Each Day Already is a Challenge

My day

After getting Derek from work, I rested and checked my map for getting to my disability attorney's office. I haven't been there for over a year, and my forgetter works real good.

He asked what new maladies and/or symptoms I might have developed over the past year. The medical records he has are only up-to-date to mid-2005, so he has to request records from then to now. Not much time to get them and forward a copy to the court by July 6. Grrr... I liked it better when he had an assistant to keep up with that stuff.

He explained the forms that I have to fill out and send in. A confirmation that I will be in court. A record of medications I take. And a record of any work I might have done since mid-2005. Pretty easy stuff. I'll be able to get that in tomorrow's mail.

Then he explained the court procedures. There are 11 possible judges. Three of them are totally open to fibromyalgia cases and approve as soon as they see that medical records back up the diagnosis. Of course I didn't get one of them. Three don't believe that fibro is disabling. Thankfully, I also didn't get one of those. The remaining judges are probably more what one would expect of a judge. They read the medical records, listen to the supposed disabled person and any witnesses, consult with a vocational expert (and a doctor if they have chosen to have one present...my judge has not), then make a decision.

The judge will be asking me some questions that day - about my normal routines, what I can and cannot do around the house, my pain levels, etc. They are questions I can certainly answer, but my attorney wanted me to be prepared.

The interesting thing is the vocational expert that will be in the court room. She will have read through the medical records, but her testimony will not be on them. She will be asked first if a person of my age, with the maladies I have, could work a full time job. If she says yes, she will be asked what those jobs are and how many there are in the US, the region and in my city. (Hmmm. If the job(s) she thinks I could do were only located in Alaska, would they expect my hubby to move?)

Next, she will be reminded of what my specific medical file and my doctors' reports say about my abilities and disabilities, then asked the same question. What jobs can I do based upon this information? How many of said jobs are there in the US, the region, my city.

Finally, she will be reminded of what I said -and my witness(es) said - about what I can and cannot do. And she will be asked again what full time jobs I could do and how many are in the US, the region and my city.

After all of this, the judge will make his decision based upon the medical records, the vocational expert, and whether or not he feels that I am credible. Unfortunately, this judge does not make quick decisions. My attorney took two cases to him in January of this year. One just received an answer; the other has not yet been decided.

Time for me to make some notes about what a typical day is really all about.

Like today. I picked up my son. Rested. Got ready. Drove to my attorney's office. Spent 1 1/2 hours there. Drove back. Called hubby. Rested. Talked to my baby sister on the phone. Rested some more. Typed this blog entry.

Now...my house is a mess. I have a ton of laundry to do. There are dishes in the sink.
And what am I going to do about all of those things?

Nothing. I'm going to take a nap. Hubby should be calling at about 4:20ish to tell me he's on his way home from work. So my next rest will be a real, honest-to-goodness nap of about an hour and 20+/- minutes.

Nitey-nite.