I had a rupture in the leftside of my brain on Feb. 10th 2011. I barely survived . My doctor at Oklahoma Medical Center , Dr. Dees was a Nuerologist , he documented my medical history with being Disabled in my Medical chart. I then applied for disability through the SSA system. I ask the hospital for a copy of my Medical Records , and sent them off. I was approved in less than 40 days using no lawyer. You will see a physichatrist and a seperate doctor who will evaluate your overall health , which includes memory and math.
If you served in a service Army , Airforce , Navy , Marines , or Coast Guard , apply through the VA also.
Right now I have Stage 4 Lung Cancer , diagnoised at the end of Aug, 2014 . After my last CT my Doctor told me if my CT on September , 3rd of this year is as good as my last (2), I could be part of the 1% that is still alive at the 5 year mark. What is terrible is seeing several people I know get Stage 4 Lung Cancer after me and they have already passed on.
Robert...so sorry to know of your Stage 4... tho you are magnificent...and, expect you will be w/us after 09/03... prayers to you for your continued time.
Robert Kraft said:
I had a rupture in the leftside of my brain on Feb. 10th 2011. I barely survived . My doctor at Oklahoma Medical Center , Dr. Dees was a Nuerologist , he documented my medical history with being Disabled in my Medical chart. I then applied for disability through the SSA system. I ask the hospital for a copy of my Medical Records , and sent them off. I was approved in less than 40 days using no lawyer. You will see a physichatrist and a seperate doctor who will evaluate your overall health , which includes memory and math.
If you served in a service Army , Airforce , Navy , Marines , or Coast Guard , apply through the VA also.
Right now I have Stage 4 Lung Cancer , diagnoised at the end of Aug, 2014 . After my last CT my Doctor told me if my CT on September , 3rd of this year is as good as my last (2), I could be part of the 1% that is still alive at the 5 year mark. What is terrible is seeing several people I know get Stage 4 Lung Cancer after me and they have already passed on.
Good luck! I have been waiting 2 years. I have a legal firm not from my state, Binder and binder. I contacted my congressman for help, still waiting. My bills came out to 1.5 million, I was in ICU 2 months, my food stamps were cut I just applied in dec, And our new governor had to make some decisions, so I got cut. So wish I wouldâve applied a lot sooner. Know of people that are drug addicts & alcoholics, they did not get cut. We are barely surviving on my husbands tiny pension and social sec. I have worked 1-2 jobs my whole life, and I feel I am getting kicked in the ass. My aneurysm ruptured on Motherâs Day 2013. Do I sound sour? You bet I am! My credit rating was excellent now that to is going down the toilet. Ya so I am alive, big deal. Cost a fortune to get all paperwork copies.
I am. I have been on it since I was 30(48 on 5-16-2015). I had quit my job at the U.S. Government. Because, I was tired of being accused of forgetting things. I told them, I couldn't write fast and that, the supervisor would have to write down the instructions. My second supervisor didn't want to be bothered with having to do that. I had worked in one office 3.5yrs., and the new office 10mos.. My (clipped) 'annie', caused Hydrocephalus, and the brain operations for those two, caused Epilepsy.
Wow, hard to believe how difficult it is to get disability after such trauma. I am exactly coming I to my 6th year from my first rupture. 3 years for my second. Does anyone know why test is done for short term memory?
hi louise, i will be doing that in 6mnths, i think its like they did in the rehab, they tell you a drawn out story full of adjectives, they then wait till after the session of other tests and then ask you to retell the story with as much detail as you can, i thought i did well but they said ummmm errr no i have memory deficit. Also they tested concentration by sitting us in a room overlooking a busy hallway, we had to count the number of passerbyes men and woman, i did horrible as i drifted off daydreaming, the man next to me had 10x more hashmarks on his paper--i peeked-lol - so embarrassing! tc i hope and pray improvements for us all~~
oh and once they sat me in a room w another dude and asked our favorite sport, tv show, color the next day we had to recall what they liked. tc
ronk said:
hi louise, i will be doing that in 6mnths, i think its like they did in the rehab, they tell you a drawn out story full of adjectives, they then wait till after the session of other tests and then ask you to retell the story with as much detail as you can, i thought i did well but they said ummmm errr no i have memory deficit. Also they tested concentration by sitting us in a room overlooking a busy hallway, we had to count the number of passerbyes men and woman, i did horrible as i drifted off daydreaming, the man next to me had 10x more hashmarks on his paper--i peeked-lol - so embarrassing! tc i hope and pray improvements for us all~~
Ernie -
I had no problem getting temporary (12 months) disability from my Dr. I am in the process of filing for permanent disability. Everyone says to file ASAP as it can take several months or even longer to get it. Filing for permanent disability can all be done online which makes it a little easier, you can work on it a little bit at a time.
I wish all of us in this situation success in this. An interesting book to get information from is âGet whatâs yoursâ, it has information on getting what youâre entitled to when it comes to benefits. It also has a section on how people that have never worked in this country are collecting benefits at our expense while those of us who truly canât work any longer have to fight to get what we have worked long & hard for & should be entitled to after suffering such an ordeal as a brain aneurysm.
I wish all of us luck in our fight!
I hear you, Katm. And I hear the irony of Mother's Day, the day on which mothers get roses for their motherhood, rather than the pensions they deserve for the task.
Katm said:
I have worked 1-2 jobs my whole life, and I feel I am getting kicked in the ass. My aneurysm ruptured on Mother's Day 2013. Do I sound sour? You bet I am! My credit rating was excellent now that to is going down the toilet. Ya so I am alive, big deal.
It was 9 years ago I was at 60% and I was retested 3 months ago. I don't have the results but put down the Dr. who did the tests and they did call to confirm the Dr.'s and said that they were going to send out the letters to the Dr.'s requesting the medical records.
patioplans said:
Ernie...how long ago were you tested at the 60% ratio? How long ago were you re-tested?
Were they the full neuro-psych testing?
Do you have those tests/results and reports to give to SS Disability?
I had had one...90 days post-discharge, and over a year to my application for SS Disability; SS did do another which took 6 months to wait on their heavy schedule...tho, results provided immediate disability and also the back-pay...I have been so surprised at how many have had to secure an attorney, etc. which takes a percentage out of the back-pay and often more delays in getting SS Disability which can so well add to the difficulty in recovery.
Tho, I can type to you here...I have the privilege of 2-4 productive hours per day...even when I am awake 14+/- per day.
Ernie...wishing you and all others applying to get the help they need...
My initial criticism comes from med management is that the initial neuro-testing is not readily done post-procedure...nor considered for those awaiting their procedure for potential comparison post-procedure, if unable to return to work.
Two weeks after my initial test, Rehab MD told me which state form to p/u for my driver license re-testing; that form was not available online; a friend took me to the local DOL office. DOL got my license b4 giving me the form. Then, DOL gave me a license "expires ___" (30 days)...if the test was not taken/passed. The MD had to complete that form and noted "90 days since stroke"...no MD had placed any restriction(s) on my license prior to any of this. Thus, I could have driven...legally licensed... w/o ever picking up that form. I did study it' and my niece took me on trial drives as she did her 16 y/o son; and I did pass the written and driving tests.
Ernie...this may seem so unrelated...yet, it is not, in terms of memory, reading/comprehension of the test verbiage, vision/coordination (spatial) during the driving portion; then, what can/may occur in the f/u angios...and, I will skip the detail here and now..
From those reasons, two years after my SS Disability testing, I had f/u neuropsych testing, again in two years, then in 5 years...the last in mid-2014...the psychologist did compare year by year on the repeat tests if improved or declined. Yes, I have both...
Hope this may help you...and you get your disability covered.
Ernie Mancuso said:
It was 9 years ago I was at 60% and I was retested 3 months ago. I don't have the results but put down the Dr. who did the tests and they did call to confirm the Dr.'s and said that they were going to send out the letters to the Dr.'s requesting the medical records.
patioplans said:
Ernie...how long ago were you tested at the 60% ratio? How long ago were you re-tested?
Were they the full neuro-psych testing?
Do you have those tests/results and reports to give to SS Disability?
I had had one...90 days post-discharge, and over a year to my application for SS Disability; SS did do another which took 6 months to wait on their heavy schedule...tho, results provided immediate disability and also the back-pay...I have been so surprised at how many have had to secure an attorney, etc. which takes a percentage out of the back-pay and often more delays in getting SS Disability which can so well add to the difficulty in recovery.
Tho, I can type to you here...I have the privilege of 2-4 productive hours per day...even when I am awake 14+/- per day.
I am currently on disability since my accident in January of this year and I a, starting the social security process as well. I also got all my medical records from the hospital in case I need them I wonât have a problem.
I have been trying to receive disability for 7 years now. I wish I had "lawyered up" as soon as I was released from rehab after a level 4 brain aneurysm. Sadly, I have been denied 3 times now. My short term memory is most severely damaged. Itâs almost nearly impossible to hold down a job for more than a few months.
Sharon...you are blessed w/your weather in PA...I have friends/family who survived the East winter; and, then I was shocked this morning to hear of the floods in TX/OK...horrendous...Some time back, I read the book (cannot remember title) that covered the 1906 (or close) massive floods in Houston...b=named today on the news. I have such mini-memory of that book...e.g. author, exact title...
Then...for you to be able to read so soon...I could-read-each-word...and, not interpret nor remember by the end of the sentence...also in theater and movies...I had been a long-term subscriber to our two main theaters...gave them both up because I could not remember the titles/star names...My decision further generated by the hour drive to/from. I took several years for this big decision...as I kept thinking I'd be 'normal' tomorrow...to give up, make these changes was a big step...in the wrong emotional direction.
Wishing you a grand memorial weekend, too...and for continued good weather for as many of us as imaginable... Mine has been so far...with mild clouds and no rain...
Sharon E. Morey said:
Hi Trish,
Yes, I agree. Missing people at work is the worst part. I left my job in December and spent the following months until spring being very down emotionally. I was alone all day. Everyone I knew was at work. Finally spring came, and with it, freedom to sit on my patio, join a wellness center where I could go relax in one of their pools, and was finally able after almost a year to read and actually be able to follow the story. I still have issues remembering what book I read, or what movie I saw, but I am enjoying them for the moment and not worrying about the future.
Have a great holiday weekend everyone. Hope everyone's weather is as nice as in Erie, PA this weekend.
I have been trying to receive disability for 7 years now. I wish I had "lawyered up" as soon as I was released from rehab after a level 4 brain aneurysm. Sadly, I have been denied 3 times now. My short term memory is most severely damaged. Itâs almost nearly impossible to hold down a job for more than a few months.
Your experience is not all that surprising, or uncommon. While I got it on the first application. I have heard of it being commonplace, to be rejected the first time, and having to re-apply in some cases, as many times as you have.
It makes one wonder. Does a person have to be an amputee of both arms, both legs, have glass eyes, be incontinent, constipated, and completely deaf. For the Social Security Administration to approve someone without question.
I can't understand why they do that to deserving people.
Siobhan...have you 'lawyered' up now?...The members here have provided those good referrals/contacts...
Siobhan Ranniello said:
I have been trying to receive disability for 7 years now. I wish I had "lawyered up" as soon as I was released from rehab after a level 4 brain aneurysm. Sadly, I have been denied 3 times now. My short term memory is most severely damaged. Itâs almost nearly impossible to hold down a job for more than a few months.
Just about each State makes its own determinations on disability so obtaining SS Disability depends not only the knowledge of the lawyer but also the knowledge of the adjudicating officials. My wife was denied all the way through to the Federal Courts. As I read the decisions of the judges I was appalled at their lack of knowledge of the special needs and issues for brain aneurysm survivors. We had everything covered each way to Sunday with multiple medical disciplines offering professional medical opinions on my wife's medical disabilities. Because my wife was ruptured in 1994, Social Security would have been on the hook for almost $300,000 in back benefits so was that part of their determination? Makes me wonder because we met every letter of the law. If we would have lived in Purto Rico it probably would have been a positive decision based on the reported percentage of approved applications. California and New York have their own programs and can have a significant financial impact (not always good!).
It is also important to know that there is a difference in what type of Social Security you receive. Social Security Insurance (SSI) is easier to obtain but has the lowest monthly payout and as I understand it would reduce benefits normally received at age 65 versus applying for and winning Social Security Disability (SSD). These are two separate and distinct programs so be careful as it will impact your lifelong benefits.