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Hopefully, he won't get approved right away.....as it would be fraudulent for him to apply while he is fully capable of holding down the supervisory job that he is currently doing and plans to continue doing for the next few weeks.

I have no intentions of filing until after I get the knee replacement. When I do it will be for more for my back problems than anything else. It is the back pain that limits how long I can stand or sit. What I need to know is, if the doctors say I need the fusion and I do not go through with it right away. Does that hurt my case ? I am not afraid of the knee replacement surgery, but I am of the fusion.

I am 4 weeks post fusion. The first 3 days were the most unimagineable pain...but I am a punk, so everything hurts me. After 3 days it is tolerable...after 2 weeks it is really good. Your restrictions may be no lifting, bending or twisting. I had fusions from L4-S1. I still have some of the same pain that I did before, but I am only 4 weeks out. I am on SSDI, but not for my back probs.
I wish you the best of luck whatever you decide!

That was how I took your previous posts Laga.

That post was strictly in response to the poster who said to file now and they hoped you would be approved right away.

It shouldn't matter (not guaranteeing you that it won't, but it SHOULDN'T) that you are trying to delay the fusion.....unless you go against doctor's orders. I think you just have to wait and see how your entire situation is after the knee replacement.

My mom took Aleve for her arthritic knee but functioned well for years. She wanted to get rid of that annoying knee pain, had the replacement.....now she is in severe pain and her mobility is severely limited. This, in turn, has worsened her back issues.

Conversely, my 75 yo dad had a lumbar fusion just before he was dx'd (and beat) colon cancer. He is now back to taking 100 mile bikerides.

You know that you have the knee replacement coming up, that it takes several months to a year to recover from. You may find that when you recover from that surgery, your overall condition may be much better....or much worse than you feel right now.

I do want you to understand though that if you are still working that supervisory job now, and plan to for another few weeks, then you are not totally disabled per SSA right now.

I understand that you do not have the ability to do your 'regular' job, but you do have to ability to do A job. It doesn't matter to SSA that when this supervisory gig is over if all you can do is be a Walmart greeter (where you could sit in a wheelchair or stand as needed) and that is much less money than you are used to.....it's still a job. Prepare yourself for that.....and see how you feel after getting the knee done. It may cause less stress on your body which will help your back or (hopefully not) things could go the other way.

Best of luck.

Lara said he is not working full duty. what he is basically doing is a light duty job. you can apply for ssdi while you are working a light duty job. i know people who have done it and who have been approved.

Right now, he HAS adjusted to other work

Advancing age could help him make the case that he won't be able to adjust to another job after this one though ~

http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify4.htm

"Disability" under Social Security is based on your inability to work. We consider you disabled under Social Security rules if:

•You cannot do work that you did before;
•We decide that you cannot adjust to other work because of your medical condition(s); and
•Your disability has lasted or is expected to last for at least one year or to result in death.

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http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify5.htm

To decide whether you are disabled, we use a step-by-step process involving five questions. They are:

1.Are you working?

If you are working in 2011 and your earnings average more than $1,000 a month, you generally cannot be considered disabled.

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http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify6.htm

4.Can you do the work you did previously?

If your condition is severe but not at the same or equal level of severity as a medical condition on the list, then we must determine if it interferes with your ability to do the work you did previously. If it does not, your claim will be denied. If it does, we proceed to Step 5.

Additional information about Step 4.

5.Can you do any other type of work?

If you cannot do the work you did in the past, we see if you are able to adjust to other work. We consider your medical conditions and your age, education, past work experience and any transferable skills you may have. If you cannot adjust to other work, your claim will be approved. If you can adjust to other work, your claim will be denied.

The no. 4 question is a trick question. They are suppose to go back 15 yrs in your work history. So working at McDonalds as a teenager shouldn't hinder your bid for disability if you are in your late 40s or early 50s.

he has not adjusted to a full duty job, he is doing a light or reduced duty job. that is not something that any employer will let you do for longer than a certain time period.

I am not familiar with your diagnosis but the effects appear to prohibit your your ability to work. I suggest your file a paper application, on-line and phone interviews really have theri downsides. In a paper application your are better able to present your case submit medical and non-medical data including affadvits from people who know you. You can also write a powerful personal statement int he last section.
This is n article I wrote about completing the 2010 application:
"In 2010 the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented a new application which makes it much more difficult for claimants to be approved for benefits. The most dramatic change is that the claimant (you) is not given the opportunity to explain how the limitations of their disability affects their ability to work. The SSA has completely eliminated the questions that gave you an opportunity to explain how your symptoms and conditions affect your working and daily life.

In the 2010 application, the focus and majority of the content is objective facts without any subjective or interpretative opinions from the claimant. You are given five lines to list your “Medical Conditions” and a page of information about “Medical Treatment” for each treating physician with one line to describe what medical conditions were treated and one to line to record what treatment you received. The page also contains a list of tests (like EKG and breathing tests) where you list the date of the test. There are enough pages for five doctors.

The remainder of the application is pretty much the same as the 2006 application. There are 11 sections on the 2010 application including: Section 1 – Information About Disabled Person, Section 2 – Contact who knows about your condition, Section 3 - Medical Conditions, Section 4 – Work Activity, Section 5 - Education and Training, Section 6 – Job History, Section 7 – Medications, Section 8 - Medical Treatment, Section 9 – Other Medical Information, Section 10 – Vocational Rehabilitation and Section 11 – Remarks.

As a result of the new approach, the application’s evaluation process relies on your doctor’s medical records. The worst assumptions you can make are to wait for SSA to request medical records from your doctors and assume your doctors will respond to the Social Security’s request. The best approach is to complete a paper application and submit the medical records with the application. If you apply by phone or on-line you always run the risk your records will not be matched up with the application, at best your application will be delayed.

To compensate for the objective perspective the Social Security Administration has written into the application you must ‘fit in’ you subjective comments and opinions of your symptoms and limitations into the questions on the application.

In the 2010 version, Section 3 lists Medical Conditions which is an opportunity to list your illnesses, injuries and conditions and how they limit your ability to work. It’s possible to write extensive answers to this question in an attachment and expand your answer to include the limitations that interfere with your ability to work.

So, in Section 8, Medical Treatment, it’s critical to answer “What medical conditions were treated or evaluated with the illness, injury or condition and most importantly mention how it limits your ability to work. As an example you’re seeing doctor for “severe back pain and muscles spasms that occur multiple times a day which limits your ability to sit in a chair for more than an hour, medication lessens the pain but doesn’t eliminate the pain.” You could have answered the question with a simple “back pain and muscles spasms” but it does not give the caseworker any idea of the severity, duration or frequency of the problem. Severity, duration and frequency are the three characteristics you want to include in your answer. To answer the question in this manner requires doing an attachment since there is insufficient space on the application for long sentences.

When you answer what treatment did you receive for the above conditions you are ‘forbidden’ to list medications. But, your response needs to include symptoms and limitations just like your answers to what medical conditions were treated.

Many medications have negative side effects that limit your mental or physical ability to work. Medications are listed in Section 7 of the new application and I highly recommend doing an attachment that answers the question; name of medication, name of doctor and reason for the medication but adding a fourth item, drug reactions. So in Section 7 you would write “See attachment 7” that lists the side effects.

It’s natural to resist change and those of you completing the new application won’t know the difference anyway. It’s just that you have to work harder to inform SSDI how your limitations affect your ability to work. My personal opinion is that the 2010 form is less friendly to the claimant and is solely based on the doctors you see and what they say in their office notes. If you have not mentioned limitations or they have not written them down then the caseworker has no idea of how your disability affects you. The only way around this is to incorporate your limitations in your answers.
Hope this helps. Respectfully,
Trudi

It is possible to complete a paper disability report instead of an online disability report, but your local office will convert your paper document to an electronic document and then shred your paper document. If you add alot of narrative to the paper document or create an attachment, that is likely to be scanned in to the electronic file as an extra document. The disability analyst should read that document, but the focus will still be on the disability report. It is important that your treating physician information is provided so your medical records can be reviewed because your limitations have to be supported by objective medical evidence.

I do agree that medical records do not always contain evidence of limitations - the doctor just didn't write down everything you said or you think he can see your limitations and writes it down or makes inferences based on what he recalls from your last visit.

It is true that the new version of the disability report does not ask about functional limitations or medication side effects. Don't know why the change.