whether you are awarded benefits or not is based pretty much on just what you can and cannot do anymore that would make you unemployable.you also have to have been paying into ss to actually get anything at all.i do believe you have to have been working at least a minimum of fifteen years in order to qualify for ssd.the site url is www.ssa.gov .this site has answers to lots and lots of questions you may have about applying.you can also start the app process online at that site too.this is what I did.like was already stated above,you will most likely be denied the first go round.I know I was.thats when i got the lawyer.my whole process actually only took about 9 months which is actually pretty quick when compared to some who have been waiting for many YEARS to get on it.sometimes it will go quickly and others you will wait forever.

if you really feel that you just cannot actually be productive and are disabled at this point,its always worth a shot.you really don't actually need to get a lawyer at this stage as there really is not a whole lot of things they can do for you at the beginning stages.all of the leg work involved in getting your medical records falls on you anyway.I only got one after the denial came.they ,by law,are only entitled to up to 25% of your back pay,thats it.in my particular case it wasn't a whole lot.But just actually getting the badly needed disability,at least for me,I do feel it was worth it.

I would most definitely advise you to obtain all of your medical records from every doc that has seen you and go thru them yourself to check for any actual descrepencies that may be in them.I was not aware that my neurosurgeon had not included some extremely vital info regarding a hit and lost nerve that happened during my spinal cord surgery that really was an important part of me actually proving the damage occured.i was however able to track down another doc(the neurophysiatrist who actually was in charge of monitoring my motor and sensory functions during the surgery?)and that vital info was included in HIS op notes from my surgery.had I actually gotten those records BEFORE I filed the app and saw that that very crucial part of my records was missing,I would have most likely not have been turned down that first go round.but you DO need to get those records to see whats up.also,when you have an actual 'condition or disease" process going on,you really do need to get all of your own sets of your medical records and keep them updated like once a year or so just so you have all of your medical info availiable if you should ever need it.I HAVE to do this with me and my son(he has many medical problems too)just to try and stay on top of all of my many medical issues.

another very helpful suggestion for you?make sure to copy everything that you are asked to fill out and send into disability as they DO send you out the same exact forms sometimes and you need to have the answers to the questions that they will ask.I wasn't falsifying records or anything,everything was true,but one particular document,they ask for how long did you do specific things during the course of your everyday job?like reaching sitting squatting lifting,you get the idea?well geez,who the heck can actually say for sure how much you did a specific thing you know?so i just 'guessedamated" the answers.well when they sent out that very same document to me,for the life of me,I just could not remeber all the stuff I wrote so the two documents would be more 'in line' with each other?i could have just kicked myself for not actually taking the time to copy off EVEYTHING that I filled out and sent in to them.I felt like anything i put down was not going to be exact and that they would think I was lying or something.I actually wrote on that document that realistically,all the answers to those questions were just guesses so they would know that i was not just telling them anything that popped into my head,ya know?after that little episode,I started copying every little thing I sent them.i will be up for a review here within a certain amount of years as well,so having all that will really help me gage just how much more my condition has really deteriorated.I will never get "better' things will just continue to go down the bad path til I am sitting in a flippin wheel chair.

if you really feel this is what you need to do for yourself,just do whatever they ask of you no matter how ridiculous it may be or sound,they need as much info as possible in order to really make that decision.just fill out everything and send it back within the time allowed.they usually want the stuff backwithin like ten days or something like that?just make sure you do it within that time frame.

Just an FYI,but the disability site on these boards was very helpful to me when I was going thru the whole process.there are very knowledgable people,some who actually worked in this particular field themselves.they are just a really caring bunch of people up there who were very supportive during my process.just a thought for you.

Just go to the website I mentioned and then start the process.just be prepared to wait.good luck to you in this,hopefully it wont take too long for you.marcia