Disability at work?

It took years to finnally receive benefits , I was misdiagnosed for about 8 years I was at an 86 degree angle still wouldn't approve , until I was diagnosed then it went right through also got a new judge as well , the og. Judge hated me what I stand for long hair , so forth

That was my experience at the hearing level as well. My attorney was like, hey, see it was easy. Yes, well, no, it was not. I don't fault him; he got me there. But darn, if I had been his legal assistant, I would have half what I paid him back. But then, of course, I would not have been eligible.


rick - moderator

I'm on disability now for issues listed other than AS, but my AS is very aggressive, so I would have listed it if it would have been diagnosed a year earlier while I was going through my hearing (it was just being ignored). My case was a bit of a nightmare because I had 10 brain surgeries in quick succession but we weren't sure WHY they were necessary; I had an unnamed rare disease among other co-morbidities. The U.S. government wants everything to be named. At the 10th one my neurosurgeon gave up and told me that I had to figure out what I had. I did (and that's a story in itself), but it took me 8 years from the start of my symptoms to my hearing to get approved. I had quite an experience with short term disability and long term disability through my workplace. It was one of the largest banks in the world, and they were pressuring my boss to fire me. They had protections in place in name, but certainly not in deed, and they viewed me as the albatross in IT.

If you make the decision to go through filing for any type of disability, I recommend gathering your own medical records - not just the summaries, but the actual records from your visits. File requests to amend or correct misinformation. Never assume someone else is taking care of something on your behalf. I signed up for an internet fax service for $9.99 a month that allows me to fax requests and records back and forth, saving buckets of time. I guarantee you that you will see things that will upset you, either from doctors or the government. Try to get letters from your doctors who support your case. I did far more work than my attorney and my hearing was 10 minutes long, and the judge announced at the hearing that he decided in my favor for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

Thank you, Rick! It's crazy when on top of feeling so awful about so much of our health - this upsets us even more...