As I have told my dear hubby many times, if anyone told me this story, I would have a hard time believing they were really experiencing all of the symptoms that I do on a daily basis. Telling your story and having the judge believe in you is key and when you are a bit confused and very forgetful, that can be a very tall order.
Well, miracle of miracles, I got a call last Thursday that the judge was reviewing my case and had a couple of questions about my onset date. After my disability advocate with Allsup and I discussed this, she said she would send the information to the judge and.........it may be possible that he would make an "on the record" decision and I would be approved without the need for a hearing. Did I hear her right????? After years of going back and forth on this (I first applied in January 2007), was it finally going to be over and end in my favor??? You can imagine - I was on pins and needles with my little laptop in my lap for the next half hour or so and she and I emailed back and forth a couple of times and then she said the magical words I longed to hear - "you do not need to appear at the hearing, there will be no hearing - congratulations!" I was numb and truthfully I still am. I guess I won't believe it until I see it on paper, it is surreal - a miracle of enormous proportion - not just for me but for my family. I cannot express my amazement and thankfulness completely here but believe me when I say it is huge!!!
So may things run through my mind - will they call me and tell me they made an error and we have to start again - hopefully not! I look at the future with some hope that I will finally improve, that maybe my family can have a somewhat normal life ----- normal by our standards anyway. It is more than I can fathom at once and it will take time for all of this to sink in.
The one promise that I made when all of this began is that I would do everything that I could to help others who have traveled along this path - those who are not as fortunate and those who are still hurting and in need. I will not forget and I will continue to fight for those who have not been as fortunate because we must remember that we are all in this together!
