The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI have GREAT news!!!
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I forget when I actually applied for it (earlier this year sometime, I think), but last week I received
word that I've been approved for full disability by Social Security!!!!!
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I'm an atheist, but I have to tell you there ARE angels who walk here among us. My family is gone
and my savings had run out and Arizona has a very tenuous alleged safety net. Thanks to a couple
of those angels who offered their help proactively and without thought of public acknowledgment
of any kind, my rent and my health insurance premiums and basic living expenses have been fully
covered since I started that horrible ordeal following open-heart surgery in May of 2011.
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I ain't askeered of nothin'... 'cept two things. A major stroke or homelessness. Without those angels,
homelessness would have happened more than a year ago... and without a home, I would not have
been able to organize all my medications nor control my sodium/sugar diets at all.
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Fucking Immortal or not, I would have been dead within months. They were literally... LITERALLY
lifesavers.
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Now, I'll be getting enough from Soc Sec to pay my living expenses plus a little bit (I'm a man of
very simple needs). I HAVE splurged on two things -- a Black & Decker programmable coffeemaker
for my room ($16.66 on sale) and a pair of decent headphones for my laptop ($35). Music sounds
GOOD again.
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Life is good.......... STILL!!!!!
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So, I've been riding the crest of a MUCH-relieved high for almost a week now.
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The bad news? Almost everyone gets disapproved the first time around. Physicians working for
Soc Sec looked at my medical records and approved me on the first gp-around. This suggests to
me that I might be sicker than I like to believe or portray.
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BUT... I'm feeling pretty good. I don't have to worry about basic life financial survival, and I have
people who care about me and whom I care about.
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Including many of you folks.
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Not to mention the "Fucking Immortal" part.
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Just wanted to share this.
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Baitball Blogger
(46,575 posts)You deserved it.
Tobin S.
(10,418 posts)I didn't know how you were getting along. I remember when you first got sick that you didn't know how you were going to make ends meet. Your job was crappy to begin with and the bank account was running low. Jen and I are both happy that you have some help now.
warrior1
(12,325 posts)Ptah
(32,983 posts)Both the help from your angles and the SSD.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)I must be really sick too. The only stinker is you have to wait 5 full months after your date of disability even if they approve you after 2 months. I should get my first benefit in October as well as my back benefits. The past 6 months had been thin. I can't wait till October.
Congrats on being sick as shit....or at least for the SSA thinking so. I raise a chilled bottle of chocolate Ensure to you my friend. Here's to long live and many Direct Deposits.
mnhtnbb
(31,319 posts)Generic Brad
(14,270 posts)Having the basics covered must be a huge relief for you.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)I hope it takes some of the stress off and that will improve your health.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)DESERVED THIS! Congrats. I can only imagine your joy.
progressoid
(49,825 posts)Denninmi
(6,581 posts)I can kind of relate to the fears you had. I have had some pretty dark visions of my potential futures since my diagnosis. I literally spent the first two days crying at my desk at work each day. Fortunately, my boss was away those days at a conference, so only my co-worker in the next office had to hear me. Not really a good image for a 47 year old man to project. What can I say, I was pretty much terrified out of my mind. My fears, like you, I would end up homeless and destitute, or in addition due to the nature of what I face, in a locked psych ward, or in prison. I know that those are basically irrational fears, or that the reality would be far less severe than my imagination let me believe.
The real problem is the lack of a meaningful social safety net. The fact that we live in "the richest country on earth" and have to go through this is an absolute disgrace. It makes me furious, honestly.
Today, I came to the realization that the "day program" I am in is, in essence, a MASH unit a la the Korean or Viet Nam wars -- designed to patch me up and send you me back to the front lines ASAP. And I don't know if I can face more of the daily combat that is my life, at least not right away. And if this country were truly just, I wouldn't have to choose between my mental health and surviving financially. But those are my choices. And frankly, they suck, as you know all too well.
Congrats, MFM, and try not to dwell on or worry about what the quick approval may mean. Some of that may just be the process, if your Drs put down the right diagnosis code you may get fast tracked for approval, without it meaning anything much about your personal state of health.
nolabear
(41,915 posts)I know some folks who live on SS disability and they really do have a life. And if being cared about around here is any kind of measure, you'll have a good one. Congratulations. And a big-assed hug.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,297 posts)This could not have happened to a more deserving person!
I am very relieved to hear it...
Enjoy!
bluesbassman
(19,310 posts)Congratulations my friend, you deserve some great news.
Fridays Child
(23,998 posts)It took my son two attempts on his own, a second appeal by an attorney, and a lot of waiting, to finally qualify for disability. His condition is severe, progressive, and incurable. When he first applied, we knew he was terribly ill but he hadn't yet received a diagnosis, so SS opined that he would be improved and able to work within 12 months.
On his first appeal, we provided extensive documentation of his diagnosis and of the severity of his condition. It was crystal clear that he met and exceeded every SS criterion to receive disability for his particular condition. But SS used the exact same wording in their rejection of his appeal as they had used in their rejection of his original application. It was as if they never read a single piece of paper that we included. We even contacted Gabby Gifford's office. They monitored the case but that didn't change the outcome of his appeal. Finally, we finally hired a lawyer and his second appeal was eventually heard by the SS judge. At that point, he was approved.
I've always heard that nobody is approved on their first application, and I'm glad that you've proven to be the exception to the rule. But I just don't understand why anyone should have to suffer, when the need for benefits is so obvious and so dire.
If you don't already have Medicare, I hope you've gone through most of the waiting period and will be qualified soon. In the meanwhile, do you qualify for AHCCCS? I know it's pretty difficult to get Medicaid in this state. If you have enough income to live in anything other than a cardboard box, you're pretty much disqualified. Brewer and her minions ain't got nothin' on Scrooge. In any case, I hope that you have good care and that your condition improves.
Royal Sloan 09
(406 posts)continue doing your funny stuff, MFM
Flaxbee
(13,661 posts)What a huge relief! A friend of mine got disability on the third try -- right before she was about to be evicted. Now she's got her place for life, because the landlord knows she'll have her rent like clockwork.... She doesn't get a lot, and supplements her income a little bit (as much as she's allowed to) - but the stress over homelessness is gone. It was such a happy day for her, and I'm sure for you, too.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,728 posts)MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
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This IS incredible news -- the idea that I'll be able to keep a roof over my head AND
do MY part in keeping myself healthy.
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The disability payments are going to be enough to pay for my rent and health
insurance (what little I have left on COBRA -- it runs out in December) and basic
living expenses... with a little cushion.
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Unless I pick up a crack habit at this stage of my life.
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What's crack going for now?
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dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)the one that makes you go into a zombie and eat people's faces off.
gooood protein there, don'tcha know.
btw....did they tell you when you get your first check it will be back dated to when you first applied?
and/or to your last day of work?
Mr. dixie got his disability on his first go around, they back dated his check for 2 years, since that was the last time he had worked.
He had to wait 2 years for Medicare, tho.
When he turns 65, the disability check turns into a regular Soc. Sec. check, for same amount.