Appeal

I received a letter from my lawyer today. Our appeal for Reconsideration (where another employee at OOD would look over the information the first had and make their own decision) was denied. The lawyer sent us another packet of information to complete and I'm struggling to do so.

My memory has never been great. Meeting up with old friends is difficult sometimes because they remember a lot of things that I have no recollection of at all. My thinking is that my brain has always tried to compartmentalize things because of trauma in my childhood. That's always been the case, but usually as bad as my long term memory was, I had better recall of more recent events and information. Now I'm struggling to remember conversations and meetings I've had in the last month.

That is probably partially because of a lack of structure in my everyday, but the memory issue is also the cause of the lack of structure. I can't seem to focus and I forget what I am doing. I even have days where watching a movie is a bit more than I can focus on. Memory and concentration. They are more than a bit necessary in everyday life.

More than once I have heard people complain about all the people on Social Security Disability. Those who think they are more familiar with the process than they actually are seem to think it's simple to get approved and stay on the "entitlement" for life. It would seem the only qualification you need is laziness..

This whole process is awful and exhausting. And I'm someone with education and a support network. I keep a calendar and know how to access health records. I cannot imagine what this process would be like for someone who didn't have that.

I'm working on completing the paperwork. I asked Adam to help me fill things out and that helps. I'm so thankful I'm not alone.

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