Frazzled

[Mary Maureen]

Hello,

I am 51 years old. I have surgery in 1978 at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland Ohio. I have a Harrington Rod. I have 2 vertebrae in my neck that are fused. I was born this way and I have no pain as a result. My rod is broken but is not currently causing any issues. I have been in pain for about 5 years now. My lower back hurts all the time. I am not happy.

I recently saw Dr Eppig of the Cleveland Clinic. He did a cat scan and an MRI. I have 4 vertebrae and 3 discs below the fusion that have done all the work for the past 35 years. The 3 disc between the vertebrae are very damaged. He wants to do a fusion of these four vertebrae. This is a very large surgery with a long long recovery. I am scared.

I cannot afford not to work. Does anyone know anything about social security disability? I don’t know what I should do.

Thank you for listening,

Moe

[LindaRacine]

Hello,

I am 51 years old. I have surgery in 1978 at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland Ohio. I have a Harrington Rod. I have 2 vertebrae in my neck that are fused. I was born this way and I have no pain as a result. My rod is broken but is not currently causing any issues. I have been in pain for about 5 years now. My lower back hurts all the time. I am not happy.

I recently saw Dr Eppig of the Cleveland Clinic. He did a cat scan and an MRI. I have 4 vertebrae and 3 discs below the fusion that have done all the work for the past 35 years. The 3 disc between the vertebrae are very damaged. He wants to do a fusion of these four vertebrae. This is a very large surgery with a long long recovery. I am scared.

I cannot afford not to work. Does anyone know anything about social security disability? I don’t know what I should do.

Thank you for listening,

Moe

Hi Moe...

If you decide to have surgery, you should be able to receive short-term disability from the state of Ohio. I don't know how it works there, but your employer or your surgeon's office can help.

Regards,
Linda

[jackieg412]

Hi Mary,

It is so hard to do this big surgery and recovery takes a long time. In Illinois{where I live} I was able to get on disabily. the state should not make any difference as it is Social Security. You have to plan on it taking sometime . And from what I know , you can go on and off of diablity.
I have remained on disability as my type of work is not possible with a fused spine.
I will be glad to answer you questions and would suggest you make an appointment to talk to someone at the local office.
Jackie