Big sigh of relief! I had my interview on Wednesday morning last week. My case manager told me it would take two to three weeks to reach a decision. They came to a decision and alerted my employer within a matter of about three hours. It was that much of an open and shut case. I knew I had some issues..but damn!! I contacted MetLife today, and they were able to verify that indeed I was approved. I contacted my former(I love saying that) employer's payroll department, and they were able to verify that they were notified by H.R. on Friday to remove me from payroll records. Nice thing about that is that I now have access to all the profit sharing funds that were contributed to my 401k. The "termination" was backdated to 10/16.
I have so many questions now for my case manager now, but he is out of the office on vacation until the 6th of November. Not that big of a deal I guess. I have, at least, the next 2 years off of work. I filled out the necessary paperwork for Social Security online over the weekend. Took a minimum of 10 hours of work. It was ridiculous. I then had to print up and fill out 24 pages of paperwork on top of that. Cost me almost $2.00 just to mail twenty miles. It's been a hectic weekend to put it lightly. Nice thing is, I have no deadlines; no assignments to do over the next 3 to 5 days. Just a therapy appointment on Wednesday. I'm going to bed in fact at 10:35 tonight, and have no reason to get up before 9am tomorrow. Good night.
Showing posts with label Long Term Disability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Long Term Disability. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
I've Been Approved For Long Term Disability - I Think?
MetLife called me on 10/21/09, and did a phone interview with me regarding the Tourette's and the PTSD. The interview was scheduled to last 20 minutes, and ended up lasting and hour and ten minutes. My case manager told me that it would take the clinicians approximately two to three weeks to make their decision and let me know.
I go to my mailbox yesterday and I have a letter from my employer. I think, nothing new. I get two or three needless letters a week from them. I open this one up and the first thing I see is a pamphlet explaining my rights as a terminated employee. It is a letter from Human Resources saying that they received notification from MetLife on 10/21/09 that my claim for long term was approved. Don't get me wrong, I am super super excited, but something doesn't seem right. A two to three week approval process shortened to one day? If this is correct, I am shocked at how quickly it was able to go through and am absolutely thrilled that I don't have to go through this anymore with them. But something tells me that this letter was sent out prematurely. I have to wait until tomorrow to see if, indeed, this is true or not.
Wish me luck.
eta...I also have 12 pages of medical information and job history to fill out for the Social Security Administration today....might need more luck with that.
I go to my mailbox yesterday and I have a letter from my employer. I think, nothing new. I get two or three needless letters a week from them. I open this one up and the first thing I see is a pamphlet explaining my rights as a terminated employee. It is a letter from Human Resources saying that they received notification from MetLife on 10/21/09 that my claim for long term was approved. Don't get me wrong, I am super super excited, but something doesn't seem right. A two to three week approval process shortened to one day? If this is correct, I am shocked at how quickly it was able to go through and am absolutely thrilled that I don't have to go through this anymore with them. But something tells me that this letter was sent out prematurely. I have to wait until tomorrow to see if, indeed, this is true or not.
Wish me luck.
eta...I also have 12 pages of medical information and job history to fill out for the Social Security Administration today....might need more luck with that.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
I Am Developing New Tourette's Tics
As mentioned on 10/17/09, I saw my neurologist. He said there was a definite possibility that the word association issues that I have been having, the accents, the stuttering, may all be new forms of tics. My brain may be developing them in order to replace the motor tics that have gone away as a result of the medication.
Today, while eating lunch, I demonstrated a new tic. I started clapping my hands. It was extremely embarrassed, as it had never happened before.
I have no idea what is happening. It is as if you plug up one leak in a dam and the water finds a way to make it's way out of the dam. These tics want to escape my brain, my body, any way they can. It is becoming very frustrating.
I am supposed to be counter balancing my decrease in Topamax. I was taken from 375 to 300mg a day, and was supposed to be taking 10mg of Abilify to help with both minimizing the tics and to help with my PTSD. I can't afford the Abilify. I have been so tired lately, at all times of the day, so I'm not taking my anti-anxiety medication. I am constantly on edge and cranky, and l am starting to get discouraged with my new daily reality.
My long term disability was supposed to be approved or denied the day before yesterday, but I haven't received word yet. I am hoping I can at least get this part of things get this major stress in my life. I will keep you posted.
Today, while eating lunch, I demonstrated a new tic. I started clapping my hands. It was extremely embarrassed, as it had never happened before.
I have no idea what is happening. It is as if you plug up one leak in a dam and the water finds a way to make it's way out of the dam. These tics want to escape my brain, my body, any way they can. It is becoming very frustrating.
I am supposed to be counter balancing my decrease in Topamax. I was taken from 375 to 300mg a day, and was supposed to be taking 10mg of Abilify to help with both minimizing the tics and to help with my PTSD. I can't afford the Abilify. I have been so tired lately, at all times of the day, so I'm not taking my anti-anxiety medication. I am constantly on edge and cranky, and l am starting to get discouraged with my new daily reality.
My long term disability was supposed to be approved or denied the day before yesterday, but I haven't received word yet. I am hoping I can at least get this part of things get this major stress in my life. I will keep you posted.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Life Update 10/13/2009
Last night was the first good night of sleep(7 hours) I've had in the last four to five days. Lately, I have either been going to bed at midnight and waking up at 4:15, or going to bed at 2:30 and waking up at 6:30.
Jessi decided to move the bed back to the bedroom from the living room. Our air conditioning unit was too small for this house, so, during the summer months, it would never drop below 85 in the bedroom. Now that it's getting cooler, we thought it was a good idea to give the old switcharoo a try. I must admit, I had a very pleasant, comfortable sleep, and the temperature of the room felt just right.
I have been fighting with my insurance company for them to make a decision on my long term disability status. I made a phone call on Thursday, and thankfully came in contact with a very helpful case manager. We had discovered that the long term process had not even been started for my case. Keep in mind, at that time, my short term disability was due to run out in seven days. He started the ball rolling and was going to get all the paperwork printed. He told me that process took at least 24 hours for their system to do, sometimes 48. Instead of mailing it to me, he was going to email it to me to save time. He said that if, for some reason, the system didn't generate the new claim until Saturday, he would come in on his day off and email it to me personally. He even gave me his direct number. I have spoken to maybe 30 different case managers at MetLife, and not one has given me their direct number. How is that for customer service?
I received the email at 4:45am Friday morning. It has almost 40 pages of attachments. Some to read. Most to fill out. They want everything from a 15 year job history, medication history, doctor history, medical procedure history, a description of my medical issues in my words...26 pages of handwritten documentation to fill out. The local homeowners association offices were kind enough to let me fax the paperwork from their offices at no charge yesterday. Metlife is putting a fast track on the paperwork, so hopefully I'll have a decision within a week. But now it's out of my hands. I have done everything I can. All I can do now is wait.
Side note: Lennon has peed in her "big girl potty" a second time. This time voluntarily. She ran from our room to hers and pointed to her potty. We took off her diaper, she sat down and did her business. She's growing up so fast. :)
Jessi decided to move the bed back to the bedroom from the living room. Our air conditioning unit was too small for this house, so, during the summer months, it would never drop below 85 in the bedroom. Now that it's getting cooler, we thought it was a good idea to give the old switcharoo a try. I must admit, I had a very pleasant, comfortable sleep, and the temperature of the room felt just right.
I have been fighting with my insurance company for them to make a decision on my long term disability status. I made a phone call on Thursday, and thankfully came in contact with a very helpful case manager. We had discovered that the long term process had not even been started for my case. Keep in mind, at that time, my short term disability was due to run out in seven days. He started the ball rolling and was going to get all the paperwork printed. He told me that process took at least 24 hours for their system to do, sometimes 48. Instead of mailing it to me, he was going to email it to me to save time. He said that if, for some reason, the system didn't generate the new claim until Saturday, he would come in on his day off and email it to me personally. He even gave me his direct number. I have spoken to maybe 30 different case managers at MetLife, and not one has given me their direct number. How is that for customer service?
I received the email at 4:45am Friday morning. It has almost 40 pages of attachments. Some to read. Most to fill out. They want everything from a 15 year job history, medication history, doctor history, medical procedure history, a description of my medical issues in my words...26 pages of handwritten documentation to fill out. The local homeowners association offices were kind enough to let me fax the paperwork from their offices at no charge yesterday. Metlife is putting a fast track on the paperwork, so hopefully I'll have a decision within a week. But now it's out of my hands. I have done everything I can. All I can do now is wait.
Side note: Lennon has peed in her "big girl potty" a second time. This time voluntarily. She ran from our room to hers and pointed to her potty. We took off her diaper, she sat down and did her business. She's growing up so fast. :)
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