Crohn's Disease Support Group

I found this post buried deep within the forum and decided to sticky it so that people that want to know about applying for SSD can read what we posted on it a while back. Feel free to ask questions on this thread.

David

karebear wrote:

Can you explain your process of getting on disability, drobryant? How difficult was it? Do you have health insurance? Karebear, sorry for the delayed response, been sick,when I applied for disability I had to go to the Social Security office in my local area. From there I had to fill out paperwork and I also had to have form sent to my doctor as well, because the outcome really depends on what you doctors say..well, i my case, dont know about others.

The comes the waiting period, i think it took a year before i got approved because most people don't get approved on the first time and some get approved right away.... One thing if you apply, make sure you have all your medical documentation if you have any, because they will ask you a million questions.

I applied for disability twice because I was on it before and then i went into remission and went back to work and used up trail work period that they give you and eventually lost my disability and then I had to go back on it because I got sick again years later. In my case it was easy to get back on it the second time.. because it was a small amount of time in between applications, so it depends on the person and how sick they are at the time. I've know people who had to have lawyers help them get on it, fortunately I didn't have to have one. I heard that you can now apply online.. the website is www.ssa.gov it should give you more details about applying. Oh, and the health insurance it Medicare, for some like me It's medicare and Medicaid (my state's insurance). The medicare has been ok so far (knock on wood)and the state insurance pays for most of my medications,visits and procedures, so it far jump from when i didnt have any insurance at all.

hello my namen id leah i have crohns and i just applied for ssi and i been in and out the hospital and wanted 2 know how many times i might be told no. its like i have my good days then i have my bad days i havent been in remission since i was diagnosed and that was in 04. i feel good for the longest is probably 2 months then im sick again. im young and scared they will deny me

I have also applied for disability I am 24 years old with 5 immunological disorders crohns being one of them, i am now on an immune supressant and prednisone, but i was told by my case worker there is a 5 month waiting period after u apply and then theywill send u to there doctor for an overview , u may or may not be denied the first time but u have the right to a fair hearing , that basically says it is up to the judge to decide whether he thinks u need it or not and it could take a year or longer, they told me unfortunantly just because u doc says u deserve it dont mean they think so . i hope all goes well for u dear

ya i have an appointment in 2 months to meet with the disability doctor,i am kinda a lost soul right now though i want to go to work until something happens just a couple days a week but the only thing right now hiring is nursing homes and i am definitly not doing that one on an immune supressant

I had applied several times in the past but had always been turned down. Until, because of surgery complications a couple of years ago I was finally accepted. You just have to keep at it. I still am a self employeed artist, but just am not able to work as much as I like. But now it is not as much of a burden, when I can not work at all. I do not get a large amount of disablity $ wise but every bit helps. Luckly my wifes insurance does cover me fully.

For those that are trying to get SS and have difficulty, here are some tips that have helped others...

1. have friends, family and anyone that knows you (i.e. pastor, ex-boss, etc.) write letters on how you are. How CD has affected your life and well being.

2. Get as many doctors to write letters on how CD is, how it is affecting your life and about the complications of CD. As well as any other medical issues you may have.

3. Log work hours.. from when you were not very ill to the decrease in hours of when you were ill. Example: I worked 49+ hours a week when I was in remission. When the CD started acting up, my hours decrease and I had to apply for the federal wellness act. Then I showed how my hours went from 49+ to almost nothing, over a one month activity.

4. Write a letter about yourself, about a one month description. How CD is affecting you life, what you can and cannot do, how many times a day you are in the potty, how much time you have to spend in bed due to pain, how many times you have to go to the ER, how many times you are admitted into the hospital, compare life with CD and without CD.

5. Go to a web site that has a good description of CD and print it out. This will help the administrator reviewing your case to get a better understanding of CD.

6. Hire a SSI lawyer if you get denied once ot twice. He/She will also have tips for you to try.

I hope this helps.. I know for myself this was the only way for me to get accepted for SSD. I had 14 people write letters. One letter was written by a good friend that was my boss and got diagnosed with CD. This letter was read by the judge, who told me it touched his heart, he granted me SSD because of her letter and the other information I provided.

Good luck for those that are trying to get SSD. If you need any support or other information, let me know. I am happy to help you!

Have a WONDERFUL day!!

Thanks for the advice guys! I applied in Mar 09 and was tunred down immediately. I wrote to my State legislators and they are now involved. I just got a call yesterday from SS and she left on her message that she had some questions for me. So of course this was late yesterday, 4:15 and she said she would be out of the office today and to call on Monday. I like the idea of friends/family writing letters. My sister has 2 friends that recieve benefits for crohns and nothing personal but neither of them have had surgery for crohns or have a colostomy due to crohns like I do. So I intend on fighting it to the bitter end. My GI and PC are on my side but in VA that doesn't mean much!

My wife has applied for SSi benifits. She has worked for a most of life with Crohn's but has become unable to work as of May 09. We have applied for SSI benifits but were not approved because she is educated. What type of groups are around for help with the task of getting your benifits that are due to you. Are there groups similar to the ACLU or NAACP for this type of help. Who can I call. She has worked hard all of her life and paid in countless dollars to pay for others care now we need a little help and we cant get it. I want results now. Who do I call? News networks? FOX? CNN? Who should I get in touch with?

Post edited by: toddconley, at: 02/19/2010 08:04 AM

Do you have a disability lawyer and is her GI willing to write a letter for her?

I just applied a few weeks ago. Everyone who has talked to me about my Crohn's says that I should be approved for it because I have had to undergo three surgeries already for it and am going to have to have at least one more surgery in a year. I was also told by someone that if I really wanted I could be on disability for the rest of my life because Crohn's is a chronic condition. I really don't want to be on it the rest of my life, just to help me out a bit while I get through college.