My day in court has finally arrived........

[Guest guest]

Yup, that's right, my friends.........after waiting for a year and a half, my

hearing date for my SSDI disability hearing has been announced. Although I

haven't yet received the confirmation letter from SSDI, my attorney's office

was notified that the hearing was set for January 27, 2005.

The reason the attorney was notified before I was, was because their office

had requested notification for their scheduling purposes. Since they travel to

so many hearings all over the country, they have to have advance notice to

guarantee that the attorney can be there on the appointed date.

So the long awaited day has finally arrived and, of course, now I'm getting

nervous! A positive ruling is just so important for us, yes, US, that I'm

really

tense about the whole thing. The reason I say us is because of my

husband's tenuous job situation with the airlines. Every day that he can still

go to work is a relief, now there is the daily threat of him being furloughed.

They've cut back his pay, (again!), and he's now working on wages that he

earned more than 15 years ago. As soon as he's forced into retirement we'll

lose all our medical benefits and his pension is gone entirely already.....the

union agreed to this in their concessions to the company, and it's killing us!

I

have great doubts whether we will find anyone that will insure me, given my

magnificent medical history. So even the small amount that would be

awarded......I wasn't in any way the major income earner......even that small

amount would be so helpful!

We're so thankful that the children have grown into adulthood and we were

able to get them through college before this happened, if it had happened

while we still had the four of them here in the house to support it would have

been miserable. We're learning how to adjust to all the decreases, but it's

painful, and not at all what we had imagined as our retirement approaches. I

know life has it's ups and downs, and I've ridden them through as best I can,

but I'm at the point where I've had more than enough downs on this journey

and I really need a break.

My medical needs are exhausting, I'm sure most of you know how draining

this maintenence can be....the doctor, pharmacy, and hospital costs can be

staggering, and it's not just once in a while, but a monthly issue, just to keep

me on the regimen that dealing with these multiple health problems requires.

I feel so quilty that I have become such a high maintenence person, I just

never imagined that we would have the health care issues that I do right now.

And knowing that they will just continue forever, or get worse, doesn't help the

grand picture at all!

Well, enough of this! I didn't mean to lay all my stresses on the table, but

I'm

just feeling a bit bummed out today, and as soon as I start thinking about why

the problems exist, and that I'm the source, I dig my hole deeper. I just

needed to vent about it, and my husband doesn't need to be reminded of it

anymore, he's already had enough.

So I'm asking you all for a prayer, or a wish, or whatever it takes to get me

through this hearing successfully. And if anyone else has been through a

SSDI hearing before, I'd love to hear from you. I'd like to know what to

expect. I understand that this judge is quite direct and usually asks some

pertinent questions. Exactly what that means, I'm not sure. The attorney will

be briefing me in more detail next month before the hearing. He has records

of all this judge's rulings and the kinds of questions he asks, so I hope I can

find out more about this when we discuss it next month. If anyone has any

advice that they think would be helpful, please pass it along.

Sorry for the vent......I'll put my smile back in place and get my head straight

as quickly as I can. And I really can put my smile in.......lol!!

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina State Rep.

SE Regional Rep., PAI

http://pancassociation.org/anthology.htm#Heidi

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

and should not be substituted for consultation with a medical professional.

[Guest guest]

Hi Heidi,

Best of luck with your hearing.

My experience was that the judge will depend a lot on the review and hearing,

and advice of both the " medical assistant " and the " labor assistant " ( I

don't know their exact titles ).

Both of them will have reviewed your case report and both will be at the

hearing. They may even ask questions as well as the judge. The judge may ask

questions but the " real " question may come from one of these people. They are

dispassionate, objective, and almost like " backgroung " .

Your lawyer will set the hearing and may have a very little interaction with

the hearing. The lawyers job was to set the case up to be heard and provide

your best case representation to win the judgement.

Your interaction will be mostly directly with the judge, be clear, honest,

and not too wordy. If you stumble, look to your lawyer. The lawyer may not be

able to bail you out, but that will give you time for composure and to reset

your thinking.

At the end of the hearing you will not be informed of the decision, that will

come in the mail later. And that's a long wait.

Again, the very best of luck

Poncho - GA

[Guest guest]

Heidi-

I will praying for you! I really hope it goes through for you. I

am going to apply for SSDI after the first of the year, I tried back

in July, but I made too much money and my pay didn't reflect my sick

days (I have a wonderful boss who has giving me my salary even when

I am gone for days/weeks at a time) But the time has come that he

can no longer do that, and I haven't felt right about taking my full

salary when I didn't really earn it...so we are going to " bite the

bullet " I am going to cut to 10 hours a week and apply again. How

long have you been trying to get SSDI? I was going to try to a make

a go at it myself the first time, but not sure now. I read you got

an attorney...refresh me...did you try once on your own?

I really hope everything goes smoothly for you...I marked your day

on my calendar and I will pray for you as it comes and on the big

day. Keep your chin up!

Hugs,

Suzi B.

Colorado