I have no iidea whether AN post-op complications, especially headaches, constitute a disability under Social Security rules, which can be arcane and seem to favor mental problems such as depression over physical problems, which I find absurd.
My wife filed for SS disability - based on extensive spinal injuries caused by an auto accident in '97 - and it took almost 3 years and the retention of an attorney 'specializing' in Social Security cases for her to receive a favorable ruling and an 'award' (benefits granted). This delay occured despite many physicians reports submitted to the SSA, including some physicians 'appointed' by the SSA to examine her and her medical records. She is still collecting SS benefits. She is sent a form every year to attest that she continues to be disabled and about every three years, she is ordered to submit to an 'outside' physicians exam (from a doctor, usually about 30 miles away, that doesn't 'know' her) to establish that her disability persists. The assumption on the part of the SS bureaucracy that her 'regular' physician is lying or too stupid to know a faker from a genuine diisability situation is insulting to him, in my opinion. Not that anyone cares about my opinion in the SS bureaucracy. These 'outside' physicians, paid by the SSA, are not inclined to find a disability persists. However, in my wife's case, her many spinal-related surgeries basically make her case. Her neurosurgeon is also very well-known and respected in his field and does not pander to malingering patients as he is far too busy for such nonsense - and most area doctors know this.
She endures all this bureaucratic nonsense for about half of what she earned while employed - for almost 30 years. Fortunately, my wife had disability insurance at work, which was
supposed to pay her 70% of her salary if she became disabled. It does, in a way. The insurer demanded that she file for SS benefits first, as they are - in their words - an
'entitlement'. The insurance company pays her about 20% of the 70% they promised, because SS pays close to half of the amount that makes up the 70% of her former salary. Clever, no? She paid good money for disability 'income-protection insurance' and when she tries to collect on it, the company shifts most of the financial burden onto taxpayers in the form of Social Security Disability and it's attendant delays and hurdles, ostensibly to deter fraud. Right. Ah, well. It probably could be worse - and we are grateful for the income.
I certainly wish Deb well at her SS hearing and I hope that her headaches, whatever the actual cause, AN or otherwise, can be controlled, if not eventually eliminated. I cannot imagine having headaches that intense for very long. As one of the 'lucky ones' who had an almost complication-free recovery from AN removal surgery (and follow-up FSR) I can only say:
Good luck, Captain Deb!
Jim[/color]
