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In a message dated 5/6/98 11:24:14 PM Central Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > At the urging of my wife and my doctors, I filed for disability benefits > in connection with an individual D.I. policy I purchased 12 years ago. I > also have applied for benefits with Social Security. > > To qualify for benefits under my individual plan, I must meet a > "regular occupation" definition. This policy also contains a Soc. > Security rider under which a supplemental benefit is paid to the insured > pending qualification of Social Security benefits. (FAT CHANCE) > > Social Security has responded with a series of lengthy questionaires > concerning my claim. They are bewildering to me. I have read the two > FAQ's concerning Social Security D.I. benefits. They would be > informative to a clinician, I guess...but I am a claimant sitting here > facing this pile of forms. > > In closing this diatribe, allow me to tell you I am now 58. I have lost > 35 pounds in the last three years. My voice grows weaker. My dead-pan > stoic appearance is a crowd-pleaser, I am sure. I am impotent. I am an > insomniac. My extremeties are afflicted with rigors. My hands and feet > get ice cold. My left hand becomes cyanotic perodically. The tremor in > my left hand is violent at times. Dyskinesia episodes leave me writhing. > As a result of my efforts to fight the tremor, I have strained the > ligaments in my left arm so severely...I wear a brace several times a > week. My left leg is rigid, and I have constant pain in the hip. I am > weak, tired, and weary of all this. I realize others out there have it > worse than I do. But this is my moment, before I become the lurker > again. Can someone help me with these forms? It IS probably stupid of me > to think Social Security will approve my application anyway, since I > only have one so-called afflicted extremity...but what the heck! > > > Sherman > in EADS, TN Sherman, The APDA Young PD Newsletter published a lead article on "Applying for Social Security Disability?" along with several good resources for assistance. For this newsletter and other information and programs call Amer PD Assoc's (APDA) Young Parkinson's Information & Referral Center 1/800-223-9776 email: APDA [log in to unmask]