I got approved for ssdi in 2001 based on a neck and back injury i got on the job as a firefighter. I have a cage in my neck and still got bad discs in neck and back.
Every 3 years i have gotten the review like clock work.
In 2010 i got the 6 question thing, whcih got spit out and i ended up getting the longer form.
I filled that out and even added new health problems. Mental health issues which have been going on since after i got approved for ss. I also added my heart and diabetes problems.

Whats bugging me for the last 2 years is the letter i got back from them. Heres what is said

"we recently reviewed the evidence in your social security disability claim and find that your disability is continuing. We have also enclosed information about working that explains some of the terms we use.
The doctors and other trained staff who decided that you are disabled expect your health to improve. Therefore, we will review your case in december 2013. we will send you a letter before we start the review."



The first thing that really ****** me off is that they expect my health to improve. Lets even throw out my new heath problems and just go with neck and back problems which is what i got approved for. How could they possibly believe that these problems are going to be any better 12 years from when i first went on ssdi? Just the fact of 12 years later, makes a person less healthy.

So does this mean in 2013 iam gonna have to go for the full doctors review based on this letter? Or is this basically the same thing written on everybodys letter?

On top of having to deal with all my health problems daily, this letter has been driving me completely insane. I have already wasted 2 years worrying about it and dont want to waste until dec 2013 worrying about it. So please can anybody give me their opinions and thoughts on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Bobby

p.s. and when i sent in the long form, i even added my medicine printout from the drugstore for the year. Total amount of drug costs were 54,000 dollars. I guess thats how much drugs healthy people use,lolllllllllll

bobby,i wouldn't worry to much about the phrase"expecting your condition to improve"..i have been collecting ssdi benefits now for the better part of over 16 years for bi-polar disorder and some other mental health issues.i have been reviewed 4 times during that period and all 4 times after the reviews i recieved the same letter that you did saying that the doctors who examined me expect my condition to improve so therefor we will review your case in 1 year.another year comes around and i go to the review and i pass it along with another letter saying the same thing.this has been going on for the last 5 years and i am still collecting ssdi so you have nothing to worry about it's just a technicality.as long as you don't show any work you are good to go as far as your ssdi benefits continuing.however,you will still need to continue seeing your doctors and take any medications on a regular basis to prove to social security that you are still disabled.if you don't go to doctors on a regular basis social security will see this as a sign that your condition has improved and your ssdi benefits could stop..

Your treating doctors? This is what you are going to need to find out. What did YOUR doctors say to SS about your disability future?
If I were you, I would have a nice chit chat w/the docs at your next appointments.

From medical documentations obtained by your treating physicians I gather.

As Gilbert already confirmed.........
"if you don't go to doctors on a regular basis social security will see this as a sign that your condition has improved and your ssdi benefits could stop.. "

Gilbert, thanks for the post.

Migraine, I dont think they were talking about my doctors in the letter. I think they were referring to their doctors looking over my information.

I dont see my neck and back doctor anymore, do to him not just doing checkups on people. He also doesnt do pain management. I get that done by my psychiatrist, who also treats my depression, ptsd and anxiety.
I see him all the time and once a month i also see psychotherapist.
I go to my heart doctor every 6 months and see my family doctor every 3 months. On that last long form review, i sent in a years printout of all my meds, which totaled 54,000 dollars, so its not like am not taking any meds.

I cant picture my neck doctor{who helped me to get ss} saying am better 12 years later. Even a healthy person is going to be less healthy 12 years later in life.

Since 2001 i have gotten a review in 2004, 2007, 2010 and one is expected in 2013.
I still have a cage in my neck, it hasnt magically vanished. I still have other damaged discs in my neck and back, they havent fixed themselves. So for them or anybody to say i should be improved in 2013, 12 years after my surgery, ****** me off. If they know how my health can be improved, then i wish they would let me in on it, so that i can feel better.

Bad neck, bad lower back, leaking mitral valve, afib all day, diabetes with shots, high blood pressure, depression, ptsd, anxiety. Is there much missing on my health?

sometimes i feel like the money from ss isnt worth it because of the constant worrying about when the next review is gonna come. Wish i had money, so i could give up the ss money.

Thanks for help both of you
Bobby

Bobby,

I think it's important to understand that the SSA is looking at your case objectively. I think you should try to look at it more objectively yourself.

Having a cage in your neck doesn't MAKE you totally disabled if there are ANY patients who've had the same procedure and were able to work afterwards. Your limited ROM and pain from having said cage in your neck could make YOU disabled. You want to have ONGOING documentation about that.

I read a stat way back when that said if you did an MRI of 100 "totally fine" people over 40, more than half would show serious disc issues.......yet those people are asymptomatic. Having disc issues doesn't mean you ARE disabled. Having disc issues that cause certain symptoms, like pain/limited mobility/numbeness CAN cause disability. If your damaged discs haven't fixed themselves......wouldn't it be wise to see a doctor who would TRY to fix them or maximize your functioning ? Perhaps your treating physician felt nothing could be done 12 years ago. New treatments become available over time. You can't have access to them if you don't see a doctor who would know about them.

Personally, I LOVE my psychiatrist......but I don't go to him for my neck and back issues that are better evaluated by the appropriate professionals.

SSA TELLS us that they expect us to follow up with regular doctor appointments for are disabling conditions......and that not having those appointments indicates to them that our conditions could be improving. Maybe THAT is where they are "getting" that your condition may be improving.

Finz, i understand you are trying to look at it from their point of view, but if we went by what you posted, then only the most extreme cases would be on ssdi then.

Nobody who has disc problems who has had surgery, is going to be in better health 12 years later, thats just crazy to think that.
Healthy people 12 years later in life arent as healthy.

I also have other extreme problems, i doubt to many people on ss take 24 differnt pills a day, which i do.

My psychiatrist and many psychiatrists deal with pain management issues for people, maybe yours isnt trained in it. Mine didnt want me going to a pain management doctor and getting hooked on more pain meds then i really needed, since i had so many other problems.
So pain management is an ongoing thing for my condition. Thats been taking place for the last 11 years

I cant go see my ortho surgeon every few months just for checkups. They only want you back if your having more problems. Yes i have more discs that could be removed in my neck, but putting in another cage will just put pressure on the next set of discs. So when do i stop having surgeries? when i cant turn my neck at all. Yes theres better technology now, but it still comes down to removing discs.
Even my own doctor has said that surgery should be a persons last option.

Point is 1 year after my surgery, they said i was disabled. 12 years later i sure as hell cant be in better health then i was a year after surgery?

My job was a firefighter and all the other jobs i had in my life were all physical type jobs.

maybe your disability isnt neck or back related, thus you dont understand about dealing with this type of problem.
I dont have a clue as to who would even want to hire me for a job, when i really cant stand or sit for long periods of time. And i certainly cant do any of the jobs i once did in my life.

I wish that i was better and could just go back to doing the job i loved.

maybe ss should just remove neck and back problems from being on the list of disabilities.

Somehow you need to accept that SSA is going to follow standard procedure and continue to do CDR's for you and just about everyone else on disability benefits because it is mandated by Congress. Perhaps a vent on a forum like this once every three years will help with you coping, but unless Congress passes a new law, SSA is going to continue to do these reviews.

Your original question was to help you before you lose your mind. One of my new favorite songs is from the Zac Brown Band "Let It Go". That is my suggestion.

"Save your strength for things that you can change
Forgive the ones you can't
You gotta let 'em go"

Guess it's time to call my dad and tell him he's CRAZY !

That 'crazy' guy had MULTIPLE laminectomies over several years starting 15 years ago.

In the intervening years, he also had stage 3 colon cancer, with surgery and chemo. He just had a clean pet scan 10 years after the conclusion of his treatments (which started 12 years ago)

To celebrate, at age 75, he's heading off to Acadia National Park to do some bike riding.


He does his back exercises every day. He walks about 5 miles a day. If it's not raining, he bikes 20 miles most days but has been known to zip through 100 a day/200 a weekend.

He's got a few more wrinkles now, but I can assure you....he IS healthier now than he was 12 years ago......and I've seen the medical records that PROVE that.

p.s........My psychiatrist says I'm not crazy.

Most 'pain management' doctors I know of (and I worked as a health care professional and have experience as a patient at 4 different pain clinics) are interventionists. They tend to do injections (like trigger point and nerve block). They don't tend to write prescriptions for ANY meds, never mind ones that anyone could "get hooked on."

As you mentioned, there are many psychiatrists that work in the pain management field. They often have expertise in helping patients deal with pain. They are not commonly known for their expertise in evaluating orthopedic and neurological conditions. Some people chose to see an orthopedist or a neurologist to evaluate conditions of an orthopedic or neurological nature.

I don't believe anyone here recommended you continue to follow up with your orthopedic surgeon. Surgeons do the pre op consult, cut, do the follow up, and say goodbye. Orthopedists and neurologists follow people for ONGOING issues.

As it happens, my disability IS neck and back related. TOS, RSD, occipital neuralgia, multiple disc issues, fibro, depression. I was a hospice nurse. Like you, I wish that I could go back to the job I loved.

I'm concerned from some of your comments that you might think I am asking you to 'justify' your disability 'status'. I hope that I haven't offended you......and I want to be CLEAR that I'm not questioning your level of disability AT ALL.

I have no problem believing your issues are still causing you disability.

I have no problem believing that the review process is stressful. I'm pretty sure that I won't enjoy it much when it's my turn.

My goal in responding in this thread is to try to help you de-stress over this.

SOME people DO get better.....maybe not great, but better.

SOME people improve to the point where they are no longer considered disabled. Doesn't sound like YOUR case is going that way, but for SOME on SSDI, it does get better.

SOME people DON'T get any better, but they don't provide the medical documentation to PROVE that they ARE still disabled.....and they find themselves without a monthly check.

Part of minimizing the stress of the review process is "getting" that SSA is OBLIGATED to try to figure out who is still disabled and who isn't. They aren't TRYING to make your life worse.....they are just trying to make sure the government doesn't throw away money. The SSA tells us that not providing adequate documentation that were are still be treated by an appropriate medical professional implies to them our conditions might be improving.

I don't plan on 'implying' that to the SSA. Unless WC starts approving reasonable treatment or a miracle happens and I DO improve.

Arguing that SSA shouldn't ask for that proof doesn't help with the review process. Sending extra info that doesn't prove disability doesn't help. While I can't IMAGINE paying the bills for $54,000 worth of meds.....submitting bills for meds doesn't prove disability. Submitting documentation about the need for and the effectiveness of those meds could help prove disability.

One of the posters over on the RSD board, with a dx list similar to mine, has been able to get back to work after a new tx worked for her. She's NOT "all better", but she IS markedly improved.....and now able to work. Her WC paid for the experimental (and VERY expensive) tx. My WC is still refusing to pay. Same initial dx's, but one of us is totally disabled and the other is not.

The SSA understands that happens. When it's my turn for review, I understand that I have to PROVE to them that I am still disabled while someone else with the same dx might not be.

Were you dianosed with degenertive joint disease, or degenertive disk disease? These permanent conditions, that is what I have. My doctors origional statement said "No hope of recovery" My pain level did go down. However the disks themselves are not going to hold out forever and I know that. Working would put me in the poisiton of ruining what I have left. I don't look down or up well at all. I think they also look at the language your doctor says about your future abilities. Mine are shot. In my case, I don't care what the SS says. I am not going to do anything that ruins this window I have to experince some time and life in a stable place medically. I do go to the doc. on a regular basis, actually two almost monthly. My PCP and Pain specialist.
Keep up with the appointments. Your doctor can alway re-write a letter to SS stating that your condition is not going to improve. Do all you can to document pain and all, and you should be OK. Your doctor will back you no matter what SS requires. I hate them putting us through all this too, but I guess they have to because of money issues. I do wish you all the best. ginnie