SSDI (Where to start)

[Fminuto]

I have been out of work since April 2013, I got laid off and I started collecting unemployment at the time I knew I was POZ but was not taking medication because most of my jobs have been thru job agencies where they offer health coverage but the cost was outrageous and I just could afford to be on meds, also I was running from myself in denial of something I could run from so I always avoided doctors due to the fear which in turn has given me social aniexty from years of staying away from friends and family members, but since obamacare I have been able to obtain my ID doc, PCP, lung specialist and I just started therapy for my depression and aniexties!

It all started going wrong in December of 2013, I started feeling really sick and I had to be taken to emergency and the ER doc placed me in an air tight room and was confided to the room until results and labs were returned, they believed I had TB, my hair was falling out, I had uncontrollable fevers and was coughing blood, I had swollen lymph nodes all on my body I was in bad shape, but two years before all this in 2011 I had the worse shingles outbreak of my life gave me some nerve damage on my left side. So I spent my Christmas and NYs in the hospital which was not bad because family can be stressful... In result after a month, 4 blood cultures, lung scoping and labs it came to that I had a CD4 of 13 and a load over a million with lesions in my lungs, since then I've been tired, full of aniexty and I'm ready to apply for SSDI, any advice is much appreciated.

[zach]

start by getting every scrap of paper that looks like a medical record, more the merrier

next, the hospital should have some sort of financial assistance department that can assist and guide you

schlep yourself to your local SS office, take a number, and start the process

at some point, you'll want to consider getting legal representation, it can help. willing to bet money that you'll be denied at least once. see mitch's thread... a LTS who is far more deserving than i am of being approved. government is making him jump through flaming hoops of death and still have recently denied him.

http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=45176.0;topicseen

i think i was successful only because my hospital is a state hospital and my total bill ran into the hundreds of thousands... they represented me in order to get paid themselves, me getting SSDI was just gravy on the side

i can tell you, i now regret it. all that was before ACA ObamaCare... if i had it to do over again, i would not go on disability. there is no half measure, they force you to go all in or nothing. now, i worry if/when i return to work there may come a day when i need to go back on SSDI, and it will be manifestly more difficult to do it the second time

the process is the punishment... it is not easy, good luck

[leatherman]

I'm ready to apply for SSDI, any advice is much appreciated.

be prepared to get onto meds (ART ie HIV meds, and some prophylaxis like Bactrim), get better in a couple of months to half a year, and go back to work, saving up for when you retire in your 80s.

unlike the 80s-90s, HIV is now a chronic, manageable illness as long as you have access to healthcare. I read you have an ACA plan and that's great. If by chance that falls through you'll probably be eligible for state medicaid and/or some help from ADAP (aids drug assistance program). Most HIV+ people have pretty decent access to health care and prescriptions meds these days. Also the meds are totally amazing and literally bring the almost-death back to life. These days lots of people, including 20 and 30 yr survivors, are denied over and over during a 3 to 5 yr process. Much less, living on disability the rest of your life can be a terrible life. You'll be much better off thinking positive thoughts while working on getting healthy and getting a job.

[initforlife]

You can apply on line at the  SSA website.  you don't have to go in they will send you everything you need and you mail it back to them....but do have every DR's name number and address from the last few years ready they will need it all! and good luck!