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Questions about osteoarthritis.
Bones, Joints & Muscles | Last Active: Aug 31, 2018 | Replies (41)Comment receiving replies
Hello @ssbionicknee
You were asking about your osteoarthritis and the possibility of applying for disability. If you care to share more, other than the arthritis, do you have other physical or emotional problems that might add to the need for disability?
There are professionals (lawyers and other advocates) who can help you determine whether or not you would qualify for disability. Sometimes, they have their own team of medical and psychological people who can help evaluate and help "plead your cause."
It would be good to talk with your medical doctor(s) and see what they say, then talk with a legal professional who specializes in this type of law and begin the process of putting your case together.
Generally speaking your first attempt to apply for disability benefits are often denied, and the second attempt (especially with professional legal counsel) helps to pull it through. These are of course just general guidelines.
Will you talk with your doctor(s) and get an opinion?
Replies to "Hello @ssbionicknee You were asking about your osteoarthritis and the possibility of applying for disability. If..."
My orthopedic records are all in one place because I have been going to them for years. I looked back at the records and besides the osteoarthritis, I saw that I had some degenerate disc disease in my spine and I believe my neck. I have a small tear in my rotator cuff from a fall and have fallen again since. I have Restless leg syndrome and ADHD which I take medication for, but still need to keep moving. I am being treated for anxiety and depression, which are under control. My feet overpronate and my sciatic nerve flares up along with my lower back. It has been worse lately. I am also still walking with a limp, which the doctor said is because my other knee is so bad. I was diagnosed with tendonitis in my right elbow as well. That is all I can remember at the moment. I am going to message the doctor and have been looking at the other comments. I have had 2 friends tell me to get a lawyer and I saw several comments advising that I do that as well. I believe that is the way I will go depending on what the doctor says. I appreciate the support and information from everyone.
I am glad to hear that everyone's posts have helped you with your thoughts of applying for disability benefits.
If you are comfortable doing so, as you investigate the matter of applying for disability benefits will you update us now and then regarding your progress?
I sure will.
To give an update, I have not had time to look into disability yet. The past 2 weeks have been insane. My new knee has become the stabilizing leg. However, the new knee has been bothering my when I drive so I try not to drive to far. I talked to the doctor today about the old knee and we decided that the shot was not going to help, so I need to go in and schedule the left knee for surgery. I would like to wait until the beginning of the year to have another TKR. In the meantime, I have an appointment with the shoulder doctor.I fell on my new knee a few weeks ago and landed on my new knee (which I highly don't recommend) as well as my right shoulder. This is the 3rd hit to my shoulder. My first fall caused a small tear in my rotator cuff and I did not require surgery, just PT. I fell a second time and put my right arm out to catch myself, which ended up with me spraining my wrist and my shoulder. Along with tendonitis. My neck and shoulder have been hurting since I fell, but I can only work on one body part at a time in PT. So I had to wait and it has gotten worse. So my plan is to have the shoulder looked at and most likely have PT for a while, plan the surgery for the first of the year and go ahead and look into disability. My PT told me that I did not need a lawyer because of having 2 TKR's. He said to gather all my records and get a disc with all my images on it. So that is the plan at this moment. I am hoping that I don;t have any more falls. My doctor says my weak knee is causing the falls.
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I just wanted to tell you my advice on applying for disability. It took me 3 years and 3 tries before I finally was approved. I did it twice on my own. I highly recommend hiring a disability attorney!!! It was well worth it and even then it still took over a year. An experienced disability attorney makes a great difference and they are paid out of your settlement.