fl cat

My husband has had back problems for many years. It started as a disc heriation and his Dr. advised (in 99) he quit or atleast reduce work hours and physical therapy for stenosis. This did not help. He has been on several differant drug therapys also with little or no relief. He also has seen a chiroprator and had some kind of injection therpy, also without relief. In 2002 he saw 2 specalist. Both thought surgery was only a 50/50 shot. Because he is the sole bread winner he tried to tough it out. In May of this year he had sudden "foot drop" and was admitted to the hospital. The test in the hospital found he has complete loss of the disc space, and severe chronic degenerative disc disease, some calcification and several disc herniations. His pain is so bad he can not sleep or continue working. He has a good work history but it is all in trades that require physical work. He has twice in the last 5 years switched to postions that pay less but are less demanding on his back. He is 40. He also just had to declare bankruptcy due to his continued loss of income. We have a large family (6 kids) and I can only work part time due to injuries from a drunk driver several years ago. His interview is 8/9.
1.Will they take in consideration how hard we have tried to avoid applying over the last 5 years i.e. changing jobs and all the different treatments, or only what the medical file shows.
2.Will getting all his files from the last 5 years myself help. I know they say they will do it, but I think I can do it quicker.
3.Any advice any one would like to give is apprecated.
4.How is the family limit calulated? The paper I have says GENERALLY it's 150 to 180%. Would this amount go up with our size family or is that about the limit?
I know many people get turned down at first. The only person I know that get SS applied 8/03 went to SS dr. in 12/03 and recieved her first check in1/04, so I'm hoping but not expecting to have her luck. She also had extensive records going back several years. Thank every one for thier help.