How would you handle this? Disability nightmare, Chapter XIVIVXXXIII  

Thank you for that reminder! I forgot all about the Senator and Congressman who've been helping me with this! (That's part of my disability... my memory REALLY sucks!)

I'll write to them right now! I'm SO thankful for finding myLot because, any time you have a question, just post it here and inevitably you'll get some great answers.

Again, THANK YOU!!! I honestly had forgotten all about my senator and congressman!

I really do understand. I have seizers about every night and they cause me to forget things all of the time. I have the same problem...my memory leaves me many many times.
You are right about mylot of course. I love it here. I have some really good friends here.

See my response above. I had actually forgotten about the senator and congressman who've been helping me with my case!

I have the personal email address of my senator, so I'm able to send an email. But, I also have their telephone numbers so I'm going to call them. They each gave me the name of a person they've specifically chosen to handle my queries.

If they say to write a letter, I'll write a letter. Unfortunately, I don't have a lawyer. I DID have a lawyer, through Binder & Binder. (Don't EVER use them! They're horrible! Less than worthless!) They dropped me as a client after my first hearing before the judge, when I was again denied. They said that the next step would be "too labor intensive" for them to handle. Can you imagine that? They don't give a hoot about their clients, only about the money they collect. Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Anyway, they dropped me, but never would send me a waiver of fees, so no other attorney would take the case because they were afraid they wouldn't get enough money if Binder & Binder decided they wanted their share.

I did send Binder & Binder a letter, telling them that if I did not hear from them within a specific date and time, then I would take that as their waiver of fees. They never got in touch with me, so legally I do have a waiver of fees but it was too late to get another attorney so I went to the last hearing by myself.

Funny, when I went with a lawyer, I was denied. When I didn't go with a lawyer, I wasn't denied. Odd.

Thanks so much, dragon! I HOPE it's almost over. Seven years is a LOOOOONG time for them to see what's right in front of their faces: the doctor's reports, all of which say I can't work.

I'm just thankful that the psychologist they sent me to, the one Social Security pays to evaluate claimants, gave me an extremely favorable report. Maybe that's what's driving me so batty now... because of that report, there's no way the judge could deny me again, since he said he'd be basing his opinion on that report, so I'm almost positive I'll be approved this time which makes me all the more anxious to hear from them.

Of course, that may be why I haven't heard anything yet... they're taking their good old time because they'll be handing over a pretty big chunk of change to me and they want to hold on to it as long as they can.

It's just one more thing to prove my theory: the government doesn't give a poop about us little peons. They're playing with my life here, but they don't care. I now have over $4,000.00 in medical bills because my husband's new insurance, through his job, is HORRIBLE! Out of all the bills submitted by my internist, my rheumatologist, the neurologist and all the labs, the insurance has paid a measly $14.00! That's all! They're denying all the other claims. AND, we're paying almost $400.00 a month to keep this insurance! We're about to drop it because it's not saving us anything, it's actually costing us! Insane, huh?

I really need Medicare, desperately! That's just another reason why I'm so anxious to be approved, and why I'm getting more and more depressed. I wish they'd see me as a human being and not just a case number.

Thanks, sparks. If you read my first response above, you'll see that I had completely forgotten all about the senator and congressman who've been helping me with this. I need to call them both and advise them of the status of things. They've both given me a number to call and the name of someone in their office to help me with this, I just completely forgot all about them! That's one of my more serious problems that are preventing me from working: my memory. I used to be a proofreader and that's not a job to have if you have memory problems!

Anyway, thanks for helping to reinforce this. It is most definitely my senator and/or congressman who should be helping. Tomorrow, first thing, I'll be calling them. Today, my sons were here and I wanted to enjoy their visit. We had a barbeque which turned out fantastic, because a thunderstorm rolled on in right after we took the meat off the grill.

I'll keep emailing these guys, too. I'm finding that the squeaky wheel really does get the grease! I'll keep you posted!

Thank you for your good wishes. I'm not religious, either, so that's not a problem with me.

You're very correct about this being very stressful! I think that, at the very least, my depression problem should improve greatly IF they ever approve me. This has been an insane roller-coaster for the past seven years. I thought, since my hearing was in February, that I'd have a decision by now but Social Security is being true to their reputation by putting it off as long as they possibly can.

Thanks again for caring. It means a lot to me to know that there are some awesome, caring people in this world!

I may have worded it wrong. The judge wasn't requesting additional information. He said, in the letter, that I had 10 days in which I could send in any additional information if I wanted to.

I had no additional information, except for one nerve conduction study report, which I did send him before I even received that letter. The letter stated that I could request a hearing to discuss the results of the psyche evaluation report, if I had any disputes with it, which I didn't.

The case is not over because I have not received a denial letter. I have received nothing. But, according to the judge himself, when I was at my last hearing, he said he would be making his decision after receiving that psyche report. The letter he sent on May 1st only said that he would hold off his decision for 10 days and I had that time to get any more information to him, if I had any.

The psyche evaluation said I was SEVERELY affected by my physical and emotional/mental issues and they would severely affect my ability to work. If the judge denies me after that, then this is a case of discrimination. They've chosen my case to deny, no matter what. I have some very serious issues that have been proven over and over again by doctor after doctor for seven years now, ending with the evaluation from the psychologist that Social Security paid for his opinion.

Even if I'm denied again, I have one more level to go through: suing the Social Security Administration. I've already spoken to an attorney about this and read this very thing on Social Security's website. I can sue them as the next level in this case. It's not over. I WILL sue them if they deny me this time around.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be contacting the senator and congressman who've been helping me on this case. I had forgotten all about them (part of my disability is extreme memory problems) until it was mentioned in this discussion.

Yes you did word it wrong, sorry for my comments but I was going by what you stated, and I do know that if you get a letter and it says so many days to get them additional info and you do nothing the case ends.
It is unreal what they make you go through when you apply for the benefits that you worked for all your life. I got mine on depression, fastest way they said and the report they gave you probably covered that. How can you not be depressed when you are sick and can't work and their are still bills to pay. MY hubby was hurt on the job in Feb 1995, I fought everyone in the country trying to get him some help. Till Sept 1998 and I had a massive heart attack from the stress, there was 2 of us then both hurt and no money coming in. We lost our home, they came picked up our truck that we had paid on for nearly 5 years and owed just 2000 bucks on.We sold our furniture one piece at a time to survive each day.They sent him for tests after test, then finally operated on him, which we came to find out if they had done a different procedure he could of went back to work, but there was no money in it for the lawyers. The operation only made him more disabled. It took him till 2001 to get what was his all along, they just drug it out. As for me it took me another 4 years of fighting them, I am not even suppose to pick up the gallon of milk from the refrigerator, that is how bad my heart was damaged. I hate going to their doctors oh they tell you anything then when they submit the paperwork it is all different. One report that I saw in my file was after I made a trip to take a treadmill test and after about 45 seconds he stopped me called the social security office and said I will not go on with this test and have her pass out or fall off the treadmill, when he sent the paper work in it stated I was a 59 year old black woman that was not having the problems that I stated. I am not black and I had just turned 51.
I do believe though if you call them they will tell you they have 120 days before they have to give you a determination. That is the longest 120 days that you can live. I truly hope that it goes through this time. Guess what i got out of mine $257.00 a month. Because I'm married and hubby only makes $757. because of some stupid lawyer that filed papers wrong. Women don't get crap, and I was a General Motors employee for quite awhile. I got my first check on June 3rd, only because I turned 62, i have been on SSI till now. The SSi gives you the medical you need, good luck hon and let me know what you hear from them this time, maybe the judge will make it happen this time.

You said something that made me smile: "...they are very busy and don't want to be overwhelmed..." I have a friend who worked for Social Security for around 20 years and, believe me, they AREN'T busy! Sure, they have a lot of work, but it's because of how slowly they work! I lived near a gal who also used to work at SS, and she said she had to quit because she was being blackballed by her co-workers because she WORKED. She didn't shuffle her feet or take 20 breaks a day. She called it the "Social Security Shuffle" because everyone seemed to move as slowly as they possibly could. Shame, huh?

I was reminded of the senator and congressman who've been helping me through this last appeal. I had forgotten all about them! A large part of my disability is my memory problems and this is a perfect example. I completely forgot about them! They have written to me and gave me the name and phone number of someone in their office they've assigned to my problem, so I'll be calling them tomorrow morning. Maybe one of them can find out what's holding things up and maybe even get the ball rolling.

Believe me, the day I get that approval letter, assuming I ever WILL get approved, everyone will know it because of the big WHOO HOO I belt out! I don't care where in the world you live, you'll hear me! LOL

Marti,
I'm sure you did smile. I was only talking about the Judge. I know what you mean about the slowness. Most of the time I believe they are not only slow in movement but also slow in the head. Of course there are exceptions to the rule. One of my Sister-in-laws worked for Social Services and she was an exception.

I had a lawyer but they dumped me as a client after the hearing before this last one. This lawyer was employed by Binder & Binder. They were HORRIBLE! They did absolutely nothing for me unless I threatened to sue THEM! I actually do have a good case for a lawsuit against them because I hired them in April 2004. After waiting for 19 months and still hadn't received a hearing date, I found out that they weren't even in Social Security's records as being my Attorneys of Record! That was 19 months totally wasted! It took another 11 months, after correcting their stupid oversight, before I got a hearing date. What should have taken between 6 and 18 months actually took 30 months, or 2 1/2 years!

They didn't want to do any work, they just wanted to collect their fee. Since my case was denied, they wanted nothing more to do with me. Unfortunately, they never sent me a waiver of fees so no other lawyer would take my case. It seems they're all just after the money. I spoke to 3 other lawyers and they were all more concerned about having to "share" their fee with Binder & Binder than they were about helping me to get disability.

So, I went to my hearing without a lawyer. I also wrote to the judge and let him know why I didn't have a lawyer. I wanted him to understand that I was between a rock and a hard place.

Funny thing was that this time, I wasn't denied right off the bat. When I went with a lawyer, I was denied. This last time, the judge said he wanted an updated psyche exam before rendering his decision. He said he would base his decision on the results of that exam. The report stated that my ability to work was severely affected by my mental/emotional issues that are a direct result of my physical problems. The report couldn't have been more in my favor.

But, I've been reminded of a senator and congressman that I contacted to help me. I'm going to be calling them both tomorrow morning and let them know what's going on right now and that I'm completely losing my mind from waiting for some kind of word from Social Security. I'm sure they'll be able to check into it and, hopefully, get things moving.

You're also the only person I'VE ever heard of getting it on the first try!

I'm just about to lose what little of my mind I have left. I can't believe it's taking this long. The judge said that he'd be making his decision 10 days after I received that letter. Okay, so maybe he made his decision but, until I know what it is, I'm going to be going nuts.

The judge told me they'd be going back to when I first stopped working, in April, 2000. I also know what my monthly check should have been all this time because of my Social Security statements, so there's no question about what they should be giving me. I can't believe they're so stupid that they can't multiple one monthly amount by X number of months from April 2000 until now! It's going to be a large amount but it's not like it's charity! I EARNED this money! I worked for almost 40 years and they took Social Security taxes out of every penny I earned all that time.

I'm going to be calling my senator and congressman who have been with me all through this last hearing of mine. I had forgotten all about them. That's part of my disability: my memory. It's awful! I was playing a game of solitaire, I believe it was called Forty Thieves, and forgot how to play it right in the middle of playing it! That's how bad my memory is. Luckily, I've been reminded of them here in this discussion. So, first thing tomorrow I'll be calling them and letting them know where it stands and see if they can speed things up for me.

I'll write to you tomorrow. Thanks so much!

I'm telling you that I am SURE you got it! But, they take
awhile to get the ok to release the actually money, especially
when it is a large back payment! Let me know what happens
when you get in touch with the people you need to! I am sure
that you won't be denied this time!

I saw it. Thanks so much, Annie! It says exactly what I believe it should say, although maybe I'll put it more in layman's terms because I don't want the judge saying that I seem to be quite literate and deny me! But, it's perfect. Thank you!!!!

Hogwash! They're ONLY WORDS!

Just tell him that a CANADIAN Legal Secretary helped you write it. LOL.

Better yet, tell him you now have a CANADIAN PARALEGAL friend that wrote it for you, for free, just because she likes you and knows DAMN WELL that you DESERVE this disability.

Yeah, I like that one.

Maybe do it in a P.S. at the bottom. There is plenty of space, and you can use a smaller font, too.

Every lawyer, and all judges are/were lawyers originally, always goes to the fine print first, lol. To see what someone is trying to hide from them. lol