New 2 this forum..but not to the SSD game

[lauriesch22]

Hello all. I am Laurie, 30 years old, and have been trying to get SSD since 2003. We were in a car accident in 2002 which pretty much ruined my life. At the time of the accident I was a vibrant Registered Nurse, and sicne the accident, I have not worked a day.
I have had 2 lumbar spine surgeries, 1 surgery on my shoulder, countless hours of PT at 4 different physical therapy centers, been on countless different pain meds, tried the TENS units, and still I cannot find anything that offers me any relief from this constant pain that I am in.

I have been through the SSD processes once so far, and was denied at the ALJ and the reconsideration phase, so we started a whole new case with a new lawyer.

Right now we are awaiting an ALJ hearing date, and we have been waiting for over a year for that now. What a joke! I cant work, says ALL my docs, but I cant get any help from SSD. I am dirt poor, the accident case paid enough out to pay my medical bills from the accident, and basically I have no clue what to do.

I am really having a very hard time with life recently. Its depressing being 30 years old and basically an invalid. I cant do much, and thats really hard for my husband to accept also.

I guess any and all advise on what to do would be greatly appreciated!

[brians2000]

Hi Laurie this is Brian. I kinda know what you are going thru because I am 35 years old and running this SSD race with you. I applied in Sept but I haven't been turned down yet. I was born with scoliosis and had my first small three lumbar vertebra's fused when I was six in 1977. I was also in a major car accident in my tenth grade year 1986 that left me with a broken pelvis, head injury and paralyzed temporarily on my left side. Because of that wreck my scoliosis started getting much worse so in 1988 I had my first major 360 spine fusion from T4 to my Pelvis. Of course I was young and bounced back but I found out in 2000 my back never fully fused and I broke the 17" rods the doctor used to straighten my spine with. I had to undergo a second major 360 spine fusion with two new 17" rods from T4 to my pelvis and two pedicle screws. I only have the top four vertebras in my spine plus the ones in my neck to do the job of the 14 that are fused. In 2002 I started dealing with Chronic pain that made it hard for me to work. I started Avinza which is Morphine and I was on it until three months ago when I went on the Duragesic patch. You may ask to see if you can be on a pain med around the clock if your back is killing you. If there is anyway you can deal with the pain without long acting meds I would stick with that because once you go on meds you will most likely never come off them. I finally stopped working in July after losing two jobs since 2003. I cannot sit all day at a computer so I finally gave in and quite. My back problems were the reason i applied although I have a few other lifelong problems also which are listed in my signature below. Good luck to you and I hope you get approved soon. Brian