's UNDER that skirt

I'm sorry. But it does seem to be par for the course. It appears almost everyone gets turned down the first time. Dont give up though.

Hugs
LisaM

Hello Marketta: Do you like that new moniker? I am sorry to hear that you were turned down. Wouldn't it be great if there was a machine that could connect us to others so that they could feel our pain? I'll bet most people would jump up and run away screaming if they were somehow wired to our nervous system.

Pain is the most debilitating of symptoms. It is what sends someone to the dentist ASAP when they get a toothache. Pain stops us in our tracks. Also, I cannot understand why someone young has such a hard time getting SSDI. Do you hurt more when you are older? Can a younger person with the exact same symptoms and disabilities just "suck it up" and keep on working. I think not.

I am 60 and can barely manage by myself. If I was 30 I still would bareley be able to manage by myself. I think our society paints all of us with the same brush - one size fits all. Youth = health and vitality. Male= strength and stoicism. A young man who cannot lift a carton of milk? Not possible -must be a malingerer.

It is good that you have an attorney. The next time you have a hearing, don't hold back. Let them know how much RSD has impacted your life and that you have difficulty just taking care of yourself let alone working. Tell them that you sometimes sob, feel depressed, useless, cannot sleep, etc. Be like you really feel when you are alone at home. Maybe then someone will get the real picture.

Sorry to ramble here. Lil

Hi Mark....haven't posted much but I had to jump on this one. I was also denied benefits basically for the same reasons. Also because I have a couple of degrees didn't help my case because I could easily be employed sitting for a couple of hours and walking short distances or so they said. I didn't hire an attorney rather my car insurance company had hired a vocation rehab. specialist as my spoke person, basically I was forced into applying for benefits. I to was denied the the first time around however I appealed my case and won my first appeal.

At first I didn't want the benefits I thought I would return back to work. But after 3 years and with my benefits ending with my car insurance which paid me 85% of my lost wages for 3 years social security was looking pretty good. My appeals was in the process however the person who was hired to be my spoke person, well lets just say they really didn't do all that much. Remember this person was a rehab specialist and not an attorney. I don't remember who posted a link to a site that gave you social security secrets and how to win your benefits but I followed that site's suggestions and low and behold I won my first appeal.

The most important part is not only that you have RSD and all the other medical issues going on but you have to say your depressed. If your taking an anti depressant medication, appear depressed to your doctor and if he/she is documenting that they see depression then you should not have a problem with that area. Also, didn't you see someone for depression a while back?
I don't know about you but even still my medication makes me so tired I still require a nap during the day. My memory is for crap and don't even ask me a question the first hour after my morning does of methadone . I don't know how your sleeping patterns are at night but I only sleep 2-3 hours a night. This all has to be documented.

There is a form and I believe it is called a Residual functional capacity that you can get from social security. Of course this is a form that is considered a secret I believe. I got my form from the vocation rehab specialist after reading about it on the site about social security secrets. Its a real bit** that we have to do our own home work to win our own money isn't it? or even better pay someone to win the money for us.

The name of the link is called www.disabilitysecrets.com. I hope the site will help you, it helped me out. I did my homework and then told my voc rehab. specialist what we needed to do to win and we did. By the way I didn't have to pay him to go with me my auto insurance did. Social security will hold back 5 or 6 months from the date you applied just an FYI. If I can answer any other questions for you or help in anyway please do not hesitate to ask me okay? Jewells

I wanted to touch up on this subject. Jewells is absolutely right. The reason that person ask you about a Physchatrist could have been for 2 reasons, one to give you a hint that it might be something you should do to get your SSDI or to find out so they could turn you down because of it.

I fought for mine for years with a lousy lawyer that lived on the golf course. Didn't know that at the time but he never returned my calls.

After 8 years of fighting and at least 6 denials. A Social Security worker told me that even though I had all of my diagnoses and one was major depression that I needed to see a Physchatrist because they would not take my PCP's word. You don't find to many SS workers that will give you this help. She sat it up for me to see a Physchatrist, I know I'm not spelling that word right, but she diagnosed me within 20 minutes she said she would see to it that I got my SS. In the meantime I wrote to the State Rep and sent him a copy of my file and within one week I got a letter saying I had been approved.

I know many people around here that has gotten their SS solely on the depression, not that I understand it but it is mostly of what they go on.

Please think about going to see a Physchatrist. Most people in our shape does deal with depression and it's nothing to be ashamed of. If only you go long enough to get your diagnoses then so be it but once you find a good one you will be happy you did.

Sorry this is so long but I just felt it was important to put in my 2 cents worth and to say hi to a good friend.

Love,
Ada

Mark,
Don't worry about being denied. I was denied 3 times, and I could NOT climb up ladders or skip or jump or whatnot, as my RSD originated in my lower body. Their excuse for me? I could answer a telephone.

It is all crap. I believe that they do this to try to weed out the folks that might not really need it. Problem is, they wind up hurting folks that really and truly need it instead. If you can't work, you can't work, and getting jerked around for 6 months, 18 months, or 3 years or more by SS isn't going to change that fact. In the meantime....what are you supposed to do for insurance, and food and what not? In my case, that was my only income, other than the help that my parents were/are able to give me. And, it didn't matter that I had two young children at home that depended solely on ME to cloth and feed them and keep a roof over their head. The SSD system is seriously flawed.

Ok..putting away my soap box now, and going to try to dredge my memory to see if I can come up with any pointers or help for you.

I don't know how different each state does their SSD stuff. Even though it is "Federal" it all goes through "State" stuff first. Or, at least it does here in AL. I can tell you that here, I HAD to see a shrink before I could do anything. They insisted. They even set me up for an appointment with one of their own, because they were so far behind in getting my medical records (another thing that will drive you CRAZY with the SSD folks...no matter how much stuff you send them, and how many times they request it, and how hard you try to make sure that they are up to date, they will ALWAYS be behind...and pretty far behind. It is maddening!), that they didn't realize that I had gotten into a Pain Management Clinic that had not only a Doctor that treated the Pain issues, but also a Shrink that helped with the psychological issues that chronic pain brings (ie depression....at least for me). Once I got that cleared up, and they got yet another set of the records that had his notes and what not in them...they canceled the appointment that they had made for me with their own shrink. They did this again when I got recertified a couple of years ago...only this time, I hadn't seen a shrink for a while, and so I had to go and see theirs. It was fine, he was a very nice man. So nice and good in fact, that I asked him if he was taking any new patients! LOL..no...he was basically retired, and only did the SSD thing. *Sigh.

They will do this type of thing for physicals, and other types of tests and specialists that they think you need to see for them to be able to make a determination in your case. Look for this to happen, especially now that you are going to appeal their first denial. Don't get too worked up about it, because, like I said..this just seems to be what they do to most folks. (They even did similar stuff like this to my x husbands uncle, who had almost died and suffers from a sever head injury. I was appalled and amazed when he got turned down for his benefits the first time, and he wasn't any "spring chicken" then, either! GRRRRR)

Another hint...especially since your are having such troubles with your hands. You know those gawd awful forms that they send you, asking you crap like "how has your life changed since your injury/illness?" and "what things can't you do for your self, and what do you need help with now since your injury/illness?" that is about 10 pages long (exaggeration...kinda)? Well...get used to seeing that, because they send that GD thing out over and over and over again! I don't know about you, but it made me even more depressed every time that I had to sit down and answer those gawd awful questions and really THINK about how everything has changed, and all of thing things that I have lost (it is really a very negative set of papers, in my opinion! GRRRR again). You might want to make copies of it once you get it filled out...so that you don't have to sit there and think about it so very hard, or worry about your answers varying or whatever. I know that sounds weird, but I started to get very paranoid about the whole thing. It was almost like they were wanting me to answer something differently then I had before, or soemthing? With rusty brains and meds that muddy our thinking....I just got all worried about the whole thing. I also killed my hand filling out the stupid things, and made myself so depressed....it was awful. It wasn't until the next to the last set that someone suggested making a copy to make things a little easier (I still had to fill them out..so my hand was still crap. LOL).

Jewells and Ada are right....You have suffered from Depression, and you need to make SURE to tell them that! You need to mention it as much as possible, and explain how IT has messed up your life, also. When I first won my SSD, I won it not for RSD (I didn't find that out until later...) But for "Chronic Pain", "Back Pain", and "Depression". RSD has since been added to that list, when I got recertified. So, use whatever you can to win this, because I am here to tell you that THEY most certainly will use what they can. As you have already seen.

Climbing ladders...! Sheesh. Yes. Ok. You can climb a ladder...how? When you can't really hold on to it...and...exactly what are you supposed to DO up there once you reach the top, since you can't use tools and what not? Stand there? Spit on people's heads? Let folks look up that grass skirt? It makes absolutely NO sense at all. Climbing ladders. Yeah....like...can you climb a ladder after you have taken you meds? And...how often do you have to take you meds? How do they affect your balance and everything else? Those are the ways that you take care of that climbing ladder crap. That is how I took care of the answering phone crap. Yes..I can answer a phone, but at the time I was taking Neurontin, and I was a drugged out zombie in a permanent brain fog. So, I answer a phone "Hello?" And do what afterwards? Remember to push some button to send a call to some specific person? Yeah...right. Good luck there. And you want me to DRIVE to get there? Or...I am supposed to get a job paying me so much that I can hire a driver? Again..yeah right. They are a bunch of Stupid Heads, as Meghan would say! LOL

Oops. That soap box tried to slip back out there again. That is what happens when I get up to take a break and my brain goes on thinking about stuff. LOLOL. Also why these things wind up being SOOOO long lately. So, I reckon that I am going to end this here. If I think of anything that might be helpful, I will let you know. The best thing that I can tell you is to just dont let them get to you too badly...and know that you aren't the only one that they have treated stupidly like this. It is their "thing". Keep your sense of humor...and that Chin Up!

Love and ((hugs))
Jose

PS...I wear a ladies 12 shoe. You could do an ugly step sister thing and borrow a pair of my shoes and "make them fit" like Drucilla did, or tried to do, in Disney's Cinderella. ROFL. Good thing that you kept that Cocoanut Bra, Huh? Maybe a total sex change isn't necessary? Maybe just...um....a little "strategic tucking" would work?
ROFLTIPMP!!
((Hugs))
Jose

I'm english so we don't quite have the same issues - I mean getting DLA (disability living allowance) seems to be quite a lottery but nothing like the SSDI (finally they put me up to full care and full mobility - at last! seeing as I can't walk/ move my legs, can't use arms/ hands and need care for evreything.. from getting on the toilet, to dressing, transfering, being fed etc... I reckon I just about qualify..)

Also... one of my american friends who suffered an accident and became a ventilator dependent quadraplegic after breaking his neck was still messed around by SSDI - they said that he could be at a call centre if he had a headset - his reply was that erm// he was on a ventilator and did they REALLY want him sounding like darth vader? also the fact he'd need to come to work with a nurse!! just proves how totally inept the whole SSDI thing is. But stick with it! common sense will hopefully prevaile

I have just had my incapacity benefit turned down as I am a full time student - therefore they believe I could work if I chose too... erm... yeh... the fact that I can only use a computer with dragon and i'm taking a degree so that I actually have a chance to get a job and work at something that isn't totally menial (that I can fit in around pain/ enforced rests etc) and that I enjoy... GRRR.

they are so silly!

anyway keep fighting!!
love
Rosie xxxxx