FINALLY - Some good news!!

[Guest guest]

My SSDI disability attorney called today concerning my judicial hearing on

January 27th. When he submitted my records to the judge for the hearing,

he had requested that the judge review them prior to the hearing, with hope

that once the judge read the documents, he'd make a determination early.

The judge ruled to award me disability, if I would accept a disability start

date

effective as of April 2003, the date I fired my GI and went to a new doctor!

This date is a month after my DKA, and several months later than I had

originally stated as the start of my disability, but I happily agreed to this

condition.........so now I've finally been awarded SSDI benefits!!!!

The attorney and I discussed what options there were to turn this offer down

and insist that the hearing take place. First, the judge had planned for a

vocational counselor to be present at the hearing with suggestions of

employment that I may still be suitable for....as the attorney said, it could be

something like sitting and watching a TV monitor all day, or something like

that. He assured me that they would find " something " that I was capable of

doing, no matter how unsuitable it was. He also said that the judge would

interview me and ask seemingly innocent questions about my life and

activities with the intent of tricking me into admitting something that he felt

would show that I was not disabled, and could then determine that the

disability wasn't proven, in his eyes, and I wouldn't be given any award. Or,

he said that if there was more evidence uncovered that I presented

personally, he could rule to accept my original date. The only problem with

that is that we don't have any more documentation, or undiscovered records,

that haven't been submitted. And unfortunately, the records provided by my

first GI just don't make that much of a " big deal " about my CP with

pseudocysts. It's like, " yeah, she's got chronic pancreatitis with pseudocysts,

but it's monitored on a regular basis, she's taking her enzymes and the

patient seems okay " , type of thing. He never put into record any notes about

my complaints to him about the weight loss, blurred vision, increased pain,

etc. And since I wasn't hospitalized any time leading up to the DKA, on

record, it looks like everything was fine.

So I think accepting the date offered by the judge is the best that I'd ever

get,

and I'm just happy that I got it, and happy that I'll be automatically starting

on

Medicare in September 2005. Being elegible now for Medicare is what we

were hoping for the most, because of my husband's insecure job situation

and the loss of medical insurance right on the horizon. Since I'm uninsurable,

we didn't know what we were going to do.

I'm so thrilled, and also so glad that the struggle and the wait is all over!

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina Rep.

SE Regional Rep., PAI

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or opinion

only, and should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.