Prostate Cancer Can Become a Disabling Condition

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Editorial Board

Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly seen malignant cancers in men. More than 189,000 cases are reported annually in the U.S. alone and it is recognized as the second leading cause of cancer death in American people. In the year 2005, about 230,000 new cases and 30,000 deaths due to prostate cancer were reported in the U.S.

Prostate cancer develops in the prostate gland of the male reproductive system and if it turns malignant, the cancer cells can invade other body parts including bones and lymph nodes. It often causes difficulty in urination, sexual intercourse, and can lead to erectile dysfunction in affected men.

Other symptoms include painful urination, increased urination at night, blood in urine, difficulty in maintaining a steady stream of urine and a pain in the back, hips, or pelvis that doesn’t go away. In advanced cases, prostate cancer may invade other body parts and symptoms related to body parts invaded may also be seen in these patients. Bones are the common target of prostate cancer cells invasion.

What causes prostate cancer remains elusive, we don’t exactly know. However, age remains the major risk factor related to this cancer. It is uncommon under the age of 50 but becomes much more common in patients over 60.

There are various tests available for the diagnosis of prostate cancer but confirmation is usually done through tissue biopsy. A small piece of prostate tissue is removed for microscopic examination to confirm the presence of cancer cells. After the diagnosis is confirmed, staging of prostate cancer is usually performed to check if cancer cells have spread within the prostate or to other parts of the body. There are various techniques like radionuclide bone scan, computed tomography (CT-Scan), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan used to stage the prostate cancer. Treatment options for prostate cancer include surgery, hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy and are tailored to the stage level of cancer identified.

Prostate cancer is listed in Social Security’s listing of impairments, for people who meet a listing they are found disabled so long as they are not working at substantial gainful activity (SGA) levels which is $1,000 a month in 2011.  To meet the Social Security disability listing your application will be evaluated to determine if you have confirmed prostate cancer or not and more importantly what functional limitations you have due to this disease. The factors that make you disabled or not are mostly related to how the prostate cancer is affecting and limiting your ability to work.  Prostate cancer patients with metastasis or advanced prostate cancer have a higher chance of meeting a listing, or winning Social Security disability benefits under other rules that recognize such a person could not do sustained full time work.

Posted in Malignant Cancer | Comments Off on Prostate Cancer Can Become a Disabling Condition

School’s Out For Summer, Keep the Kids Busy!

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Editorial Board

This a very exciting time of year for children since they are wrapping up their 2013-2014 school year. It is always fun for the first week in Summer when the kids enjoy playing and spending more time together, but as the weeks pass the kids will start to get bored. Being at home all day often times leads to too much TV time. It is better for your kids to be out and about through the day which is why we came up with this list of fun outdoor activities for this Summer that you and your kids can do together at home for little to no cost.

1.Play side-walk chalk games – buy side-walk chalk at the store and draw out games such as hop-scotch on the driveway or side-walk for an afternoon of fun in the sun
2.Go on a nature scavenger hunt – set up some fun things around your back yard and send your kids on a nature scavenger hunt to find them all with clues you provide
3.Set up a backyard obstacle course – using things from around the house or yard you can set up a fun obstacle course for your kids and their friends, then time the obstacle course races to see who can finish fastest
4.Start a lemonade stand – help your kids make some lemonade and cookies and sit outside with them as cars pass by and buy some lemonade, be sure to let the kids buy something special with their earnings
5.Make your own hula hoop – buy a hula hoop from the store and let your kids decorate it and make it their own
6.Go on a bug hunt – You can research different kinds of bugs with your kids and then go outside and try and find them on a bug hunt
7.Set up a temporary tattoo parlor – buy a bunch of temporary tattoos and let your kids have friends over and have a temporary tattoo party
8.Have a water balloon piñata – fill up a bunch of water balloons and tie them onto a string and hang it up from a tree, then let your kids and their friends try and break the balloons like a piñata while blind folded
9.Set up glow in the dark bowling – get 6 full water bottles and put a glow stick in each one and set them up like pins at the bowling alley and try to knock them down in a fun game of night bowling using a soccer or basketball as your outside bowling ball
10.Play water balloon baseball – Fill up lots of water balloons and get your kids and friends to play a game of water balloon baseball, if you break the balloon it’s a home run

All of these games are kid friendly when supervised by an adult. Remember to prepare fun activities for you and your kids to get the most fun out of this summer. If you do any of the fun activities from our list be sure to take a picture and send it in, we might publish it in our next newsletter. Have a great summer!

Posted in Health & Wellness, Living with a Disability | 2 Comments

Assuming the Social Security Administration Knows Everything about You is a Mistake

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Editorial Board

Millions of people file for Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) every year.  The Social Security Administration (SSA) has difficulty processing these claims quickly, largely because they are understaffed.  For the SSA to keep up they need people who file for benefits, or their legal representatives, to do much of the work in developing each claimant’s file.

Everyone who files for Social Security Disability or SSI is called a claimant because they are filing a claim for disability benefits.  Claimant’s will typically win or lose their disability benefits based on their medical records.  If the SSA does not have medical records from a particular medical provider who has seen you, then they will not be able to consider those records in their decision.

Medical Records Are Essential to Winning Disability Benefits

It is critical that you get copies of your medical records from every provider you have seen for your disabling conditions and get them into your disability application file.  When you work with a disability lawyer this is a huge part of what they do for you.

Typically a request letter is mailed to a doctor’s office or hospital, along with necessary HIPPA compliant medical release forms which authorize the providers to share your records with someone else.  After a request is made it usually takes a follow up phone call or two to get the records submitted.  Once you or your legal representative has obtained the records from your providers they need to properly submit them to the SSA in accordance with their rules (usually faxed along with a bar code page SSA provides.)

The bottom line is that if you have not told Social Security about it, and shown them the relevant records, then they will not be able to consider that in their decision.  Submitting your complete medical evidence records could make the difference between you winning your benefits or being denied.

Posted in Filing Initial Application, Questions & Answers, Why People Are Denied | Comments Off on Assuming the Social Security Administration Knows Everything about You is a Mistake

How Chronic Stress Causes Mental Illness

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Editorial Board

In a recent study on the human brain, professors at the University of California, Berkley found that chronic stress (CS) can generate long term changes in the brain. This study explains why people who suffer from CS often also suffer from mental illness. This study holds out hope that new medical practices like therapy can be developed to help those who suffer from CS and mental illnesses.

Doctors are still unsure of the cause of CS. The teams are continuing to research and appear closer to unraveling the cause of events. Throughout the study Daniela Kaufer, UC Berkeley associate professor of integrative biology, and her colleagues, including graduate students Sundari Chetty and Aaron Freidman, found that the patients suffering from chronic stress were causing their brains to produce more myelin. More myelin caused the subjects to produce more cells and a fewer amount of neurons. It appears to cause the brain to have trouble with the timing and communication to other areas of the brain.

There are other theories as well on the cause of CS. Other studies suggest that stress affects connectivity through the areas of the brain. To help folks with mental diseases much of the continuing research in this area studies people that suffer from various mental conditions such as PTSD, ADHD, Autism, suicide, and depression hope to learn more about any connection with CS. Here is the link to the full study for more information.

https://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/02/11/chronic-stress-predisposes-brain-to-mental-illness/ .

Posted in Disabling Conditions, Living with a Disability, Uncategorized | 1 Comment