Wellness

[bikerbabe]

Re: Lyme. The reason why so much research is going into vaccination is because the best ""cure"" for a disease is prevention.

[Luvtoshopathome]

For anyone who needs SSD, the only answer is to not even bother trying to get it on your own BUT TO CALL BINDER & BINDER. Look them up on the web and you can get their number. They are the best and they only deal with Social Security cases, that is their specialty, they are very professional, friendly and sympathetic, and they do all the work. You never even have to go to their offices. When you call, you will have a consultation on the phone and the most important thing is that you have doctor's records, then they evaluate your case to see if they will take your case and if they do, they call you to let you know. After that, everything is done through the mail and on the phone. The most important thing in getting SSD is your doctor's report. When everything is filed by them, they will get a date for you to appear before a Judge and an attorney from the firm will meet you and represent you at your hearing. If they take your case, their rate is over 90% of you winning and receiving SSD. You will also get back payments if applicable. Believe me there are no attorneys better than they are. Do yourself a favor and give them a call. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

[turtle52]

On 12/29/2014 Snowpuppy said:

On 12/28/2014 Zoologist said:

My bff wanted SSDI so she could afford to divorce her latest husband, buy a new home, etc. She had migraines and depression, but the disability claim at that time would only go thru on the depression diagnosis. That made her soooooo mad....she kept insisting it was the migraines that kept her from working, etc. but finally the lawyer and I convinced her that regardless her own opinion, bottom line was claim it due to depression and get on with her life. She did, it went thru lickety split, and she got that divorce, her beautiful new home, and is now back with her ex-husband whenever she feels like it, and in her own home when she doesn't.

Isn't this a wonderful country we live in?

What a fine, upstanding best friend you have. Hopefully she will have her disability review in 12 months and she'll be disqualified.

Disability is never granted for a lifetime. There are reviews of your condition.

This is NOT true. Some disability decisions are reviewed and some are awarded for life. I worked for SSA so I know. ENOUGH with the misinformation!!

[LilacTree]

My daughter called the disability attorney's office to ask them why they have not contacted her about returning her paperwork. She received the signed green certified card days ago which had been attached to the letter she sent requesting her file. The receptionist put her on hold and the attorney got right on and went into his spiel as to why she should not dis-engage him. She said she was not ready to file a claim yet (I would have said something different). He then said he had already done work on the file (over the weekend?) and was ready to file the disability forms. She had to argue with him until he finally agreed she could come and pick up her paperwork. Then he hung up on her.

She is having her daughter drive her over there today and hopefully her file will be ready for her to pick up. I told her if it's not and he continues to give her grief that she should leave his office and call the police from the parking lot.

So now I'm a nervous wreck. She is too sick to deal with an individual like this.

[ccassaday]

Forde I don't know if this is a possibility or how it would work but maybe you could try and get a medical power of attorney over her.

[sydsgma1]

Ford, I have been following this thread and am so sorry about your dds difficulties.i remember her issues with Lyme . I do have a thought, has she been assessed for autoimmune diseases...???? With your history and the possibility of a genetic connection, I was wondering. The descriptions you have shared remind me of myself at various times befor things got under control. I soldiered on, because of job commitments and my young family but it was difficult. I was a lp and also wonder about depression issues that ca exacerbate Lready present illness. If she has had an evaluation that could aid in the ssd process. (((((Hugs ))) to you both.

[bikerbabe]

I worry as well that there may be more going on with her health in addition to Lyme? I do have some familiarity with Lyme from my microbiology studies and my sister has Lyme. I certainly am not an expert however. I am so sorry, Ford.

[LilacTree]

On 12/30/2014 ccassaday said: Forde I don't know if this is a possibility or how it would work but maybe you could try and get a medical power of attorney over her.

A 77 year-old mother getting POA over a 51 year-old daughter? I doubt that would fly. Not to mention that she has POA for my medical issues which was done before she got sick herself. Besides, she would be horrified if I suggested that. She doesn't make good choices when it comes to legal issues, but she knows more about Lyme than I will ever know. Nothing is simple, everything is complicated.

Hopefully she is picking up her file today (she was too sick yesterday), and her appointment with the Lyme specialist is January 8. One of her sisters is going with her, as it's a long drive and she's afraid to drive that far alone. Besides, this sister (my daughter who is an IT at five different hospitals) needs to hear what this doctor has to say because she is skeptical (as many in the family are) as to what my sick daughter really has going on.

I want to add that I believe my daughter 100% as to her illness and her symptoms and I know she is 100% convinced herself, plus the fact that she has been diagnosed with Lyme from lab tests taken just a few months ago. I am very anxious to hear what the Lyme specialist has to say, what his plan for treatment is, and how my IT daughter feels after the appointment. Obviously she is around regular medical doctors all day long every workday, and they have their opinions on chronic Lyme which they have impressed upon her, and those opinions are negative regarding chronic Lyme. I don't agree with them, I see how sick my daughter is and it is not all in her head. She has aged ten years in just two. It would be a miracle if just taking an antidepressant would cure her of all of these symptoms, most of which I have personally witnessed.

Thank you though, for your comment, it was a good one . . . but as I said, the situation is very complicated.

[LilacTree]

On 12/31/2014 bikerbabe said: I worry as well that there may be more going on with her health in addition to Lyme? I do have some familiarity with Lyme from my microbiology studies and my sister has Lyme. I certainly am not an expert however. I am so sorry, Ford.

There is little doubt in our minds that you are correct. There are many issues to consider that go on in the body over a span of 30 years, which is the time span we think she has had this condition in her body. And there is the fact that Lyme does attack the brain in horrible ways, causing things like encephalitis and meningitis, early dementia. It attacks other organs also. And, like a lot of other diseases that no one knows much about, very often the meds used to treat this disease are worse than the disease. And there are the emotional and mental issues that go along with someone who is sick, scared, and frustrated with the "system."

You say your sister has Lyme? Is it chronic Lyme? What I'm asking is that did she get bitten by a tick, contract Lyme and discover it right away and was treated with antibiotics within three weeks and got better? We know people who had this happen to them and they are the first to believe my daughter does not have Lyme because they got better so fast. What they don't realize is that in some people who are prone to systemic idiosynchracies (we have that in my family) the Lyme will not ever really be cured. It will stay in the body and attack at different levels all of their lives. I am just wondering what your sister has going on. If it's chronic Lyme, my heart goes out to her, because of the illness and the mere fact that people do not believe nor respect that this disease exists.

Thank you for your good wishes.

[LilacTree]

On 12/30/2014 sydsgma said: Ford, I have been following this thread and am so sorry about your dds difficulties.i remember her issues with Lyme . I do have a thought, has she been assessed for autoimmune diseases...???? With your history and the possibility of a genetic connection, I was wondering. The descriptions you have shared remind me of myself at various times befor things got under control. I soldiered on, because of job commitments and my young family but it was difficult. I was a lp and also wonder about depression issues that ca exacerbate Lready present illness. If she has had an evaluation that could aid in the ssd process. (((((Hugs ))) to you both.

Hi sydsgma! It is very likely that my daughter has accompanying autoimmune issues. It runs in the family, for one. I just found out that one of my granddaughters has psoriasis and she is only 14. Hopefully, the tests the Lyme doctor is going to perform will expose any other issues that can be treated along with the Lyme, or separately. I believe Lyme, like my RA, can weaken the body so much that almost anything can attack.

My daughter did try to "soldier on" for well over a year, coming home from work (standing all day as a hair stylist) and not even having the energy to eat. Early this past year, she gave up, she just couldn't do it anymore. Plus she went to a doctor who practices alternative medicine but is not a Lyme specialist, who told her the worst thing she could do was remain working in such a toxic workplace as a hair salon, even though she just cut and styled, she was still breathing in all of that toxicity . . . for over 30 years.

As you have probably realized, there is a genetic connection. My mother and sister both had RA, then developed colon/lung cancer from smoking. My mother died at 49, and my sister, being much stronger physically as a young child, died three years ago at age 72, her body wrecked from all the diseases she suffered. Surely, they both shouldn't have smoked, and I am lucky that I never did, or I doubt I would be here today awaiting my 77th birthday on January 17.

If she ever does get SSD, it will probably have to be based upon a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome and/or depression, which undoubtedly are issues related to her illness. However it frustrates her that the main cause of her illness is neither of those and she said she's going to feel unentitled to SSD if she gets benefits based upon what she does not believe to be her basic illness.

Thank you for your caring comments. I truly appreciate everyone's comments on this thread. No one has been nasty. Everyone has been kind.