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Posted 10/26/2010 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone gotten disability for their ostomy and complications from surgery? I had my surgery in June and applied in July. I had to fill out tons and tons of paperwork and they just denied me. Apparently they think I should be able to work when I have a nurse come to the house all the time and I can't even sit down. I have to lay on my side all the time. My job is a ton of heavy lifting. I'm talking 100+lbs all the time for long distances and I am by no means a strong person. So I use my entire body to do the lifting and carrying. Including my stomach an back. I am afraid if I go back to work I am going to get a hernia.  Not to mention I can't go back for a while if at all since I have a wound vac and can't sit.

I have absolutely no income and it's getting real tough to pay my bills here. I don't plan on not working forever but I would like a little help while I am unable to do so.

It just kinda makes me upset how people who are depressed get disability and people who are missing limbs or can't possibly work get denied. I don't think they really even look at the 100's of pages you fill out. They just pick at random. Especially how I had to fill out a 20 page packet on every single thing I have done for work in the last few years and how many hours I do each thing. I sent it in and got the denial 3 days later.  That's probably before they even got the packet!!!

I just requested for an appeal, but who knows how long this is going to take and it says right in the packet that they have a 60% denial rate if you got denied the first time. Any tips????

Posted 10/26/2010 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
     Brian, I am sorry I have no answer for you but I just wanted you to know I understand where you are coming from.  I know two people who collect disability for "depression" and are no more depressed than I am...not at all....one woman spends most of her time having a blast in Atlantic City.  It is sooo unfair to those people who truly need the disability benefits.  Perhaps your surgeon or family practioner could help in your quest.  Good luck and God bless.
Posted 10/28/2010 8:13 AM (GMT 0)
I have been on disability for years but didn't get it for my ileostomy I got it for the crohns/colitis and they only took 2 days to decide that I needed it. So I was pretty lucky as there is no way I could ever hold down a full time job cause I also suffer from RA, but I live in Australia and I'm guessing you live in the US so things are done a little differently here. I also had tons of paper work that I had to fill in plus forms for both my General Doc and my GI stating whether they thought I would be able to work and they agreed my condition was too serious for me to be able to. Then I had to go to the Social Security office and be assessed by one of their Docs and they then sent me away while they make their decision and I was told it could take up to a month before I would be given an answer so you can imagine my surprise when they called me after 2 days to tell me I had been approved. I'm sorry for you cause I know how hard it is. Does your doc over there have any input? Or is it all just paper work you have to fill in yourself? I really think they would be your best chance at perhaps getting their decision reviewed. Good luck and keep us posted. Hang in there I really hope it works out for you
Doreen
Posted 10/28/2010 11:42 AM (GMT 0)
SS Disability is difficult to get approved and could take years...call your creditors and ask them to temporarily reduce your payments...they may be willing.

I personally know how difficult it is with a wound vac in that area...how long do they expect you'll have it? Does your employer have 'light duty' and /or part time positions you could handle for that time? I did work for a few hours a day while I had mine and sat more on thigh than butt. That could be a way to get some income without doing damage to your body why you recover. Would your doctor be agreeable to something like that?

Sorry I don't have more than that...I hope it all works out for you!
Posted 11/16/2010 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
Brian,

I have been in the application process for disability for nearly three years now. I am working with lawyers (Binder & Binder) and I truly believe they're dragging their feet because they get "paid" more the longer the process takes for me. I know people in less stress and issues than me that have disability as well. I applied initially for my Crohn's but have added depression, anxiety and now my surgery and ileostomy to the list. Stick it out - it will be worth it in the end. I hope you start to feel better soon!.
Posted 11/16/2010 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
its so hard to get approved for.  My Dad had polio, and now has post polio,and at times can barely walk, he went in all limping and in horrible pain and it took them like three years to approve him, he didn't get approved until he got a lawyer.   That's the best thing to do.  My MIL had the same problem,although she was mainly getting hers because she is HUGELY overweight, which personally i don't think she should have gotten it, which is what they said that that was something she could change, but she got a lawyer and got that also.

As for your situation, sounds like you don't have much choice, if you can't sit up you can't work, do you have shortterm disabilty from your work to fall back on fornow?

Other wise i suggest waht someone else said, call the creditors, or call one of the credit help agencies, then get a lawyer.

Posted 11/16/2010 6:25 PM (GMT 0)
Brian - did you get your ostomy for Crohn's? I think having IBD vs. IBS is one of the 'approved' diseases that qualify you.

I'd get a disability lawyer if you can. You can always call around to different lawyers without paying a dime getting more informed of the whole system.
Posted 11/16/2010 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
I hear that most people get denied the first time around and end up having to get an attorney involved to get things going.
My mailman tells me there are several "disabled" people in my neighborhood who run business out of their homes and earn money under the table. That really rips my ticket that these people can abuse the system and get away with it and then someone like you who needs it has to do the limbo to get anywhere.
Good luck and I hope things get better for you soon.
Posted 11/16/2010 10:40 PM (GMT 0)
Your mailman should report those people...

just sayin' :)
Posted 11/17/2010 12:51 AM (GMT 0)
The reason for my denial it says is because the disability office(apparently they are doctors lol) doesn't think my condition will last more than a year. I just went to the doctor and the hole wear my anus was is still almost 6cm deep. So after packing it since july and carying around the wound vac for a few months it has done absolutely no good as far as helping it heal. And sitting prevents healing. They also said I should be able to do a substantial amount of work.

I talked to a lawyer and she said they still may not approve me because they think I can do something like "Sell tickets at a movie theatre".

I asked her why people who have back injuries or depression and can really work get it. She says that they are lying or that their case is so severe like they have to have proof that they have tried to commit suicide etc..

She sent me a bunch of papers but it could take up to a year or more to get approved.

I don't have many bills because I used to work 60-80 hours a week before this and pay everything off, but I still have a little bit of a car payment, rent, phone bill, food etc to pay for.

And yes I know people that know people who have dissability and do all kinds of under the table work. Even construction type stuff.

Oh and yes I got my ostomy because of crohns. I was on every single medicine imaginable and nothing worked anymore.

Post Edited (Brian84) : 11/16/2010 5:55:49 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/17/2010 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
Oh and no my work does not offer short term dissability. In illinois they do not have to offer it unless there are more than 50 employees. I think we have around 35.
I'm also afraid they are going to cancel my insurance or fire me. In illinois you do not need a reason to fire an employee.
Posted 11/17/2010 3:11 AM (GMT 0)
Brian,
Your case seems somewhat similar to mine. I was denied initially for the same reasons as you were. Also, because of my age (I was 27 at the time, 29 now) and the fact that I was going to school (even though I ONLY do it from home because I can't go to classes right now, and if I wasn't doing school because I can't work I'd be much more depressed than I already am!).......... so we'll see. It's been over two years for me and I have about another 6 months or so to go before I sit before a Social Security JUDGE to plead my case..... I hope it all works because right now I have no health care, no insurance, nada! And disability would at least afford me some medicare.... Good luck to you!
Posted 11/19/2010 1:14 AM (GMT 0)
Brian if they fire you because of your illness that's discrimination, and that's illegal nationally. Places of employment cannot discriminated based on disabilities, even if you don't have SS disability you can still prove you have a debilitating situation and the company cannot prove that keeping you hired was an undue hardship on them.
http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html has some facts on it.

as long as your insurance is group insurance, your employer AND the insurance company cannot drop you and only you from the policy. They can only cancel everyone or no one. once again because that constitutes discrimination. I found this on an insurance advice website. that should give you some hope!

"federal law forbids insurance companies from turning down your employer or any of its eligible employees for group coverage. Health insurance carriers also generally must renew its contracts with small employers every year, unless the employer commits fraud, misrepresentation, or doesn’t pay premiums. If you work for a large employer - over 50 employees usually - then the insurance company may reject your entire employer (because of claims history, etc), but it cannot drop individual employees from a valid employer group plan. Only individual plans can exclude individual people."

and if worst comes to worst and they do fire you, you can still claim COBRA from them.

I hope you are able to get your case underway and that things work out for you, or even better, that you start healing really really fast and don't need disability after all! Good luck!
Posted 11/19/2010 5:21 AM (GMT 0)
you can't technically be fired for being ill, but in a right to work state (like i live in) it's very hard to do anything about it. I was "laid off" from a job while in a bad flare, even though it was supposed to be the newest person hired, and two people were hired after me! but when i called whoever you call about that to file a claim, cant remember now that was 10 years ago. i was told that there a lot of rules about it, some are that the store (this was a chain) that i worked in had to have 30 employees, or 30 within a certain distance, and if they did, then i would have to go sit at the office, they don't make appointments, and hope i could get in. This is what the government office told me. Well when you are in the middle of a flare you can't just go and sit and wait. Basically its been made so hard to file claims against that to protect the businesses. now it may have changed with the reforms in the past two years, but i haven't heard of that.
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