The SSA hearing lasted a little over an hour. The judge was rather nice and wasn't condescending (unlike a couple of the lawyers I spoke with prior to this hearing). He asked me questions, had me describe a typical day, what my work history was like before I got diagnosed with FMS, the kind of jobs I thought I could still perform (honestly, your honor, none, I told him). Then an occupational expert testified about the types of jobs that my skills could transfer to, if I could hypothetically still perform these jobs based on hypothetical situations ("if I reduced her work time from eight hours to four, could she still do these jobs?" "...from four to two hours..." etc.). Then (and this is good...), the judge asked the expert "if she were working, but missed quite a bit of work because of her disability, would she still be able to keep her job?", the expert said, no, because according to the DOT, a worker could only be absent one day a month. Any more than that, and it beomes a dependibility issue. My question was, if I could only work one or two days a week, what employer in their right mind would hire me?
Still, I don't hold out any hope of getting approved. The judge understood that because I had no income, I couldn't afford to see any doctors to get treatment for FMS. If I do get disability and SSI, I will be quite shocked and surprised and extremely happy. I would go out and restart treatment so I could go back to work someday. I can't retire for 27 years, so going back to work would be a priority in my life. It's just right now, I can't work for more than an hour without pain.
Right now, I'm in pain, so I gotta go.
MorelaterZ--
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