azblonde
08-23-2009, 07:14 AM
My husband applied for ssdi in march of 09 we did alot of research and hired an attorney right out of the gate, my husband has been a union carpenter for over 30 years, in 2005 he was having problems with his neck and left arm,, found out he had spinal stenosis. He went thru the epi shots did not work, physical therapy was no change he even switched jobs and went into light maintance.
Now 4 years later after mri and nerve testing the neck problems he now also has a recessed disc and a bone spur along with the stenosis in c5,c6 it has gotten so bad he looses feeling in his left arm and he is left handed. His ortho dr was really pushing the surgery but after talking to numerous dr'sthey stated do not have the surgery.The dr for the dissabilty people also measured the muscle loss he has lost 2 inches of muscle in his left arm vs his right he also suffers from diabetsis and has bone spurs in his heels and they will not remove those due to the diabetsis, he also has severe sleep apena.
The lawyer called and stated the case was closed july 10 and had a tenative descision but the case was sent to san fransico for a federal review board we live in arizona and we should hear in 3 to 6 weeks. They said this was not uncommon it was called sampling to review the decision. My question has anyone had this happen to them??? Last week was the 6 week mark,,,
Now 4 years later after mri and nerve testing the neck problems he now also has a recessed disc and a bone spur along with the stenosis in c5,c6 it has gotten so bad he looses feeling in his left arm and he is left handed. His ortho dr was really pushing the surgery but after talking to numerous dr'sthey stated do not have the surgery.The dr for the dissabilty people also measured the muscle loss he has lost 2 inches of muscle in his left arm vs his right he also suffers from diabetsis and has bone spurs in his heels and they will not remove those due to the diabetsis, he also has severe sleep apena.
The lawyer called and stated the case was closed july 10 and had a tenative descision but the case was sent to san fransico for a federal review board we live in arizona and we should hear in 3 to 6 weeks. They said this was not uncommon it was called sampling to review the decision. My question has anyone had this happen to them??? Last week was the 6 week mark,,,
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Executor
08-23-2009, 11:40 AM
The lawyer called and stated the case was closed july 10 and had a tenative descision but the case was sent to san fransico for a federal review board we live in arizona and we should hear in 3 to 6 weeks. They said this was not uncommon it was called sampling to review the decision. My question has anyone had this happen to them??? Last week was the 6 week mark,,,
Sounds as if SS has made a decision and for some reason, your case has been pulled (probably at random) for some type of "sampling review." I did a little bit of research for you and found something where they audit samples as "the objective was to assess the reliability of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) performance data used to measure the accuracy of disability decisions made by State Disability Determination Services (DDS)."
I don't have any personal experience with this, so I can't help you there. I will say though that 6 weeks is extremely quick and if you were to be awarded any type of benefits within a couple of months, you'd be very lucky. Not to be negative, but most take over a year....Sometimes two.
Hopefully, some others with experience in this area will chime in.
Best of luck to you and your husband.
Regards,
Ex
Sounds as if SS has made a decision and for some reason, your case has been pulled (probably at random) for some type of "sampling review." I did a little bit of research for you and found something where they audit samples as "the objective was to assess the reliability of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) performance data used to measure the accuracy of disability decisions made by State Disability Determination Services (DDS)."
I don't have any personal experience with this, so I can't help you there. I will say though that 6 weeks is extremely quick and if you were to be awarded any type of benefits within a couple of months, you'd be very lucky. Not to be negative, but most take over a year....Sometimes two.
Hopefully, some others with experience in this area will chime in.
Best of luck to you and your husband.
Regards,
Ex
azblonde
08-23-2009, 12:11 PM
That sounds more like what the attorney said about the sampling she mentioned that in her message,, my husband has been off of work since oct 08, he can longer do union work due to the fact he is considered a liability. He is slowly loosing the feeling the his left arm, and he always looks down due to the fact he can not hold his head up. We knew there was a major problem when in feb he was changing out his transmission in his truck,, something he has done hundereds of times, my husband is a very big man, as he was holding on the tranny to bring it out of the truck he lost all feeling in his left arm and the tranny fell on his chest, he did not even have the strenght to lift the tranny off of his chest. It has been very hard on him, he loves to work around the house and to work on cars and he is finding he can longer do those things. He is in pain 24/7 and has massive headaches, but my husband would rather live with the pain then to take medication, he has tried it.
mscat40
08-23-2009, 08:33 PM
Hi there, I am very sorry that your husband is suffering and in so much pain.
I was denied the second time I applied for SSDI, however, I went ahead the second time and filled out the paper work for the reconsideration part . Knowing that I was not getting better, and having more serious problems . both medically and mentally. I did not have a attorney. I waited for what seemed like forever to hear back, but still nothing. I called the 1-800 number and was told that my claim was now approved , however it was in a different place, out of state being reviewed , again. however, this time it was others reviewing my claim that the DDS had made. I found out that they randomly select claims , and take them to be re -reviewed . I also was told that occasionalyl the decision can be overturned . S.S informed me that this would take a additional 3 months . not longer.
The approval letter came within the time frame, and it was fine . As long as your husband has not recieved a deniel letter, then his claim is still in the process of review. The waiting period is the most difficult.
I was denied the second time I applied for SSDI, however, I went ahead the second time and filled out the paper work for the reconsideration part . Knowing that I was not getting better, and having more serious problems . both medically and mentally. I did not have a attorney. I waited for what seemed like forever to hear back, but still nothing. I called the 1-800 number and was told that my claim was now approved , however it was in a different place, out of state being reviewed , again. however, this time it was others reviewing my claim that the DDS had made. I found out that they randomly select claims , and take them to be re -reviewed . I also was told that occasionalyl the decision can be overturned . S.S informed me that this would take a additional 3 months . not longer.
The approval letter came within the time frame, and it was fine . As long as your husband has not recieved a deniel letter, then his claim is still in the process of review. The waiting period is the most difficult.
azblonde
08-23-2009, 09:18 PM
Have not gotten a denial letter,, we have no idea what the descission is,, the lawyer that we hired is one of the best dissability lawyers in arizona. I use to work as an apt mananger in a low income section 48 property so i knew what the tenants were going thru with their dissability and i did not want to go thru that.. We were going to file in 2005 when he was first diganoised but we decided to have him switch occupations. That backfired it made his condition worse. I have heard story's about people filing and being denied 2 or 3 times until they hired an attorney so we went ahead and hired one right off the start. He has been a union man since he was 17 and he is 48 now, changing jobs was very hard on him but he knew he had to. So we shall see what happens..
Executor
08-24-2009, 01:06 AM
Best of luck with your application. You may want to read my last post in the thread right next to this one titled "Offered a job but my hearing is less than a month away." In that thread, I talk about how it's the effects of the condition and not the condition itself as to what SS looks for. Many make the mistake of focusing on one's condition rather than the effects of the condition.
I'm sorry your husband is going through all of this. He sounds like a great guy and I hope it all works out for you both.
Regards,
Ex
I'm sorry your husband is going through all of this. He sounds like a great guy and I hope it all works out for you both.
Regards,
Ex
wrongman
08-24-2009, 02:25 AM
Have not gotten a denial letter,, we have no idea what the descission is,, the lawyer that we hired is one of the best dissability lawyers in arizona
this is what you should bold on your case
this is what you should bold on your case
azblonde
08-24-2009, 04:39 AM
I just want to thank everyone for all the advice,, we started on all the medical when he was first diaganoised 4 years ago, and the switching of the job, going from heavy construction to light maintaince, to find out that his symptoms got worse, we were told that eventally he will probally loose all the feeling in his left arm, the older he gets, it has already started, i feel so helpless when he gets the massive charlie horses in his arm he can be sitting on the couch and i can actually see his left arm cramp up. Also with the bone spurs in his heals it is hard for him to walk, he wears prostesis in his shoes but they do not seem to help. Poor guy he is falling apart in front of my eyes. We held off on the dissability because we felt at the time 4 years ago that he would not need it. Now he is a person who really needs it. I know people who get ssdi for the dumbest symtoms and i can not believe they get ssdi. When people who really need it have to jump thru fire and hoops to get on it. It seems to me that their is something wrong with this system. Making people wait months even years to get something that they really need.
azblonde
08-24-2009, 04:52 AM
Best of luck with your application. You may want to read my last post in the thread right next to this one titled "Offered a job but my hearing is less than a month away." In that thread, I talk about how it's the effects of the condition and not the condition itself as to what SS looks for. Many make the mistake of focusing on one's condition rather than the effects of the condition.
I'm sorry your husband is going through all of this. He sounds like a great guy and I hope it all works out for you both.
Regards,
Ex
I READ THAT THREAD AND YU ARE RIGHT,, WHAT IS SAD IS THAT WITH THE UNION AND MY HUSBAND BEING A LIABILITY DUE TO THE FACT IT AFFECTS HIS LEFT ARM, SO IF HE WAS WORKING WITH POWER TOOLS, OR A HAMMER AND LOOSES FEELING IN HIS LEFT ARM AND DROPS SOMETHING ON A CO-WORKER OR IS CARRYING SOMETHING AND LOOSES FEELING AND DROPS IT AND HURTS ANOTHER CO-WORKER. MY HUSBAND IS A VERY BIG MAN AND WHEN EVER IT CAME TO THE HEAVY HEAVY LIFTING HE WAS THE ONE THAT HAD TO MOVE THESE ITEMS. SOME OF THESE ITEMS COULD WEIGH WAY OVER 150 POUNDS. SO FIGURE 30 YEARS OF THIS KIND OF WORK IS BOUND TO TAKE A TOLL ON ANYONE. AGAIN THANK YU FOR ALL THE ADVICE.:angel:
I'm sorry your husband is going through all of this. He sounds like a great guy and I hope it all works out for you both.
Regards,
Ex
I READ THAT THREAD AND YU ARE RIGHT,, WHAT IS SAD IS THAT WITH THE UNION AND MY HUSBAND BEING A LIABILITY DUE TO THE FACT IT AFFECTS HIS LEFT ARM, SO IF HE WAS WORKING WITH POWER TOOLS, OR A HAMMER AND LOOSES FEELING IN HIS LEFT ARM AND DROPS SOMETHING ON A CO-WORKER OR IS CARRYING SOMETHING AND LOOSES FEELING AND DROPS IT AND HURTS ANOTHER CO-WORKER. MY HUSBAND IS A VERY BIG MAN AND WHEN EVER IT CAME TO THE HEAVY HEAVY LIFTING HE WAS THE ONE THAT HAD TO MOVE THESE ITEMS. SOME OF THESE ITEMS COULD WEIGH WAY OVER 150 POUNDS. SO FIGURE 30 YEARS OF THIS KIND OF WORK IS BOUND TO TAKE A TOLL ON ANYONE. AGAIN THANK YU FOR ALL THE ADVICE.:angel: