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        Supporter's Corner >> Supporter's Corner >> filing for disability 
        
(Message started by: Flofrty8 on Mar 14^th, 2006, 9:43pm)

Title: filing for disability
Post by Flofrty8 on Mar 14^th, 2006, 9:43pm

Newbie here.
Brother suffers w/chs. I have learned quite a bit here from you folks. The question I have is... are there ch sufferers that have tried for, and received or have been denied disability payments for this condition? Brother is trying to get this thru railroad. Any responses would be appreciated. thanks Connie (flofrty8)

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by markeydsl on Apr 18^th, 2006, 1:47am

Hi there;

I have received disability from my employer and also receive SSI. I currently have Chronic cluster headaches, which mean that I get them all the time everyday just about. I have for the past 3 years been getting these headaches like this. I assume that I was lucky that I got all of this without much of a fight, but I did work until My FMLA ran out. I think the key to this might be the documentation about how often he is out of work, or documentation that shows how often he gets the headaches. It also helps to have a doctor that he has been seeing document and provide records to the railroad. It is a long process, but if he has them chronic it is sure worth the effort instead of going from job to job. I am sure that at this point for me no one would hire me with these type of headaches.

Good luck

Markeydsl

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by Dave_Emond on Apr 18^th, 2006, 4:02pm

Connie,
I can help you and your brother through this process, e-mail me and we will discuss how to go about it the easy way instead of the difficult way most have to go through.
I must say though, as I do to all I help in this area, I will only help on the merits that all that is said is in pure honesty, all truth and no exaggerations. He must always be willing to look for self sufficieny possibilities.
This is a shorter disclaimer than I would normally write, but am having difficulty writing at this time.
Send me an e-mail and we'll see if I can help you,
Dave

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by layframe on Apr 23^rd, 2006, 11:37pm

I also just started getting them so any info on it would be great!

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by Dave_Emond on Apr 24^th, 2006, 4:58pm

Everyone who has contacted me bu e-mail or PM's, I listening and will get back to you very soon. Being I am one of those "stubborn" suffererers of Chronic CH and a few other disorders, I went fishing and am seriously paying for it right now, very sick and muscles just not working. Have tears in my eyes from severe pain now just trying to type. But ... I will get back to each of you personally and try to make a post on disability in this forum.
If anything, I caught more fish than anyone would possibly believe without seeing it first hand. So, I'll skip saying how many, or how many falls I took in the lake or on the shore. :P :-[
I've been just sitting in a chair since for almost 2 days and dreading even trying to walk to the bathroom ... as usual I overdid it and paying now.
But as I just came online, I saw all the messages and wanted to let you all know I got them and will get back to you as soon as possible, which will be when I can concentrate on your issues and not be side tracked by my own.
Talk with you all soon and see how I can help,
Until then, God Bless and take care,
Dave

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by kayarr on Apr 24^th, 2006, 11:33pm

Fishing is good:) I really do want to hear the fish tales since I am the stuff of legends at the local saw mill from one particular salmon drift fishing trip with my best friend and my Dad.
Please do tell in the proper place of course!
I am interested in knowing about disability and how it is done. It is a little more difficult for Jeff since he doesn't keep a journal because he thinks it gives the headaches more credibility than they deserve. His way of giving a one fingered salute kinda. Honestly he is having a hard time thinking about giving up his rigidly scheduled career. Ultimately it is up to him. I would at least like to be able to give him information when he is ready. I support his decision and his decision making skills.

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by mischki on May 23^rd, 2006, 10:42pm

Richard and I finally sought out a lawyer this month. We'd been talking about it, but he didn't want to "take charity." But he hasn't worked now for 2 years.

Our lawyer said that, yes, people have gotten disability for this, and that he shouldn't think of it as "charity" because it was insurance that he paid for all the years he did work. She said that it a lot of it would be how well our doctors had documented his CH...

I'm so glad to finally see some positive feedback about this option on the board. The last couple posts I read were all about "you gotta work," and were almost mean to the person asking, so I was afraid to ask.

I'll try to keep you posted as to how our claim goes. If anyone has any tips about how to fill out that stupid questionnaire about "what do you do in a typical day?" though, I'd love to hear it... With CH, Richard doesn't HAVE a typical day. There are in-cycle days, and not-in-cycle days, and even those vary greatly!

Good luck!

Michelle

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by Dave_Emond on May 29^th, 2006, 4:19am

Hey All,
So sorry I've been out of touch with all of you, moving from trailer to trailer waiting to hopefully finally get settled into an assisted living apartment by mid-June at the latest. Again will have to go through yet another phone transfer and most likely a new server again.
I've only gotten one e-mail so far, I can only help if we work together personally. Hope my timing isn't going to throw things off time-wise as far as being able to help quick enough.
I have copies of all the forms you need to fill out and how to answer the questions, some of which are ridiculous!
Suggestions for now:
Do not use snail mail, e-mail/online services or the phone options they give. Go in personally and meet your agent you will be assigned. They need to know firsthand that you are not dealing with "Headaches."
Get a ride to the appointment ... I would assume driving is a problem anyway, but if you drive in on your own ... they will question that.
Tell your doctor before you go in and let him/her know to expect forms to fill out by the SSA.
Tell your employer about CH and if you have a Human Resources department where you work, (if you are working) talk to them as well. If you have insurance through your work, talk to them next as well ... benefits from work or private insurance are far better than what SSA will provide. Of course the insurance companies will only help for so long, then you will have to switch over to SSA.
When talking to your agent at SSA or anyone else, be completely honest, you will recieve more forms that resemble the first. If you're always honest and consistant ... your answers will always match, which they will be looking at. If you have a hard time remembering even your honest answers you wrote down before, make copies of everything you fill out. (Suggest you do this anyway.)
The forms don't leave room to answer questions about CH, add attachments to every question that you need more room to answer. (I had several pages of attachments.)
In talking with your agent or when filling out forms always agree to any requests of things such as occupational therapy, etc. Anything that shows you are willing to do anything possible to become self sufficient. I would again assume all CHer's have that desire built into them anyway. This is far from charity, you are not taking money "from others that need it more than you!" In fact, I'll tell you straight out, SSA will not give you enough money to live on alone. Plus ... Medicare will not kick in for 9 months (will double check my paperwork on that figure to be sure.)
Stay in touch with your agent, try to find ways to work and report all wages, cash and taxable income. You will get forms again for months in this area. It is far better to show them you are attempting to become self sufficient.
Once your on SSA, you will most likely get retroactive pay, then, depending on your income and how much you've paid into SSA over your years of work, they will decide the amount you'll get monthly. Since you will be put on SSDI, you should get paid every 3rd Wednesday of each month, it won't be much, so plan your budget around that.
Once accepted for SSDI, it's harder to get off of it than it was to get on. You will need to prove by your report forms (which you can mail back) that you are indeed self sufficient. I tried 3 times to get off of SSDI and God must have been looking out for me, because I was turned down ... then found soon after each time ... I would have been in big trouble had they taken me off.
As I said, I'm in the process of moving again, loads of files on the disabilty process. Many have been mixed up in different boxes, but as I'm packing, I'm getting them all back in order as much as I can, still a little ways to go though.
I hope my personal problems haven't made it too late to still help.
Take care and I hope at least some of these suggestions help somewhat. Most of getting through the process will take us working together one on one as everyone's situation will be somewhat different.
Dave
(Note to any "outsiders" reading this thread, if you are one who is looking for a way to scam the system, find another area than CH, you'll never pull it off. You would have to have personally been through this disorder long enough to convince anyone you have the slightest clue of what CH is about. I only help those who are totally honest, and it's very easy to tell.)

Title: Re: filing for disability
Post by kayarr on May 29^th, 2006, 8:16pm

Dave,
I know how hard it is for you to answer so completely and thank you profusely for the help.

Kimberly