I'm in Canada where the system is similar but not the same, so I can't advise you on the logistics.
What I can tell you is that the paperwork is difficult and there seem to be buzzwords or specific phrases that they look for in order to approve you. There is an art to completing the applications, in other words. It might be worth looking into whether you can access a social worker or health care advocate who can help you to complete the application process and give you some advice. This may help you to get approved the first time around and not have to appeal or re-apply. If there's nobody to help, look at the legislation and ensure your doctor uses the wording that reflects the wording in the statute, to describe your disability (ie. in Canada, it must be both "severe" and "prolonged", and both terms are defined. So the doctor must include details that meet those definitions. I'm sure there is similar wording in other jurisdictions (I don't know where you are, sorry if it's on your post and I'm just not seeing it.).
I think you can only apply once you and your doc have determined that you're no longer able to work. For me, it came out of the blue... I'd been working through and with pain and fatigue part-time, for way longer than I should have, and during a particularly busy period, I had a late evening meeting and just literally could not get up the next morning... I abandoned a book and an editorial board halfway through the meetings on the update that was due to be published, and a colleague had to pick up where I left off and finish the process and the book. Once I was no longer working I really crashed and realized just how far past healthy I'd been pushing myself... If I could go back and do it again, I would have realized sooner and helped to wrap things up or get a plan in place rather than just not show up out of the blue. My last words to my editorial board members as they got in the elevator at 9:30 pm in response to one of them saying, "you sound sick again", were "I've been sick for two years"... (I had no voice among other things). I guess my point is just because you're still sometimes able to make it to work doesn't mean you have to keep pushing yourself until you collapse. If you're not well enough to work and try to get better on your days off, quit before you get worse... Then deal with the fallout and paperwork. Those are my two cents, for what they're worth. I hope it all sorts itself out and you're able to find a combination of work, health and family that helps you get to a better place. I know how hard to is to be unable to participate with family, especially the fleeting stages in children's lives...
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly.
- English proverb.
Bookmarks