Re: disibility approval yeah

[Guest guest]

Big time congradulations!!!!!!!!!!!! I know from my own two year struggle,

how happy you are right now. Hopefully your checks will start coming in the

next month or two. I actually got on of my back-pay checks before the monthly

benefits started. in WI

[Guest guest]

> Glad to hear you got you disibility you much be so happy, It took me

about a year to get mine and after bing approved about 3 wk to get my

frist check and about 1 month to get my back pay, again congrt.

Janet IN IL

> hey after a 3 year fight i was approved. not official in the mail

yet

>

[Guest guest]

Carol,

Congratulations, way to go. I am so happy for you.

When I first applied for SSD I was denied. I appealed and won. I went through

my records and it did take over 18 months from when I first applied, was denied

and reapplied to finally get awarded SSD. I received a lump sum check that

went back to when I first applied minus the first 30 days, why they keep the

first 30 days I haven't a clue. Oh, I was so grateful to have received that

check.

I was approved for SSD the end of September, Received my lump sum in November

and started receiving my monthly checks the beginning of January. I was

approved for medicare at the same time, but I can't remember how long it took to

receive my Medicare card as this was 8 yrs ago. Note: If you are very low

income such as myself, call SSA/SSD and ask for assistance in paying your

prescription premium and prescription co-pay. If you qualify they will waive

the prescription premium and your co-pays will be very little. I pay $1.00 or

$3.00 per prescription depending on whether its generic or name brand. Also ask

to have your medicare premium waived.

May I offer some advice, please keep any and all papers that you receive from

SSA/SSD and keep notes of phone calls, whom you talked to, what day and what the

conversation was about. If there is anything you disagree about call them

immediately. I had several issues to contend with, but a phone call or two was

all that was needed to straighten the issue out. Oh, when you do talk to

SSA/SSD on their 800 number, not only get the name of the person, get their

location as well. There are several call centers around the USA and it is

important to document whom the person was and the location, Denver, Austin,

Philly, etc.

You will receive all kinds of letters and as I mentioned to keep them all, but

the most important one to keep is your " Notice of Award " . This letter will look

just like all the rest that you will receive, but at the top in the left hand

corner it will say " Notice of Award " . This letter will tell you that you have

been awarded SSD and will tell you the amount of your monthly checks and when

you will start to receive them. This letter is important because whenever you

apply for a loan or mortgage, etc., they will want to see your " Notice of Award "

letter, especially mortgage companies. Never give them the original, always

give them a copy.

More advice. I highly recommend using direct deposit. I have always used

direct deposit and have never had a problem. On the 3rd of each month I check

to see if my monthly deposit hit my account and it is always there. Oh, if the

3rd falls on a weekend or holiday you will receive your check the previous

Friday.

You mentioned that you went through an attorney. I found a letter from SSA/SSD

from when I first applied telling me that if I should use an attorney and that

SSA/SSD will deduct the attorney's fee from my lump sum, and that the attorney

is entitled to only so much money which they will pay to the attorney on your

behalf. You shouldn't owe the attorney any more money then what they pay. Your

letter should advice you of this.

Again congratulations, please feel free to E-mail me direct if you have any

more questions, I hope this helped you and perhaps I can be of help if needed in

the future

Hugs

carol <sweetpeamoss@...> wrote:

hey after a 3 year fight i was approved. not official in the mail yet

but at my hearing the judge, the dr and the vocational guy all said i

could not work. so does anyone know how long it will be before i

start getting monthly checks and the lump sum they owe me. my atty

said my medicare will be retro to 2/2005 but when will i get a card?

just thought someone else had already been down this road they could

answer some of the questions. for those of you fighting don't give

up. it has been a real struggle to be without that extra monthly

income but there has been no way i could hold a regular job and

finally i have reached the top of the mountain. such a relief.

besides the pain my greatest daily struggle is boredom any of you feel

that way?

---------------------------------

Get your email and more, right on the new .com

[Guest guest]

> hey after a 3 year fight i was approved. not official in

the mail yet

> but at my hearing the judge, the dr and the vocational guy all said

i

> could not work. so does anyone know how long it will be before i

> start getting monthly checks and the lump sum they owe me. my atty

> said my medicare will be retro to 2/2005 but when will i get a

card?

> just thought someone else had already been down this road they could

> answer some of the questions. for those of you fighting don't give

> up. it has been a real struggle to be without that extra monthly

> income but there has been no way i could hold a regular job and

> finally i have reached the top of the mountain. such a relief.

> besides the pain my greatest daily struggle is boredom any of you

feel

> that way?

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Get your email and more, right on the new .com

>

>

[Guest guest]

Carol, Glad to hear the good news about being approved for disability.

For boredom, get a hobby. I'm retired, so I can work on my hobbies as

long as I want to. My favorite hobby is genealogy. I keep trying to

track my ancestors, and it's always exciting and fascinating. Now that

so much stuff is online, you can get a lot of information there. But of

course you would get as much as possible from living family members,

especially the oldest ones.

Another hobby of mine is scrapbooking. I scrapbook any trips I take,

plus I keep scrapbooks of my grandchildren. This can be an expensive

hobby, however, but you could also do it relatively inexpensively if

you leave off some of the frills.

Good luck in easing your boredom.

Sue

On Tuesday, August 22, 2006, at 05:25 PM, carol wrote:

>

> besides the pain my greatest daily struggle is boredom any of you feel

> that way?

>

[Guest guest]

Genealogy and photography/digital art are my two big hobbies, digital art

including digital scrapbooking. Although I'm starting to look at

embellishing my pages, too, I find the digital world easier most of the time

because my fingers don't always work too well. My current goal is to put

together scrapbooks of our last big trip for my husband and son for

Christmas presents. I'd go nuts without some hobbies! even though I still

work part time, I don't have much to do - we have our own business and I do

the admin stuff, it gets pretty quiet around here when my hubby's

traveling. I also participate in some online photography groups, which,

much like this one, keep me involved with other people even when I can't get

out.

Carol, congrats on getting you disability. I hope you find something to

keep you brain busy, it's the best way to fight the fog! Sue, enjoy your

hobbies. Contact me off the list if you like to discuss them further!

Gentle hugs,

Pat

On 8/23/06, Sue <marysue@...> wrote:

>

> Carol, Glad to hear the good news about being approved for disability.

>

> For boredom, get a hobby. I'm retired, so I can work on my hobbies as

> long as I want to. My favorite hobby is genealogy. I keep trying to

> track my ancestors, and it's always exciting and fascinating. Now that

> so much stuff is online, you can get a lot of information there. But of

> course you would get as much as possible from living family members,

> especially the oldest ones.

>

> Another hobby of mine is scrapbooking. I scrapbook any trips I take,

> plus I keep scrapbooks of my grandchildren. This can be an expensive

> hobby, however, but you could also do it relatively inexpensively if

> you leave off some of the frills.

>

> Good luck in easing your boredom.

>

> Sue

>

>

--

South Pasadena, CA

See my galleries! - http://www.pbase.com/arenared986

[Guest guest]

Carol,

Congratulations!! I know you must feel like a huge weight has been

lifted. Struggling financially can lead to stress which then ends up

in more pain. Know as I've been there and done that. I just applied

to SSD last month so am still busy with the paperwork they send out.

So far have spend four days on it as I can write for only short

periods of time, but hope to finish it tomorrow.

However, I did get some really good new yesterday. In July I applied

for long-term disability through my former employer. This is paid by

an insurance company. When I talked to my laywer about both SSD and

the other from the insurance company he told me I qualified but would

probably get approved for SSD faster than the other one. Thought I

might be in for a long haul with NO income but the insurance company

called me yesterday and they have approved my claim. Halleuah!!!!

Now I will be able to pay my bills and keep my Cobra medical

insurance.

As far as keeping from being bored, I am an avid reader and always

have been. Now I just have more time for it. I read for a while and

then do something on my to-do-list, then read again when I start

hurting. Reading also helps me to get my mind off my pain and

discomfort. Sometimes when my hands will let me, I do like to play

games on the computer but have to limit my time doing that. I love

to do counted cross stitch but haven't tried doing it recently.