Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Hi Guys,
My disability application is in. I wish i had the doctor add so many more things in retrospect but he did a good job and clearly stated that my RA has significantly progressed and worsened since its onset and that I can't maintain any fluid work schedule or stand up and teach. He mentions severe chronic pain, not being able to stand up and teach, etc... but he kept his final statement of disability brief whereas I would have repeated everything again just to make sure they didn't just skim ans scan the rest of the document. For example under diagnosis a few pages back he claims my RA is severe, progressive and significantly symptomatic. I just hope they look there!
When he mentions how the OA of my spine and feet affect my ability to stand as well he could have throwin in chronic plantar fasciitis as an added complication but once again it is stated earlier in the document. I suppose I'm assuming they review committe won't bother with the entire document but I imagine they will.
My questions/concerns are I have had the disease now for a year. I've had no major tests like radiographs or MRIs done to check for erosion. It may not be there yet for all I know.I know I know have permanent knee pain and instability. same with the feet. Does not having the tests done for erosion matter for disability particularly in my case where there is no judge or independent examiner and it's suppose to pass as long as my doc clearly disables me and states why I can no longer teach? I'd say we have that covered! He did state my musclse have significanlty weakened and I have myositis for what's its worth and tenderness, swelling and limited range of motion in every joint I own!
Finally, I realized my last full blood work was in May. All I've had done since is a liver function test which they probably don't need and I can't dig it up yet. Is this a problem?
I probably have the longest typed application in history along with records from 6 doctors over the past year discussing everything from my very symptomatic rheumaoid arhtritis to my "frequent inability to walk" due to osteoarthritis in my feet. I've included 6 very bad diagnoses and asked for disability based on 3 but i think they'll just look at it holistically. Most people are nowhere near as thorough as I have been yet I still worry and can always submit additional documentation before my hearing next month.
Let me know your thoughts on the lack of imaging for joint erosion and blood work from May.
Thanks!
My disability application is in. I wish i had the doctor add so many more things in retrospect but he did a good job and clearly stated that my RA has significantly progressed and worsened since its onset and that I can't maintain any fluid work schedule or stand up and teach. He mentions severe chronic pain, not being able to stand up and teach, etc... but he kept his final statement of disability brief whereas I would have repeated everything again just to make sure they didn't just skim ans scan the rest of the document. For example under diagnosis a few pages back he claims my RA is severe, progressive and significantly symptomatic. I just hope they look there!
When he mentions how the OA of my spine and feet affect my ability to stand as well he could have throwin in chronic plantar fasciitis as an added complication but once again it is stated earlier in the document. I suppose I'm assuming they review committe won't bother with the entire document but I imagine they will.
My questions/concerns are I have had the disease now for a year. I've had no major tests like radiographs or MRIs done to check for erosion. It may not be there yet for all I know.I know I know have permanent knee pain and instability. same with the feet. Does not having the tests done for erosion matter for disability particularly in my case where there is no judge or independent examiner and it's suppose to pass as long as my doc clearly disables me and states why I can no longer teach? I'd say we have that covered! He did state my musclse have significanlty weakened and I have myositis for what's its worth and tenderness, swelling and limited range of motion in every joint I own!
Finally, I realized my last full blood work was in May. All I've had done since is a liver function test which they probably don't need and I can't dig it up yet. Is this a problem?
I probably have the longest typed application in history along with records from 6 doctors over the past year discussing everything from my very symptomatic rheumaoid arhtritis to my "frequent inability to walk" due to osteoarthritis in my feet. I've included 6 very bad diagnoses and asked for disability based on 3 but i think they'll just look at it holistically. Most people are nowhere near as thorough as I have been yet I still worry and can always submit additional documentation before my hearing next month.
Let me know your thoughts on the lack of imaging for joint erosion and blood work from May.
Thanks!
Just sit down, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. It's in, so nothing to do now except wait it out. How long should it take to get a decision?
The hearing is on October 6th? Of course if they seek more info they will notify me and I have to wait until the first Tuesday in November. I gave them everything to my knowledge. Way more than they want to read I'm sure! Last year 73 teachers applied. 63 were approved. Of the 10 who were declined 5 app;lied without a doctor at all and the other 5 didn't tell their doctor and the doctor responded to the disability revieww committe tjhat their patient is not disabled. One of the 63 got it for plantar fasciitis which is one of my more minor diagnoses. I told me doctor to squeeze it in but he said everyone has that and my final statement should be more concise. It is in the document though, If some guy gets it from plantar fasciitis and I don't get it for severe RA, OA of spine, feet and knees, fatigue, depression, memory loss, herniated disc, of course the plantars as well, and a multitude of other diagnoses ranging from myositis to synovitis everywhere, blood pressure 200/105 without major meds due to NSAID use and pain, inability to concentrate, now they say I have sleep apnea which came on at the same time as the RA, and of course I have zero ability to work more than a few hours a week.... Anyway, if I don't get it and this guy with planatars did I'll be going to the press because there is no appeal process for me. That's bad in the snese that if you don't get it your are doomed, good in the sense if you are legit with a doctor behind you they give it to you.
Sorry for the ramble. I'm super stressed!
Thanks Alto!
Your application was done with your doctor, you're not lying about any of it, and your doc isn't the guy from the sketchy place down by the tracks that approves all the "medical" marijuana applications or a naturopath saying that the kids are unbalancing your chakras. You remember what last spring was like. This job is too much for you right now.
From what you said about the number approved, and why the denied claims were denied, these people WANT to approve your application. They aren't playing gotcha. Actually, it's probably really good for the district's books to get the experienced (read: expensive) teachers off the payroll and on to the insurance company's rolls. The district pays, through the nose, I would guess, for disability insurance on everyone from the superintendent to the lunch lady, and as long as claims aren't excessive in number or a particular claim isn't a blatant lie, they'll help you and others gain access to the disability benefits.
Now quit looking over the edge of that precipice, go get a good book, and sit on the porch and watch the leaves turn colors. You have done all you can, you yourself say the application was done well, and it's in their hands. We'll throw a cyber-party for you on the 6th.
If they are happy with what i sent and require no additional information I should know by about the 2nd week of October. I gave them all I could think of but a recent liver test which is irrelevant in terms of my ability to teach. I can't imagine that too many people send up their application in a box like I did!
I would get so anxious and stressed out each year. Especially if I changed family doctors, who wrote the reports, and might slant it different. Except that I read them, and they all said I was not able to work, ever again.
So after about 8 or 9 years of spending months ready to throw myself under a bus, and super anxiety, I decided that since I had been filling out these forms for years, it was probably just paper work for them.
I never worried again, and I certainly got it renewed yearly. Except this year, I reached "Factor 90" and I have to retire. So next month, I will be on pension. But I can still collect CPP Disability for the next 3 years.
So the moral of this story is - you are too sick to work. If this hearing doesn't give it to you, the next one will.
PS I wouldn't worry about inflammation blood factors. Mine were 0 in the years I first applied and it was even considered. Just what the doctor wrote was all they cared about.
Hoping you can stop stressing, and the disability will come through!
We have to submit a report after 2 years thenwe are god until we retire withour pension at 60. Some people have to sumbit a report after Year 1 and 2. To my knowledge, however, there is no appeal which is why I think i t has always been given if yyour doctor writes a clear statement of disability and gives valid reason wwhy you can no longer teach. That being the case, you are probably right. They probably read his answers to his quesions, my answers to my questions and the answers to the short form filled out by my district whi supported me. Why they ask for records I'mnot sure. I can they scan threw then to make sure all islegit but I doubtthey go throught them with a fine toothed comb considering they never claim that those are the deciding factor.
Thanks everyone for making me feel better. It's hard enough leaving your friends and colleagues, and of course your students. Its certainly hard enough to be killling myself to get to work a couple days a week just to preserve some sick time. I just don't know how I got here so fast but i do feel better on my own scheduke at home, especially when I can rest my painful knees and feet which is pretty nuch daily. Actually, they hurt daily but the degree of severity changes. This has been going on for a bout a year with worsening in incremental stages. Now my legs are completely fatigued as well and flares affect bone and muscle. I'm sure I'm due to have my meds re-because but I want to be home and rested first because rest has some amazing pain relieving anti-inflammatory properties! All this and much more was wriitten by the docor. He backed me up big time leaving zero doubt of my re-gaining my functional capacity to continue in my job.
I wish I could focus on a little lawn care but I simply don't have the energy in me to mantain an elite lawn at the moment other than mowing it with my ride on mower when I can. Other than that I have grass growing into all the beds, no edging or mulching got done this year, a small split rail fence needed replacing but sits there rotting, etc.... Maybe next year will be a better year and the doc will find something to reduce some of the severely painful problems/symptoms I faced this year with OA/RA in my feet and knees in particular. I'm willing to try inusions especially if I have the time. Hopefuly a calmer lifestyle without 2 hours commuting a day will help as well! Thanks!
You guys were most helpfy=ul yesterday as I began thinking that if there is no appeal process it's because if a legit doc signs off on it then they simply grant it otherwise they'd have to build something in to give the teacher a chance at disputing it but it has never come up because only the fools applying without their doctor's consent have ever been denied. Plus I realzied that this process was put here by my state legislature to protect the education system and the process no doubt was influenced by my union to protect the teacher as well.
Greg
Good luck to you!! All will be well.
Linda
My disability is specific to teaching. In fact you can take the disability and go get another job if you can and choose. It is through a teachers's retirement board and only specific to the teaching profession. I don't have the ability to work more than a few hours a week now. It went from 4 days, to 3 days, to 2 days, etc. You can't teach kids with any continuity being absent 3 days of week and no school district in my state would say that meets the functions of a teacher, not to mention if I can make it there I can't stand and present a lesson. It doesn't matter what other employment I can do or not do. If I can't teach according to state standards I am disabled from the profession. I'm not sure how social security works. If you can work on a limited basis then you can't get social security? I'm hoping, and will be allowed to, possibly work part time in the town library someday. I am surely going to repair computers at home which is a nice sedentary job where I can rest my swollen joints. Bottom line is I'm not functioning any longer as a teacher so I'm allowed to start collecting my pension I paid into all my life.
Greg
Ps. I just don't understand how fast my muscles weakened, how awful I feel compared to a year ago, how my pain is chronic and can be bad whether I'm flaring or not. Lately I feel I'm in just one permanent, lifelong flare. Can that even be possible?
We don't go with Social Security definitions. In Connecticut teachers unions made the decision years ago not to pay into social security. We pay into a big annuity at the State of CT Teachers Retirement Board and all rules for my disability are based on state statute. http://www.ct.gov/trb/cwp/view.asp?a=1579&q=272088
All those rules you mention mean nothing. We need a doctor clearly stating a legitimate medical diagnosis and a clear statement of disability why a person can no longer teach. That's how it is approved. Ability to work a sedentary job elsewhere means nothing. We had a PE teacher who had knee problems, was approved, and got a nice full time desk job. The first 2 years they will ask for 25% of her new pay though. So being able to engage in other employment means nothing in the teacher disability process here. All that matters is whether you can teach anymore. I stated in my application I can work 2 days a week because I'm trying to do so and I'm currently working a little which is totally allowed in my process. Realistically, though, I can't even do that anymore. I would think the most I can do now without overdoing it is maybe work 12 hours a week spread out across several days. My plan though is to repair computers from home.
I asked one of the disability retire examiners how teachers can possibly collect disability and then go get another job. On more than one occasion he said maybe the teacher could no longer stand so they took their disability and went out to get a desk job. I figured he was tipping me off because he would always use that example so I am not only applying because I can't work the majority of the time but RA, OA in feet, OA in spine with lack of mobility prevents me from standing up to teach.
I also can't apply for social security disability because I haven't paid into SS in many years. Each state has different retirement laws, thus different disability laws for teachers.
Even though mine is supposed to go through I'm still nervous and anxious for some reason. Maybe because I've worked on this for the past 3 months, or because my financila future depends on this disability, or the fact that I will miss my students dearly, The whole thing is a bummer and the worsening of my RA, and as my doc states, "the highly symptomatic nature of my RA", has me bumming even more! Do a lot of RA patients have a steady decline since onset on find thenselves in a not so good of place within a year even when on MTX with a biologic?