They only get paid a percentage of any back pay you are awarded. They thing about the applications is they don't really ask you everything that SS needs to know. An attorney that specializes in SS cases can guide you through the application process. Go ahead and get copies of all your medical records. If you haven't been to the doc in a few months, go and let them know that you are applying for disability so that they can properly document everything.

I was recommended an attorney by another patient when I was in the hospital for depression in January of 2012. I had already applied in December. He guided me through the second step and I was approved on the first try.

I don't know what your disability is, but he said it's gotten much harder to get mental illness disabilities approved lately.

Good luck.

It will take months.

I'm not sure if that's true or not.

I think you're better off to get a lawyer experienced in SSDI. I had a friend (in Indiana) who was no longer able to work (fibromyalgia and bi-polar) and she had to fight for two years to get it. She tried first without an experienced attorney and got nowhere. Then she hired someone experienced and finally got it.

It's a terrible thing for people like her who had no means of support for those two years. Only the generosity of some of her friends got her through the two years. The good news is that, at least in her case, she got the two years back pay as well.

Others I know have waited that long as well except for a friend here in Florida who got it right away for diabetes. It may also depend on what the medical problem is.

Doctor says I am depressed about the whole situation



i also might not have a job. i crapped my pants in a classroom full of kids and mortified and humiliated I ran.

Do not know if I have a job left or not.

Doc has written a note saying that I should not be in the classroom because it is getting worse.

Get a very good SSDI attorney first thing. You can't be in the classroom with that ... It's infectious. Get a medical leave from school and find out if the school district provides private disability insurance.

My daughter had C-Diff as a child in the early 80's and it was horrendous. You have my sympathy and encouragement, demtenjeep.

second one the cost was 2 grand. I said I couldn't afford that as i am off work at the moment because of all this.

Doc says he will try to work some magic and maybe get it down to 50 bucks. That i can pay We will see. If I can't afford it I guess C-Diff will be the complication that kills me.

I'm sure your doctor will be able to work something out with the manufacturer.

Let me state clearly that he had an obvious physical issue, there was no question of eligibility.

What worked in our favor:

1. We live a very rural area and the SS office was not crowded at any time

2. The SS doctor he had to see was very experienced, as it turned out, with the type of physical problem and wrote supportive med. records.

The good news is that we got 18 months of back payments based on his latest work records, it added up to a nice sum.

Having said all that, if he applied today, I would get a lawyer, simply because the lawyers generally tend to get results.
Well worth the fee which can be paid from the money they give you, dating from the date you first applied.

If we lived in a populous area where there are more people applying, for sure I would get a lawyer.
Lots of people wait to get denied before getting one...not a good move in these times.

Now, if you are applying for state SSI, that is different, there are more obstacles, esp. in a red state.
And I would get a lawyer.

short of that, I need a miracle of 50K

then I wouldn't need disability.

Maybe when I talk to lawyer, the can do somethng about those Damn SL until the case is approved?

if that is the case, then I can live the 6 month wait

Never had a lawyer though I heard it's better to have one. I originally applied back in the summer of 2004. I finally got approved I'd guess you could say in December of 2004. I saw 2 doctors, one for a mental health examine, the other for a physical exam. The whole process started at my local social security office.

My advice would be to do everything they say. Save every piece of paper they give or mail you. When you do your exams, be completely honest and tell them EVERYTHING, I can't stress that enough. Even if you don't think the smallest symptom has anything to do with your disability, tell them anyway.

Good luck

He made an appointment at the local SSA office and brought with him all of his medical history and records. He was 58 at the time of application snd had been diagnosed two yrs prior and had not worked for six months
.
He didn't have a lawyer. He had to wait an additional two yrs before he qualified for Medicare and we had no health insurance for him during that wait period.

Good luck to you.

DVT followed shortly by Neuropathy. The VA doctor told me that I'd not work construction again so I might as well file for Disability.

I typed in google Social Security and the first name that came up was Alsup so I clicked on it and got the number to call. They sent me a ton of paper work to fill out followed by another call, from them this time, and three months later I received my first check. No questions from the SS office to me at all. Alsup took care of everything.
Thats been 13 years ago

It took me 18 months, from the time I applied, to receive disability. After my second denial I hired an attorney. I've had four neck surgeries & one lower back surgery. I applied in March 2005. In Early December 2006 I, along with my disability lawyer, went in front of a disability judge in DC. One week later my case was approved. My first payment was $19,355 At the time I was 48. My lawyer told me this judge I was going in front of didn't like giving those under 50 disability. I should add this; at the time I first applied I had not yet had my back operated on. That would come in June 2005 (L5/S1). I still have a lot of back pain, but the nerve pain down my right leg is pretty much gone. I really feel for people who are having issues with vertebrae and haven't the monetary means to have anything done.