It was one year ago today that a kidney stone lodged in my left kidney caused an infection that made me dizzy and I fell getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night giving me the Full Rotator Cuff Tear.
(Read about that incident at this post HERE)
Now, here it is, one year later and I'm only about 40-60% better.
Sigh...
The pain remains (though not as strong) and one more year of not being able to work goes by (also hampered by the damned kidney stones that persist montly. Speaking of not being able to work....
I get a call yesterday morning from Social Security (hereafter SSI) because they finally got around to looking at my application for disability benefits and I guess their computers are tied to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board's (hereafter RRB) computers and they call to tell me that according to RRB I have 10 years of service (120 months) so that means I am "vested" with RRB and cannot collect from SSI (which is true if I have 10 years of service through the RRB), they said if this is a mistake then I should have RRB fax SSI a statement confirming this is an error so that SSI can override their computer to continue processing my application.
So I call the RRB and find out that I do indeed have 120 months of compensated service (I was told in mid-March it was about 102 months - specifically that I had to work "another year and a half" to become "vested" with RRB)!
So we (me & the RRB) begin the fact-gathering process over the phone and they will send out a paper application and some medical release forms (so they can verify I am indeed sick and all the crap that's been done to me) and so I call SSI back to let them know about this new development. SSI (since they were already processing my paperwork) said they will continue to process until I am definitively confirmed though RRB for benefits (just in case).
SSI can take up to 6 months before benefits begin and RRB said it could take about 5 months.
So hopefully in 5 months I'll begin receiving RRB disability benefits (which will be about twice as much per month as SSI).
Also through RRB my benefits will become retroactive from a year of my application date (in this case June 1, 2005 - unless they can track down who I spoke with mid-March, in which case March 15, 2005). So I'll receive one year disability back-payments for my benefits plus the monthly disability payments from that point on.
So I'm a little relived that RRB came through, though I am a little ticked that 2 1/2 months ago they gave be bad info and wasted time through SSI.
Oh well, hopefully the gears will grind faster at the RRB than through SSI, although any bureaucratic system that pays out what people pay in will take their good old time doing so, no matter how desperately the person waiting for it needs it.
As much as I hate the term disabled, I have to face the fact that my body is not letting me do the normal things most people take for granted and that I am in some way disabled, but I need the help more than I care about being called disabled, so I guess I have no choice but to live with that stigma.
So that's the new medical-ish news from here.
Nothing else to say about my overall health state since I can't afford to see any of my many doctors to see if all is still quiet with my Crohn's, kidney stones, rotator cuff or ulcers!
My front tree lost a limb in Thursday night's major storm that passed through the "Northeast" (SE PA), yesterday and today’s weather remains miserable and oppressive (humidity/heat).
I've had the beginnings of a migraine (though a full-blown migraine has not started) since about 2pm Thursday and my right arm hardly moves (both probably because the weather is so crappy).
This week my father convinced his neighbors to hold a Block Sale today and I had to go over and try to sell some of my remaining crappy personal belongings for a few bucks; I made $5.50!
Until next time....
RobMac
