Seems I'm always asking for Purrs...

Sorry, but here we go again. Tomorrow at 12:30 I have an appointment set up
by the Social Security Disability folks for a medical exam. They called
last week and told me to expect the paperwork in the mail. I got the
paperwork and was mildly surprised to find the exam is not for my IBS or
depression - it's for arthritis. Now, I never claimed to have clinically
diagnosed arthritis. But I mentioned to the local case worker I take
aspirin a couple of times a day due to aches in my arms. She apparently
noted this in my paperwork before sending it off to the state capitol. I
reiterated to the new case worker in Nashville I have NOT been diagnosed
with arthritis. But she's sending me off tomorrow to get X-rays to
determine whether or not I have arthritis. (I don't know; maybe it's just
normal to have your arms ache when you're middle aged.)

I can only surmise (probably a bad idea) they took the medical records my
regular doctor sent at face value since they (so far) aren't sending me to
anyone to evaluate those claims. Oh, and I got a travel voucher; they
calculated the mileage and will reimburse me $11.20 USD after I see the
doctor.

Anyway, any spare purrs for my visit tomorrow would be appreciated.

OB Cats: Persia successfully killed another paper bag this morning. It was
apparently full of greeblings

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.

Purrs from my crew that everything turns out in your favor.
Holly, Pheniox, Sasha and Isabella (who has finally been accepted)

Problems in your neck could very well make your arms hurt. And if you have
IBS it might be that you have other autoimmune problems such as some form of
Inflammatory arthritis.

This won't necessarily be the only exam they send you for. I had two. One
for depression and another for arthritis. Deaf they took my word (or my
doctors word) for.

They will sometimes approve disability for a combination of problems where
they would not for any one problem by itself. They also look into your
occupation, your work history and consider your age.

Jo


"jmcquown" wrote in message
.. .
Sorry, but here we go again. Tomorrow at 12:30 I have an appointment set
up
by the Social Security Disability folks for a medical exam. They called
last week and told me to expect the paperwork in the mail. I got the
paperwork and was mildly surprised to find the exam is not for my IBS or
depression - it's for arthritis. Now, I never claimed to have clinically
diagnosed arthritis. But I mentioned to the local case worker I take
aspirin a couple of times a day due to aches in my arms. She apparently
noted this in my paperwork before sending it off to the state capitol. I
reiterated to the new case worker in Nashville I have NOT been diagnosed
with arthritis. But she's sending me off tomorrow to get X-rays to
determine whether or not I have arthritis. (I don't know; maybe it's just
normal to have your arms ache when you're middle aged.)

I can only surmise (probably a bad idea) they took the medical records my
regular doctor sent at face value since they (so far) aren't sending me to
anyone to evaluate those claims. Oh, and I got a travel voucher; they
calculated the mileage and will reimburse me $11.20 USD after I see the
doctor.

Anyway, any spare purrs for my visit tomorrow would be appreciated.

OB Cats: Persia successfully killed another paper bag this morning. It
was
apparently full of greeblings

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.

Jo Firey wrote:
Problems in your neck could very well make your arms hurt. And if
you have IBS it might be that you have other autoimmune problems such
as some form of Inflammatory arthritis.

I've had pains in my left neck & shoulder which I initially attributed to
sleeping in a weird position. But I surely can't be sleeping that way all
the time? Heat helps with it; those Thermacare patches are nice. I've also
(lately) had pressure in my chest. It is my understanding heart related
problems in women often manifest themselves in neck & shoulder pain - oh
joy.

John is very worried about this; he had bypass surgery last year and is
upset to hear about my feeling pressure in my chest and pain in my arms and
shoulder. What's a body to do? I'm under a lot of stress; bills due and no
income or good job prospects. (sigh)

This won't necessarily be the only exam they send you for. I had
two. One for depression and another for arthritis. Deaf they took
my word (or my doctors word) for.

I'm sure they'll send me for another. But when I filed (back in October)
the notification on the web site indicated they would have to make a
determination by 3/5. So they are running out of time... or I am.

They will sometimes approve disability for a combination of problems
where they would not for any one problem by itself. They also look
into your occupation, your work history and consider your age.

Jo


"jmcquown" wrote in message
.. .
Sorry, but here we go again. Tomorrow at 12:30 I have an
appointment set up
by the Social Security Disability folks for a medical exam. They
called last week and told me to expect the paperwork in the mail. I
got the paperwork and was mildly surprised to find the exam is not
for my IBS or depression - it's for arthritis. Now, I never claimed
to have clinically diagnosed arthritis. But I mentioned to the
local case worker I take aspirin a couple of times a day due to
aches in my arms. She apparently noted this in my paperwork before
sending it off to the state capitol. I reiterated to the new case
worker in Nashville I have NOT been diagnosed with arthritis. But
she's sending me off tomorrow to get X-rays to determine whether or
not I have arthritis. (I don't know; maybe it's just normal to have
your arms ache when you're middle aged.)

I can only surmise (probably a bad idea) they took the medical
records my regular doctor sent at face value since they (so far)
aren't sending me to anyone to evaluate those claims. Oh, and I got
a travel voucher; they calculated the mileage and will reimburse me
$11.20 USD after I see the doctor.

Anyway, any spare purrs for my visit tomorrow would be appreciated.

OB Cats: Persia successfully killed another paper bag this morning.
It was
apparently full of greeblings

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.

On 2005-02-02, jmcquown penned:
Jo Firey wrote:
Problems in your neck could very well make your arms hurt. And if you have
IBS it might be that you have other autoimmune problems such as some form
of Inflammatory arthritis.

I've had pains in my left neck & shoulder which I initially attributed to
sleeping in a weird position. But I surely can't be sleeping that way all
the time? Heat helps with it; those Thermacare patches are nice. I've also
(lately) had pressure in my chest. It is my understanding heart related
problems in women often manifest themselves in neck & shoulder pain - oh
joy.

I have posture problems, and my chiro recommended one of those weird memory
foam pillows for me. My lower back hurt the first few nights, but since then
I'm pretty happy with it. It encourages my neck to curve properly
(apparently, I somehow developed the habit of keeping my neck straight, so my
spine curves too much to accomodate). Anyway, the reason I mention this is,
whether I sleep on my side or my back, the pillow seems to discourage really
bizarre sleeping positions. Maybe something like this could help? I hate to
suggest it, as it costs money and I have no idea if it would actually help.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2005-02-02, jmcquown penned:
Jo Firey wrote:
Problems in your neck could very well make your arms hurt. And if
you have IBS it might be that you have other autoimmune problems
such as some form of Inflammatory arthritis.

I've had pains in my left neck & shoulder which I initially
attributed to sleeping in a weird position. But I surely can't be
sleeping that way all the time? Heat helps with it; those
Thermacare patches are nice. I've also (lately) had pressure in my
chest. It is my understanding heart related problems in women often
manifest themselves in neck & shoulder pain - oh joy.

I have posture problems, and my chiro recommended one of those weird
memory foam pillows for me. My lower back hurt the first few nights,
but since then I'm pretty happy with it. It encourages my neck to
curve properly (apparently, I somehow developed the habit of keeping
my neck straight, so my spine curves too much to accomodate).
Anyway, the reason I mention this is, whether I sleep on my side or
my back, the pillow seems to discourage really bizarre sleeping
positions. Maybe something like this could help? I hate to suggest
it, as it costs money and I have no idea if it would actually help.

Hey, I'm open to any and all suggestions Thank you for your thoughts on
the matter. (I use a feather pillow which I tend to bunch around my neck in
a sort of U shape for supporting my neck.)

Jill

In article , "Monique Y.
Mudama" wrote:



I have posture problems, and my chiro recommended one of those weird
memory
foam pillows for me. My lower back hurt the first few nights, but since
then
I'm pretty happy with it. It encourages my neck to curve properly
(apparently, I somehow developed the habit of keeping my neck straight,
so my
spine curves too much to accomodate). Anyway, the reason I mention this
is,
whether I sleep on my side or my back, the pillow seems to discourage
really
bizarre sleeping positions. Maybe something like this could help? I
hate to
suggest it, as it costs money and I have no idea if it would actually
help.


To put things on topic, and to give the purrs, I have a certain degree
of feline enforcement of sleeping positions. I tend to lie on my side,
which is probably best for me. That will get Mr. Clark on my hip or a
little above. A 17 pound heating pad does get achy, but if I lie on my
back, I will get a massage and bath. If, however, I roll onto my
stomach, it is understood that my back belongs to Ding.

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 14:07:03 -0700, "Monique Y. Mudama"
wrote:

I have posture problems, and my chiro recommended one of those weird memory
foam pillows for me. My lower back hurt the first few nights, but since then
I'm pretty happy with it. It encourages my neck to curve properly
(apparently, I somehow developed the habit of keeping my neck straight, so my
spine curves too much to accomodate). Anyway, the reason I mention this is,
whether I sleep on my side or my back, the pillow seems to discourage really
bizarre sleeping positions. Maybe something like this could help? I hate to
suggest it, as it costs money and I have no idea if it would actually help.

My mom got one of those pillows for my Dad. He initially resisted
using it, but now he wouldn't be without it. In fact it's very well
travelled, as they've taken it to Europe and on a couple cruises.

Also, adding purrs that things work out with your claim. Sometimes it
seems like they have a script they follow to delay claims as long as
possible.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy and Little Bit

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

On 2005-02-03, Steve Touchstone penned:
On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 14:07:03 -0700, "Monique Y. Mudama"
wrote:

I have posture problems, and my chiro recommended one of those weird memory
foam pillows for me. My lower back hurt the first few nights, but since
then I'm pretty happy with it. It encourages my neck to curve properly
(apparently, I somehow developed the habit of keeping my neck straight, so
my spine curves too much to accomodate). Anyway, the reason I mention this
is, whether I sleep on my side or my back, the pillow seems to discourage
really bizarre sleeping positions. Maybe something like this could help? I
hate to suggest it, as it costs money and I have no idea if it would
actually help.

My mom got one of those pillows for my Dad. He initially resisted using it,
but now he wouldn't be without it. In fact it's very well travelled, as
they've taken it to Europe and on a couple cruises.

Also, adding purrs that things work out with your claim. Sometimes it seems
like they have a script they follow to delay claims as long as possible.

Not my claim! CatNipped's! I just have the pillow ...

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

"jmcquown" wrote in message
. ..
I've had pains in my left neck & shoulder which I initially attributed to
sleeping in a weird position. But I surely can't be sleeping that way all
the time? Heat helps with it; those Thermacare patches are nice. I've also
(lately) had pressure in my chest. It is my understanding heart related
problems in women often manifest themselves in neck & shoulder pain - oh
joy.

After you get your disability, you can get a prescription or the PT person can
give you something that looks like a small bedroll. You put it in the pillow
and forms a sort of little log for the neck for those with neck problems. It's
paid for by PT or physical therapy and runs around $20. I got one and it works
although it sometimes rolls around in my pillow. Keep your neck nice and
parallel when sleeping.

There is now a common Fast CT Scan. It's somewhat cheap and covered by
insurance. It's a cheap and easy way to find out if your arteries are
calcified. It WILL NOT detect soft deposits. It will detect hardening of the
arteries by zeroing in on the calcium deposits. It's several hundred dollars
but your insurance should cover it when you get insurance, assuming you do not
have any for the moment.

The neck and shoulder pain might be the complex called fibromyalgia or chronic
fatigue syndrome. This can be diagnosed by a series of tender spots on the
shoulder and neck area. It's also associated with depression. The spots are on
the upper back and with a light sleep pattern, I'll bet this is something that
might be a cause for you. Granted this gets a lot of bad press as an illness.

One common, well should be common treatment, are extremely low dosages of
SSRI's, about 1/4 the usual dosage. The point is to get someone undepressed
enough so they can get some normal sleep, the deep sleep of delta waves. Often
the people are not getting deep sleep and that leads to the aches and pains and
even I would guess IBS. This can be diagnosed by sleep EEGs but that's well,
well. Anyway, it's a very light dosage, 1/4th the normal dosage for the SSRI's
(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Since 1/4th, well tolerated, just
enough to smooth you out during sleep and during the day.

Inositol can achieve what SSRI's do and it's available in health food stores.
But it's the same price as a prescription for SSRI's (Zoloft Paxil Prozac). A
natural product, really derived from the B vitamins. It will perk you up.
Couple tablespoons in orange juice. Au naturel. It's in the medical literature.
I am not making this up although it's not widely known for some reason.
Meroowwrr.

I am not a doctor. Nor do I play one in the streets. But I read the literature
and have correctly diagnosed people which is then confirmed by their lazy
doctors! Usually in person. Doing this over the internet is a bit silly but I
was concerned about your going for disability which can be a super hassle
depending on where you live.

Oh, if you get any static, see a lawyer. Going to the formal hearing without a
lawyer is probably a big-time no-no from what I hear. I don't know how this
works but a lawyer will step in when the administrative person tries to trip
you up with tricky questions to make you look bad. And that's very easy to do
without a lawyer to say, you don't have to answer that...