Be careful on the marijuana issue. I recently considered edibles to ease a chronic GI issue. I have a naturopath but she treats me virtually and isn’t licensed in my state so I was going to see someone local. Then I happened to hear about a study revealing decreased vascular function in marijuana smokers, and believe it or not, an even higher rate in those that consume edibles. So until more is known, I think for those of us with aneurysm histories it’s a scary undertaking. I don’t think my brain can take another stroke. Now that marijuana use has become legal and more acceptable in so many states, medical issues associated with its use are becoming evident.
I recently went to a new specialist ENT that I haven’t seen yet. He stuck a camera up my nose that I haven’t had done before.
He determined that I should have my tonsils taken out and do a procedure called Expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty (ESP). Which opens up my airway more and will help me sleep better and in turn feel better. I have not had success with trying the nose pillow mask with sleep apnea… I do feel I’m sleeping better, but that has to do with going to the gym and taking melatonin and nortriptyline. We are looking at doing this procedure in June as they say it will be a very tough recovery for someone in their 40s.
Other than that, my lawyer told me there has been no movement on my appeals to my denial which is depressing and not surprising.
I am also as of yesterday went back to work part time. Tomorrow is my day off looking forward to sleeping in!
Thanks for sharing Rick! How long is the backlog for hearing appeals in your State? When you know that length of time it may help with your depression. Have you tried reaching out to your Federal Senators? They should have a health aide. Perhaps one can help you out, it’s how I was able to get accepted before having to go to the Judge. It does no good to reach out to your federal Congressman in the House of Representatives in my experience. I may have already shared that with you, if so, I apologize.
So they’re waiting for June as you get the Summer off, is that correct? How long will recovery be?
I have no idea how to look at their backlog, my lawyer said it was about 15 months when we submitted the appeal…
You did mention you reached out to someone in the government, but I don’t know how to do that either.
As for June, you are correct with that. Also get approvals from insurance, my drs and the team at that hospital since it’s different …. But my mother is worried that I could bleed from it as we both have Factor 5 Leiden. So I don’t know.
I will be home laid up for at least a week then a couple weeks I should be good.
Another question today I had is I talked with my tax lady. I took $ out of a Roth IRA this past year to pay off my car. I do have more $ in it and a couple small 401ks…. I don’t know how that affects my insurance and disability when we do get the appeals… anyone have ideas about that?
Thanks as always
I’ve talked to 4 different friends that have social security disability. And the only thing they all have in common that is not true for me, is that they all had no retirement (IRA/401K/stock options) when they got awarded their disability claims… they either never had one or they cashed them in before the claim was settled as they needed the $ to live on …
I could use the money from mine but also I am contributing to my 401k at work as they are as part of my pay so it’s a benefit I want to keep.
Anyone got ideas about that?
That doesn’t hold true for me. When I was finally awarded SSDI, I still had my 401k with the county I worked for, had already started a ROTH and had stocks through a financial advisor. Remember SSDI is based on work history. We had diligently put 20% of our pay checks into investments. BH’s company matched the employees 401k up to a certain amount.
As far as my experience, SSDI doesn’t factor in anything but work history and how much one made in the last few years (forgot the exact length) to see how much you’ll be awarded on a monthly basis. Somehow I received Medicare although we didn’t know it and had been paying for private insurance after COBRA expired. I found out when I went to see my PCP and they said I couldn’t see her. I offered to pay cash. I got confused and upset. They had to talk to BH who explained it to me. Blue Cross Blue Shield was refusing to pay until Medicare paid their share. Would have been nice for BCBS to have let us know.
BH picks what I need covered and that’s taken out of my monthly check, before they deposit the rest in my account. Medicare cost to me is about 20% or so of my monthly SSDI check. I know we have to make sure I’m covered for any future brain or spine surgery.
To contact your Senators in DC, you’ll have to send them an email requesting help in obtaining your disability. I don’t know which one of yours is active in healthcare issues. Aggravating to me since I don’t know how to keep a copy of the email I send to them through their website. I usually end up using my phone and taking a photo of it. Maybe another more tech savvy member knows. You might also want to visit their office in your area.
I was fortunate enough to have met the young man who was hired by our new Senator back then when we went to DC for Lobby Day with the BAF and The Bee Foundation. He gave me his card and I had kept it. Called him up when my lawyer said it would be another 21 months because of the backlog in NC. I’m not sure it was my rupture that fit all the check boxes in SS formula, it may have very well been my lumbar surgery to be able to continue walking. The lumbar surgery would prevent me from returning to factory work. I barely passed the PT test to return to work. She said she wanted to fail me. According to the disability lawyer I had, age and education plays a significant part in being approved. He said they (SSA) figure a higher educated individual can take a job that doesn’t require a college degree. NC is notoriously behind on appeals.
You can check the backlog by doing an internet search for your State. But your attorney knows so I’d suggest going with what he told you. There’s no reason for him to mislead you, if he doesn’t think he will win, my guess is he would have never taken you on. Disability lawyers are given a set amount they can receive if they win your case. I believe it’s 25% of your back pay, there’s also a cap to what they can get.
Thanks as always for the info especially on the IRA/401k.
That is a relief to hear. I was told today that I am getting a raise. I know it was going to happen because minimum wage went up. I am grateful to get it. I finally told my supervisor about my disability case. She is younger than me and knows about my health insurance dilemmas. And I feel comfortable with her and trust her. She told me she wouldn’t tell anyone but I partly told her about the process and that I feel confident and hopeful this will all be resolved this year. I told her when it is I can talk to them and I’ll have in writing what I can make in a year to qualify for insurance and financially, which was what I was told from a friend.
I was told my employer would benefit from me continuing to work part time as they would have a disabled employee.
I got another thing in the mail from Fidelis, my insurance… said I may qualify for supplemental income based on the fact that I am single and have a disability that will last longer than a year. It is a federal program that I’ve never heard of. It may be new. I am going to make an appointment to show it to my lawyer and talk to him about all this.
Thanks again, fingers crossed this will be resolved this year
So I talked with my lawyer about my 401k, SSI and SSDI and reaching out to someone in the government …
When I went back to my seasonal part time job they gave me a raise which I knew something would happen but didn’t expect what I got. They gave me $3 more an hour as I was below the new minimum wage and they were happy to be able to give me a decent raise. Which I was grateful but also had to make sure I could still qualify for health insurnace and disability if I get it.
My lawyer said to take the raise as nothing is guaranteed and that I can have a 401k….
Also said it’s been over 6 months for the appeals so it is ok to reach out. So I am working on an email.
Not sure if I mentioned but I found a local support group of brain aneurysm survivors … I am looking forward to another meeting as I went to a small one.
As always, work a little, go to my drs, I have 2 appointments tomorrow, and wait on the appeals process…
I did find out you can quality for ssdi and SSI … which I don’t because of my 401k and Ira… it’s based on your assets from what im finding out. So if you’re single and have less than $2000 to your name you may qualify for both….
My therapist upped one of my meds yesterday so it should help me sleep and help my blood pressure. Didn’t sleep the best last night so we’ll see how I adjust
Thanks as always
Great news on finding a support group Rick! I hope it helps a lot. You’re right people can be granted both SSDI and SSI at the same time. SSI is what throws the restrictions at folks. I believe it’s because there’s not enough work history involved. Hope your meds help you out.
My appeal got denied today . That says the administrated law judges decision is final
What’s next? I wait for the lawyer to call me back and tell me. Nothing I can do myself. Get the tonsils ripped out in June hopefully. Colonoscopy in May. Then who knows
Disappointing news Rick. Unfortunately it happens a lot to those of us who rupture from what I’ve red here over the years.
I rarely hear people having their tonsils removed anymore. It was very popular for children to get them removed when I was a child. I think the majority of our friends had them removed. My brother and I had ours removed at the same time back in the ‘60’s. I still remember the very kind RN that understood I was missing our dog. She was our day RN, she actually got me a gift, a blow up dachshund that she took around the staff to have signed. The night we had our tonsils removed, another RN came in yelling for us to be quiet. She thought I was the one screaming. It was the little baby they had moved into our room. My brother tried to explain I couldn’t scream but his words sounded like a frog of course. She was having none of it. My brother was 3 years older than I and he tried his best to entertain me. He would slip out of his bed and come to mine as soon as she was done in our room, telling me stories and playing thumb wrestling until we heard her coming back. Sometimes he’d let me win.. Visiting hours were short, my parents were only allowed to visit us for one hour! Nurses wore the starched white hats and uniforms. How they were able to keep them so clean is beyond me. Things have certainly changed since then!
I hope your colonoscopy goes smoothly. Drink everything they order for you and follow the pre colonoscopy diet. BH didn’t drink it all last year so the GI doc did it again this year.
I talked to my attorney. He still thinks they got it wrong. That the key evidence wasn’t considered by the judge or the appeal.
So he is referring me to a new lawyer that will take my case to federal government. And start a new claim with SS all together. And he can still represent my new claim even though we didn’t win. But I like him and he’s close to where I live so I will see what this new attorney says tomorrow and if I’ll have both him and the original one handling my new case. The new one would be handling the federal case.
The federal case involves suing for wrongfully determining my original case.
Other than that I did make myself go to work today but I have been questioning everything. Like what I did to get here. Have I been making wrong decisions my whole life. Could I do more or did I do something wrong before
We often question decisions made in the past Rick. I think it’s because hindsight is always 20/20 as they say. We can’t undo decisions. We can’t control our ruptures when they happened. We can strive to make goals now with lessons learned from our past.
I hope the new lawyer can help you out. I’ve not heard of anyone having this suggested to them before. I know a disability attorney can get just a specific percentage of past many due. How does the new one work?
So they are both disability attorney…. When I hired the original he did not explain to me all the process as we hoped to have it done before we got to this level.
A month ago when I talked to him about reaching out to elected officials he told me if the appeal gets denied and we decide to go on that he would have to turn my case to a new attorney, mainly because he physically can’t type all the notes and forms that are needed. They need to turn in a 20 something page document explains why we are continuing the case. He can no longer type it. I don’t know why someone else can’t or whatever that’s the way it is.
So when I talked to him yesterday he explained that I should not give up on the case that the appeal is wrong and gave me the name and number to the new lawyer….
So I called there today. The guy I talked to there said yes they get referrals from the other attorney. He was then going to hand it off and request the transcripts from them to look over and see if they will take my case.
Lawyer yesterday said file a new case. Today this guys person said they would handle it if they take me, which is good, the less I have to deal with the better.
I asked about pay. Same they only get paid if we win. I asked about paying the old lawyer, he didn’t know. So I’m guessing since we didn’t win that case the old lawyer just won’t get paid… I have no way to pay any of them now anyways.
Of course this is how it’s going for me. I asked about a timeline and they don’t know of course. So now I wait and see if the new lawyer will take the case
Thanks for the explanation Rick, it sure helped me and I hope it will help others as well! Sounds like the new lawyer will get the percentage if they take it and if they win. From my understanding, disability attorneys only take cases they think they can win.
. Visiting hours were short, my parents were only allowed to visit us for one hour! Nurses wore the starched white hats and uniforms. How they were able to keep them so clean is beyond me. Things have certainly changed since then!