Disability

I had a 30 min. mtg. with my attorney right before the hearing. It was obviously the first time he looked at my medical records, he wasn't familiar with any of the facts of my case, which made me angry.

So I testified that all of the medical proof was on file, I went into all of the car accidents in my history and the amounts of my settlements from those. I focused on my health before filing and nothing after filing, even though many more chronic diseases have been diagnosed since that time.

There was a vocational expert testifying about what kind of jobs I could do, but my lawyer shot him down on cross examination, since I need to lay down 5 or 6 times/day with a pillow under my knees to relieve the pain. My spine has collapsed in both mid and lower back, which are genetic, both mother and grandfather had the same problem. My collapse was exacerbated by 4 rear end car accidents, the last one was bad enough to kill my 80 lb. dog in the back seat even though he was in a seat belt and I was able to collect policy limits on that case. That accident is why I quit my job, which required me to lift 30 lbs. I can't walk more than 100 ft. at a time.

I also have disk issues in my neck from the other 3 accidents, affecting my arms and hands. Pain meds are out of the question for me because of other diagnosis', such as OTC meds which would affect my diabetic kidneys and narcotics, which cause severe constipation affecting my diverticulosis, giving me more diverticulitis attacks. Pain relief is only achieved by laying down with pillows 5 or 6 times a day.

I had a myelogram 8 months after the accident which showed the collapsed vertebrae impinging the root nerve which is what the neurosurgeon said causes my pain. There were notes by him that surgery would destabilize the areas above and below and make me even worse. I had 7 months of therapy that did no good, and there was evidence of that also.

After the hearing, the lawyer said he's 99% sure they would find I could do sedentary work IF I could find an employer who would allow me to lay down on the job to relieve pain, and the chances of that are zero, so he's confident I would win.

So we'll see.

There were people there waiting for hearings, some of them in wheelchairs and others who obviously have mobility issues as well, and it really upsets me that the examiners for SS can't put 2 and 2 together and find these people unable to work because of chronic pain. It's taken 2-1/2 years to get this far, and I can't believe you are expected to go to doctors all the time and have expensive tests when you can't work. The only reason I had all the medical treatment is because my car insurance was paying for every bit of my medical from that accident, which totaled over $30K. The system sucks.

Now I'm told I have to wait another 90 days for a decision because of back log and then another 90 days to get the money. That's just unacceptable.