A day in the life of the self made man.

[Flatulo]

63. Not all disabilities put one in a wheelchair.

People with degenerative disc disease, a common malady for those of us over 50, may be able to walk a few hundred yards, or if they're lucky, a quarter mile or so. Often times the sufferer may only be able to sit or stand for an hour or so before the pain becomes unbearable. The usual treatment (when surgery isnt a viable option), is opiate pain meds, which come with a whole host of side-effects, including chronic constipation (which can become so bad that one can become completely impacted, requiring surgery to remove and resection part of the intestine), and the loss of one's teeth, not to mention impotence, nausea and abdominal pain.

Often spinal epidurals will be administered to reduce the constant inflammation. This involves inserting a bunch of 6" needles into the epidural space and injecting cortico-steroids. Side effects include partial or full paralysis and death. The treatment only partially relieves symptoms, and then only for two months or so before they need to be repeated.

Some days, for no reason at all, the back muscles may go into spasm, making it impossible to even move one inch. Out comes the bedpan when this happens. You're trapped on the floor for a week to 10 days, wishing you were dead every minute of the time.

The sufferer may otherwise look fine, but in fact is living an existence of sheer misery.

I know all this because I have been living this nightmare for the past few years. I have two ruptured discs, radicular neuropathy, stenosis, a grade 2 spondylolisthesis (slippage between two vertabrae), and severe facet joint arthritis. I had to stop working a year ago and applied for SSDI. I'm not even going to try to tell you how much I've suffered. Many times I thought about blowing my brains out to stop the pain. I was just awarded my benefit this week after a five month wait, which I am told was a land speed record. In order to be awarded benefits, I had to produce MRIs, X-rays and CT scans an doctor's notes going back 10 years. I had to get multiple surgeons to write letters to the SS Administration. I had to be examined by their doctors as well. The whole process was something of a nightmare.

So no matter what you may have heard, it's actually pretty hard to be awarded disability. If you're faking it, they will know. If there is the slightest chance that you could perform meaningful labor, they will require you to do so. If there is the slightest chance that rehabilitation or physical therapy would allow you to return to work, you will be required to do so.

I'm sure that there are malingerers taking advantage of the system, but I bet it's not as many as you think. Maybe back in the day it was easier to get benefits, but now it's extremely difficult.

I also get that you work very hard. I did too, for 37 years. I'm not ashamed that I'm getting my benefit, because I paid into the system for most of my life, and always the maximum amount because I was a high wage earner. No one is pooh-poohing your labor, and if they are, then they're idiots. But no one is asking anything of you other than to pay your taxes, just like we all do.

You might need this life-saving program yourself some day. You just never know.