This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone heres from Oregon? If not, that's fine too but I was curious to ask all of you how difficult was it to obtain social security disability benefits for yourselves? Oh, and what symptoms did you have at the time and the amount of time it took to go through the application process? Im now approaching a year and a half and still haven't had my time in front of a judge. My attorney states that its extremely difficult now a days to get social security due in part to a certain persons running of our country. However he said that I have a 50 / 50 chance which still isn't great for me. My work disability ends in March and if I dont get Social Security I have no idea what im going to do? Any thoughts, ideas, comments, etc... All welcome.

sorry i can't help, decided to end my benefits before they ran out and never went on to the long term thing. wish i had anything helpful to offer. love oregon! what little experience i have of it. went to cougar hot springs during a road trip once, beautiful spot.

can you get a disabled parking permit?

http://www.paperadvantage.org/ORS/801.html
801.235 "Disabled person." "Disabled person" means:

(1) A person who has severely limited mobility because of paralysis or the loss of use of some or all of the person’s legs or arms;

(2) A person who is affected by loss of vision or substantial loss of visual acuity or visual field beyond correction; or

(3) A person who has any other disability that prevents the person from walking without the use of an assistive device or that causes the person to be unable to walk more than 200 feet, including but not necessarily limited to:

(a) Chronic heart condition;
(b) Emphysema;
(c) Arthritis;
(d) Rheumatism; or
(e) Ulcerative colitis or related chronic bowel disorder. [1983 c.338 §39; 1985 c.139 §3; 1987 c.296 §1; 1989 c.243 §1]

For me its mainly fatigue. I sleep between 12 - 14 hours a day. I also have problems with memory, concentration, and recent tests have shown that my ability think logically has been compromised. I hate MS im seriously considering going through the high dose of cyclophosphomide therapy and rebooting my immune system. It raises your chances of getting cancer by 60%, infections by another 40%, and possibly death amongst other things but if you survive it I hear you most always achieve remission. That is as long as you havent passed the point in which your body is still able to heal itself somewhat. I.E. PPMS.

wow, merlin, that sounds tough. hard to quantify with a governing body. i'm sorry to bring up my main focus but have you had your blood tested for nutritional deficiencies typically found in ms? even if you are working on other treatments i think getting your bloodwork to match healthy controls, as opposed to ms patient standards, could potentially help your cognitive function.

i know that when i first got sick i couldn't stop sleeping. i used to have big problems getting to sleep at night but suddenly i had problems staying up til bedtime, and slept through things that would have woken me up ijn a second before. once i got determined about nutrition, my ability to last through a day improved. i did not just take things and hope for the best - i measured levels and impacts. i know i had nutritional issues. this is likely not the case for every ms sufferer. but you may find some benefit from evaluating your status with bloodwork and acting accordingly, if necessary.

best wishes!

Gary, my hubby, applied for SS in 1984, bedridden and I had to hold the phone for him to apply over the phone. He was denied in 5 months time. We had a friend who worked years in SS office. She said that about 95% were turned down first time. He got it after reapplication, was up for review in 1986, sent to THEIR DR who advised him to remain on SS and was taken off anyway. At the time we did not know for sure he had MS, LONG, LONG STORY. In 1994, he went blind with ON in LE and was finally definitely dxed as MS. Had to get back on disability and got MORE money because he was blind. Good thing, cause what VERY little he gets is eat up with all the wonderful Medicare benefits you can't do without. Anyway, we have 2 in our group that were up for SS. One got it and one did not. My opinion, if you don't really need it, you can get it quicker. I know many who are NOT disabled that have gotten it quickly, for other things than MS. Keep on trying. It can take a while. The girl still trying in our group has just lost her insurance and is still trying after 2 years. She had a lawyer too.