I have a question for any of you on disability. Is pain alone a determining factor in classifying someone as disabled? I had a doctor tell me that pain alone is not a reason for someone to be classified as disabled. I returned to work after a double fusion (L5-L4), on March 17, 2007. I am in tremendous pain from sitting all day and I am not sure that I can take much more!

Also, I am in California and wonder if it wise to hire a disability attorney or file without one? I am a mid-level manager and my salary is pretty high. Do you think I should hire an attorney if I decide to file a disability claim or do it without one?

Thank you!

I got news for you: yes, you will need to hire a disability lawyer.

Here is how in my state, according to my Doctor and SSD office:
When i asked my Doctor if i can go back to work he suggested to wait and see how will i recover. He has experience with his patients when they go back to work and than realise they can't work due to pain and a lot of problems - than it is very hard to go back on disability, especially if this more than 60-90 days since you went back to work.(depends on a state rules).

Usually it can cost here about $5,000-8,000 to pay a lawyer to work on your case and he never promisses that case can be win. Also your Doctor can determine your problems and help with your case.

I don't believe that your Doctor is right about pain is not a reason for you to get disability. Besides that pain is usualy an indicator that something is wrong, you had fusion surgery and a lot of people have problems after this for the rest of their life. I personaly was told by Doctor at HSS in NYC that i can't expect to leave without pain for the rest of my life and second surgery will not help my situation anyway.
I really tried so hard to do everything in my power to get better and go back to work, i had an excellent job. But i can't seat for long, stand or walk, i got nerve damage in my legs/feet and to be very realistic i know if i decide still to go back to work it would not last for long. At least for now.
Good luck to you and i hope you will feel better. Take care of yourself.:)

Hi mrkwass,
You will definatley need a lawyer, they will run circles around you without one. I fought for 4 yrs before I was approved. Pain is not considered disabeling, what the pain does to you is what is the disabling part. For instance, I can't stand for very long because I double over and have to sit, so a standing job would be out of the question for me. It's so confusing, I was denied twice then had to wait 1 1/2 yrs for a trial date, well by then I had been thru 4 fusions all of them failed. I was aproved and the Judge pretty much said with out really saying it that he didn't understand why I was ever denied in the first place. I'm 45 now and have been reicieving SSD for 1 yr. so I started when I was 40. Now the way I see it most people can't go from working full time to waiting for 4 yrs or more with no income, to be approved. Well I was fortunate and my hubby picked up the slack financially all that time. I WON!! and got all the back pay. First off you have to not be working for 6 months before you can even apply, that alone is enough to stop most.

I do hope you can apply if needed and I wish you the best, but be very very patient.

God Bless

Good Luck

Carol

I was told that it is not the illnesses you have but the severity and how it prevents you from working. I also heard that having an attorney for your initial filing does not make a difference. Have one for an appeal though. In New Jersey the attorney only gets paid if you win. They get 25 percent of whatever your back pay is. I think it makes them work harder for you.

When you say "pain alone", you make it sound like no cause has been determined for your pain. Lumbar DDD and a double fusion with the pain they can cause are certainly good reasons to apply.

If you are a corporate manager, your job may be classified as sedentary and that is how they may try to screw you. You can search the net and find pretty basic information about why that would make it more difficult for you. I posted a link but it got deleted.

My opinion is that lawyers don't make much of a difference at the initial filing and they are only really useful if you need to go to court, but that is just my opinion.

If you apply, make sure you really talk about your pain on the ADL forms DDS willl likely send you. Also, your limitations reported on these forms would have to be very limited. Good luck!

i have thought about applying for myself, BUT.....i cannot afford to quit working for awhile in order to get it. I am a single parent and i have a 4 yr. old, 13yr. old, and well, an 18 yr. old, who is going to college in the fall.
I have cervical spondylitis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia! i work 12 hour shifts and i am on my feet majority of the day. half way through the day, it kills me to have to walk long distances. i work in a rehab center and nursing home. I hurt badly from head to toe!! i would love to know what it's like to be pain free.......even with medication.

have a great day! and good luck to you!! ;)

just an FYI about how your disability lawyers actually gets paid?this depends solely on how much your back pay turns out to be and nothing more with most disability lawyers.they can take not more than 25% of your actual back pay as payment for services rendered.if you do not actually win your case,they will get nothing from you.this is the way any real disability lawyer has to work.disability knows this.so you are not actually "retaining' one like you would with any other type of needed lawyer services.disability is very different in this way.mine didn't get a whole lot from me as disability kind of screwed me out of two years of back pay.instead of them actually going back to the date of when i actually became disabled they only went back as far as when i got denied that first time.in their eyes since i had been denied,despite the fact that nothing with me had actually changed,just an added document that has been missing the first go round,technically i was not actually disabled when i was denied that first time.really sucky crap they pulled there.

in most cases,it really doesn't pay to even obtain a lawyer til you have been denied that first go round since the majority of real leg work is done by you anyways.good luck,marcia

I too would like to know if pain alone can take you out of work and be considered disabled. I live in Texas and I am in pain all day. I have been going to a pain management doc and that helps some.

I would most certainly get an attorney and as many doctors as possible to document your pain and how it affects your life on a daily basis. Does your current job have disability? If so, I would go out on that until you can file for the first time after the six months waiting period. I know exactly what you are going through because I live it everyday myself. I am now 33 years old and had to have a spinal fusion of L5-S1 at age 29 and have been disabled for 5 years now. As long as you have good documentation of your issues and there is consistency with your doctors than you stand a good chance of being awarded your disability benefits. As for your doctor that says that pain is not enough to consider you disabled, GET A NEW ONE QUICK!! There are many doctors that do not beleive in chronic pain syndroms at all. I also have Fibromyalgia & Chrohn's Disease and there are alot of doctors that don't beleive Fibro exists and I assure you that it does. I wish you the best and you must be patient and it will all work out.
-Sharon

I have STD and also LTD with MetLife at my work that pays 60%. I also have an additional policy that I took out a few months back that will pay me $3000.00 per month if I become disabled (forget which company that is with) In addition when
I purchased my new car I took out the disability stuff on that as well. I have been to Pain Management doctors for 4 years now and have undergone Facets but they simply do not last long enough. I am also tired of going through the withdrawals from them trying one med after another.

I had shortness of breath for a while and they ruled out everything (heart, lungs, etc...) and I THINK it may have been the Tylenol in the Hydrocodone....so they placed my on OXYIR at my request and my shortness of breath went away. Now the only time I get SOB is when my blood levels get high. I also have Polycythemia (make too much red blood cells) and have to get bled every 5 weeks or so. If not my heart will explode.

My Pain doc is also a friend so I think he will help me in anyway....I just never thought I would have to do this type of thing but tried to plan for it just in case. I started thinking a bout the “WHAT IF’s” and then lose everything I have worked for so I began taking out the additional policies.

Just curious....If you go out on LTD and get SSID and someone catches you pulling weeds or cutting your lawn, will they try to take it away from you? I had a Judge friend of mine tell me a few years back "NO" because you can take your pain meds and do whatever you want away from work BUT at work the company policy states "NO pain meds while working"

The doctor that said pain is not a reason for disability, doesn't know what he's talking about. I have been off work for five years now due to chronic pain from IBS, Colitis, and Neuralgia and I have been on SSD for over four years now. Also, you don't need an attorney for the first time you apply, but if you don't get approved, then you should look into getting someone who specializes in these type of cases.

I was approved in February of 2003 and got my first check the next month. Don't let anyone tell you that pain isn't a reason to be on SSD, because they are totally wrong. I still have pain every day and at this point, have no plans to go back to work. I'll be of normal retiredment age (62) in a few months anyway.