Social Security

unknown said:

Your posts always make me smile (or think)!

You are terrific, thank you for being molimoli and interacting with all of us.  And yes, I honestly do believe in miracles, cause my son who had chemo when he was 16, and didn't save sperm for later, was able to father two children, my beautiful grandchildren.  The first, Nolan, was my miracle, because of the before mentioned chemo.  The doctor said it probably wouldn't be possible for him to father children, yet my first grandson called me tonight to wish me a happy birthday and to let me know he loved me.  Now this is from a kid that is in his early 20's and we all know most of them have more important things than to call their grandmother in the middle of the week.  So, if you are granted a miracle, let it be health , cancer free health, first, and then go for the little stringy things!  Hugs, and lots of laughter, Nancy

Through it you now have a 20+ yr. old buddy, So lovely of him to let you know you are loved on such a special day,I wish them both prosperity, good health and happiness. Happy belated my sister, Nuff love.

My interaction helps me tremendously as we learn from each other's candidness, and willingness to share.

Without you guys it would be an awfully lonely journey for me , so I recognize my blessing and cherish the company.Thank you all for accepting me when I am sane and when I am the opposite of, even when I am threatening to wear the stringy -thingy, how dare me even think it.Because I think it  I must do it but I hereby promise that I will only put it on once in my closet, like a 'not out of the closet yet' cross dresser . Only I will see me in it, thank the Lord,  LOL lots of times loudly but don't try to imagine anything but whatever ' yuck' looks like--Hello Cindi, I hear you.DWL

Thanks for the kind wishes, I wish the same for you and yours, my sister. Laughter lifts us up for sure.

Moli - sending back the hugs ++

En

pinky104 said:

Editgrl

I debated applying for Social Security disability and didn't.  I was a stage IVb case of UPSC.  I'd asked my doctor whether he'd felt I'd be considered disabled, since I'd just finished chemo and was doing well at that point.  I had just turned 62.  He said he had no reason to believe my cancer would definitely be coming back, and it hasn't.  I'm at 6 years from diagnosis now.  There were a couple of other reasons why I didn't apply.  I was afraid that it would be a long process getting Social Security disability, because I've heard that so many cases are denied. Regular Social Security asked me to wait until January to get my first check, and that was enough of a wait.  My disability from my job had ended in November, and I didn't want to go back to work, so I was a month without pay as it was.  Also, I'd heard many times that the fund for Social Security disability was running out of money earlier than that for regular Social Security. I didn't want to get used to a higher check and then have to go to a smaller one. I haven't heard any more about that lately.  I wonder what they're doing about that.  I thought the fund was supposed to run out sometime before 2020. 

When I applied for regular Social Security, there was a question on the form about whether or not I had a life-threatening illness.  I put down that I'd had stage IVb uterine cancer.  Later, I talked to someone from their office, questioning me about it, and they said they'd put a note on my case in the event that I decided to change my mind in the future.  I had previously worked in a hospital Personnel office where employees' disability cases were reviewed regularly and people who were out for too long had their cases analyzed more thoroughly.  I figured Social Security disability might do the same thing, and if my cancer hadn't come back, I might be ousted from it.   My sister-in-law had a friend with a 94 year old mother living with her, and one day, a man from Social Security came to her home to verify that the 94 year old was still alive. I've heard they do that regularly now on very elderly people who haven't filed a Medicare claim in 2 years.  I didn't want someone checking up on me, and finding me out working in my garden, looking healthy. 

I've probably lost out on a lot of money by not applying for this, so I'm probably foolish!    

All the social security talk is very interesting. I'm a retired teacher who didn't pay into social security with that job, but I did work many years with additional part time work where I earned social security benefits. My brother convinced me to begin taking my benefits at age 62 which I do. The payments are extremely small due to both early compensation and the fact that I get a teacher retirement benefit so they then severely decrease my social security benefit. Oh well at least it's something.

Moped7946 said:

disabilty

I sure FEEL disabled....everything wears me out and I haven't even had the hysterectomy yet...I just found out I have cancer 4/28/2016...is thre some reason why I would NOW be almost too tired to function??? My muscles are tired...my brain is wobbly...I AM wobbly...this is just weird...I didn't even realize today was May 1...

 

Getting a diagnosis of cancer can make ANYONE tired and wobbly (((Moped))).  You're at the right place and we're here for you.  Everybody on this board knows exactly how you feel.  I'm Eldri, 63, diagnosed in September 2015 with Stage II, UPSC.  I had three chemos and had to quit but a lot of the ladies on here just breezed through that chemo.  My hysterectomy was done with the DiVinci robot and it was the easiest surgery I've ever had.

If you have any questions, just ask.  Honestly there is very little that is off limits here as you can tell if you've read many of these posts - LOL!

Love,

Eldri

I called and did the 40 minute wait for a person. She was very nice and very informative. It would appear that Endo stage 4 def qualifies. The one thing I'm still not sure on is the working while receiving SS - I'm thinking that I could go back part time perhaps? The other issue is that SS is literally HALF my paycheck for the month, and I don't make a lot of money - $1434 would be SS amount - so I don't want to rush into anything as long as I can continue to work. Treatments are hard to get through at work - bathrooming, nausea, fatigue, napping, etc - but I am lucky to have the opportunity to work from home those days. Chemo for me is every threee weeks, on a Friday, so I take the week after chemo off and blend it with sick/vacaction/work at home hours. I am neck and neck with hours - as in, as soon as I earn time, I'm using it. I've never had this happen in 30 years - but this is new territory. I work in non-profit and we are a little more flexible when it comes to hours - but the downside is, I AM my entire division, so if I go on disability, my division either goes away OR there is no law to protect my exact position or my seniority. I guess I'm not ready to give up on working just yet. Stubbborn Irish woman.

Billie

Moped7946 said:

disabilty

I sure FEEL disabled....everything wears me out and I haven't even had the hysterectomy yet...I just found out I have cancer 4/28/2016...is thre some reason why I would NOW be almost too tired to function??? My muscles are tired...my brain is wobbly...I AM wobbly...this is just weird...I didn't even realize today was May 1...

 

I was tired for several years before I was diagnosed with stage IVb UPSC.  Whenever I was home on the weekends, I had to go back to bed and take a nap right after breakfast.  I just couldn't keep my eyes open.  I also developed bad hot flashes at night, about 8 or 9 years after I'd hit menopause.  I didn't have any at all before that.  I wasn't diagnosed until I was 10 years out from menopause, in spite of regular yearly physicals, including pap smears and visits to an OB/GYN.  I didn't experience unusual bleeding in the early stages like a lot of women have.

Moped , I felt terrible from the onset of symptoms. I knew in my heart something was terribly wrong. I was extremely tired and couldn't eat much. I found that I was very anemic. I believe the cancer caused it. I believe the doc thought it was from blood loss, but really I did not bleed heavily. Anyway after the surgery and 2 units of blood, I felt amazingly better, almost like my old self. That all lasted until radiation and chemo took affect. 

pinky104 said:

Moped7946

I was tired for several years before I was diagnosed with stage IVb UPSC.  Whenever I was home on the weekends, I had to go back to bed and take a nap right after breakfast.  I just couldn't keep my eyes open.  I also developed bad hot flashes at night, about 8 or 9 years after I'd hit menopause.  I didn't have any at all before that.  I wasn't diagnosed until I was 10 years out from menopause, in spite of regular yearly physicals, including pap smears and visits to an OB/GYN.  I didn't experience unusual bleeding in the early stages like a lot of women have.

I forgot to add that I too developed night sweats and hadn't done that until about 7 or eight years after menepause, probably a few weeks before blood:(