Guidebook for Navigating New Chronic Illness or Disability: Part 1 You Realize You Can’t Work As Much or At All Anymore

It’s been less than two years since I entered into the world of the chronically ill and the disabled. In that time, I’ve often wished there was a simple guide to navigating the muddy waters of new illness and disability. For the emotional component of this journey, I have found guidance from the writings of Toni Bernhard, and in particular her book How to Be Sick. I can’t say enough good things about her material, both for those like me and for our caretakers. Her writings are Buddha-inspired, but you needn’t be a Buddhist to benefit from them.

I haven’t found a comprehensive resource about the practical aspects of navigating life with new limitations, though, and as a result I‘ve learned many lessons the hard way. To make this journey easier for others like me, I’ve started to compile some of the resources and tips I think could help with the adjustment to debilitating illness or disability.

I’d love to get suggestions and feedback, so that this list can become more comprehensive and useful. In particular, let me know if you have requests for future installments of the guidebook. Also, most of these are US-based resources. It would be helpful if my readers from other countries could provide details about similar resources offered outside the US.

This guidebook will be posted as a multi-part series, starting with today’s Part 1 You Realize You Can’t Work As Much or At All Anymore.

Image courtesy of: http://www.therenegadewriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/worriedsick.jpg

You Realize You Can’t Work As Much or At All Anymore

Try to be kind and patient with yourself. Being sick and/or newly disabled is hard, and guilt and stress about not being able to work can make it much harder. Here are some important steps you might take in order to keep money coming in from your job, and/or via disability benefits.

1. It’s important to communicate early on with a doctor, your boss, and your Human Resources Department.

2. If your absence is expected to be intermittent, you may want to file FMLA paperwork. This can help you protect your job.

3. If you have disability insurance, and expect to be out for an extended period of time, file a claim with your insurance provider as soon as you can. This can help you get benefits as soon as possible. Remember that many people are turned down the first time they apply for disability payments, and that some people have their payments stop without warning. If you are legitimately unable to work, try to be patient but persistent with this process. Keep appealing the insurance company’s decisions until you get the money you deserve.

4. If you can’t work anymore, you might be eligible for Social Security benefits. Apply as early as possible, since this process takes a while. Just as with disability insurance, many first-time applicants are turned down. If you know yourself to be unable to work, try to be patient, and keep appealing Social Security’s decisions until you get the money you deserve.

5. If you get denied for disability insurance and/or Social Security benefits, it might be a good time to talk to a lawyer. With the financial stress that comes with extended illness or disability, lawyer fees might seem too difficult to afford. Know that many disability benefits lawyers don’t accept money unless they win your case. Others will ask for just a small initial retainer’s fee. Then, they will take an agreed-upon amount from the money you win.

6. State unemployment benefits are sometimes available for eligible workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. However, recipients of this kind of benefit usually need to prove they are actively seeking employment. If you’re still too sick/disabled to work, this kind of benefit isn’t for you.

Next Installment of the Guidebook: When You Need Emotional/ Mental Health Help