What the €#^@ ?

Ok, I warned that there would be rants on this blog. Here comes one. I've tried to keep it reasonably clean at Tamara's request, but this really pisses me off!  (Sorry, sweets.)

I am not one to ask for help often, and especially not from the government, but given the current situation we felt that we should petition for disability from social security. You know, that big government entity that folks our age keep paying into and will most likely never see the intended benefit from.

We fill out several pages, attach information from our doctors, write a dissertation, jump through hoops of fire, and all the rest of the things that you expect "the man" to demand. Our local contact with the SSA, whom I hold totally blameless in this debacle (and who, in my opinion, should be working somewhere else since she has a normal complement of working brain cells) looked everything over and put things on the fast track to an approval.

So, guess what we get in the mail?  Yep, DENIED.   Slightly paraphrased below is their stance (I added quote marks so that you know when I am getting a little bit of the smart a**, the quotes will be mine) :

"Yada yada yada", the determination was made by an agency of the State.  Doctors and other people who are trained in disability evaluation reviewed the evidence and "made up their minds to tell you to take your meds and quit whining".

You said you are disabled due to CLL with 17p deletion and preparing for a stem cell transplant. "We really don't care that you can't make the bed without having to rest for 20 minutes afterward, or that you could get a fatal infection from being around people, or that you could be dead in 2 or 3 years.  Dang it woman, get out there and drive a truck or something.  We have people with hang nails that really need our help."

Your doctor has prescribed treatment. If you follow doctor's orders, further improvement can be expected. There is no valid reason that you can't earn at least $1100 a month doing something. The evidence does not show that your ability to perform basic work activities is as limited as you indicated.  "No joke, this is actually what they wrote."

We determined that your condition is not expected to remain severe enough for 12 months in a row to keep you from working. "Liar. Get off your lazy rear and stop begging".

No shit, Sherlock?

Anyone want to hire a person with a terminal disease, that may be able to give you two hours of work in an eight hour day with only a few lapses in mental and physical stamina an hour. And you should know that this person may require naps (she can get a doctor's note) and you will need to make accommodations for that. You should also know that the meds this person will need to take to continue being a breathing employee won't do the trick for long, so factor that into your long range plans and the return on your investment. Oh, and by the way, if she contracts an infection while employed by you, you can rest assured that you have just opened yourself up for some major liability issues.

Really? Does anyone else find it morbidly amusing that we all pay for this level of expertise? Not to toot my own horn (that would be a whole new blog, and possibly inappropriate) but I know more about the prognostics of this disease than these idiots. As a matter of fact, our entire family and circle of friends (and our pets, the birds in the yard, the rolly poleys in the garden, etc.) know more than the incompetent panel of doctors and other people whose training is paid for by Uncle Sam. 

Maybe I should apply for a government job reviewing medical disability claims to supplement our income, since my wife is such a slacker.  No, that wouldn't work.  I don't qualify since I have the ability to  do limited research and comprehend the information presented to me.  Too many working brain cells at this point.  Maybe when I get senile.

Needless to say, we are appealing this travesty.