Workers' Comp & SSDI Support

I know it is tomorrow and we will be thinking of you all day.   I know you can do it.   You will be just fine.

Hugs

Mary

Were you talking about me or another Kelly? :)

How my hearing went... Small room with the monitor on one end of the table facing me at the other end of the table. My lawyer (whom I could hug) and the vocational expert was on one side of the table and the...forgot the name, the typist woman, was on the other side of the table. I think it went horrible, but only because me getting out a full sentence would have been a miracle. At some points I was like 'I don't know how to answer that' or 'I don't understand the question' just because I was just down and on auto pilot the entire time. At one point the judge was like "I'm trying to follow you..." When the judge asked the vocational expert what kind of work I could do (I think he said based on my medical records or maybe a hypothetical person, which were really bad because my doctors paperwork was pitiful and his documentation of ME was nearly nonexistant) she said there were jobs for me like wrapping silverware, trimming garments, or sewing tags into clothes, which I thought was ridiculous since most of my job experience was clerical work. But then he asked if I was a credible witness and did have the problems I had what kind of work could I get and she said there was none I could find, if the judge found me to be credible.

Everything about the hearing is now fuzzy to me, as things often are when I leave the house, things get fuzzy. But toward the end I think he said basically that he was going on credibility...or was that my lawyer who said that...either way the judge said he had not made a decision and he would notify my lawyer when he did make one. I realize now that I was made to sound like I get out of the house 3 times a month but that isn't the case most months, it is sometimes just once a month and only to my doc appointments. And my daily activities sounded like I read all the time or watched tv and I might do that only a couple of times a week.

And that was that. No biggie about my crutches that I was on that day because of the problem I have with my ankles (which nearly a week later and I'm still confined to the stupid bed), the judge didn't even say anything about them nor was my ankle/foot problem brought up. The reason was because I've never been able to go to the doc about it, so no medical documentation and it is not in my records.

My lawyer said this judge was fair and that he thought I did a good job. But he could have been just being nice seeing as that is the last time he'll have to talk to me, face to face. I'm not holding my breath with this since my medical records were horrendous, I thought they were better than they were until my therapist appointment last Wed when she was flipping through my file telling me what the doc had wrote. Not that he was writing anything but the fact that he just wrote down what I said and did not make any notes or opinions of his own. Oh well. If not approved, maybe somewhere in this world is a job with my name written on it. Like wrapping silverware....I say that in joking but this is it. I don't know what to do after this, we can't wait another 3 stupid years. I really do not think I'll get approved. :(

I was such a mess the week up to the hearing that I lost 5 pounds in a matter of days, and this was with me in bed with my foot propped up! I've never been so sick and stressed as I had that day.

My mind has been a mess since, so hopefully that all makes sense. I've not been able to concentrate on anything, even writing this.

Thanks gals (and guys) for your support during these last 3 years!

I'm sorry you were so stressed but I'm sure the judge could see that and he was not only listening to you but also watching you.  Your stress not only comes out in your confusion and speach but also in your body language.    Hoping you'll be hearing some good news in the next couple of weeks. 

Thank you for your kind thoughts! :)

I hope all will turn out right. I've been going over what else I forgot to tell him, I made it sound better than I actually am! I'm dreading having to start all over again. All that time we've spent waiting, just to start all over it just something it is hard to think about. There are just too many factors riding against me. My age, my poor medical records, my job history. All the things that push a case into being approved are messed up for me.

So, I'll be negative Nelly until I get the letter saying yeah or nay. I'm really hoping for yeah, it has to be yeah! I get so mad when I think of people I've known/seen brag about being on disability when they go out and do the things they said they couldn't even do, and they get on it. When I'm sitting here, can barely leave my stupid house and I'm not going to get approved. The only way I could ever get it, is if God comes in and does something miraculous.

It is hard to know why someone else says what they do, but sounds like the vocational expert may have been trying to say that the types of work you could do would have to be very basic and repetetive in nature, and not something where you would be required to remember complex things or processes. That expert may have been establishing that most office work would not be doable for you at this point, especially if you are having problems thinking clearly.  Even the most basic clerical jobs do require you to be able to think clearly about what you are doing.   It also sounds like the type of work he was talking about may also be more sedentary and not requiring you to be able stand to do the work.. To be honest the work he was identifying sounds a lot like the types of work that are done in "sheltered work shops" for those who are not able to work at a regular job.

Try not to speculate and go over what you think you should have said instead of what you said. It probably stresses you out that much more. Its also possible that forgetting to say things will work in your favor and not against you.

Sadly its those people who are pretending to be more disabled than they really are that make it so much harder for those who are really disabled to get help!! Although depending on what their disabilities are, some people can do ok one day and then the next day even getting out of bed is all but impossible. Most jobs however really are not able to make allowances for the fact that people are able to work one day and not able the next.  But most people assume others either can work or can't work and  dont seem able to understand that many medical conditions vary greatly day to day.