I had a LOT of trouble trying to sleep last night. I think it was 3am by the time I finally fell asleep. I woke up when the alarm went off at 6am. I had set three alarms, just in case. I had some coffee, called mom to let her know I was up, and jumped in the shower. I put on a pair of black dress slacks, a black short-sleeved top, and my leather boots. Mom arrived. I quickly threw on some makeup and did my hair. We replenished our coffee to bring with us.
After stopping for a measly $5 of gas, we were on our way to Voorhees. Mom brought her GPS. We punched in the address and followed the verbal "You're going the wrong way," reprimands while leaving the gas station.
I missed the exit for route 73 amid all of the road construction. The GPS scolded me. She recalculated. She got confused when I made a U-Turn in a ShopRite parking lot. She recalculated again. We were off and running... the right way now.
We arrived at 9:02am. My attorney was outside on the phone. We went in, announced our arrival to the security guard at the desk, and waited. I stepped outside with my attorney to discuss things. He mentioned some of my medical records he received. One of them noted "alternating laughing and crying spells." I'd love to see what else it says about how I've lost my mind this year. (At least it's coming back...)
We waited two hours to be called. When it was my turn, we went into a little room with a table, a computer, two microphones in front of the chairs, and a HUGE TV monitor. My attorney popped in a disc they gave him and all of my information came up on the screen. He took out a pad and pen, and we waited.
The judge held up a remote and aimed it at the monitor. He said, "Good Morning," and asked if we were ready to begin. My attorney responded. I was very nervous. I kept fidgeting - both nerves and my back hurt from sitting in a not- very- comfortable chair while we were waiting.
The hearing began with an internal medicine doctor testifying on my back condition. He had a thick accent. I caught important words like, "herniated discs," "nerve damage," and "stenosis." He evidenced my ailments with a list of numbers. The judge asked the doctor if, in his opinion, my condition was sufficient to meet the social security definition of disabled. The doctor said, "Yes." A psychiatrist testified on my depression and anxiety issues. Then they addressed a vocational expert. He ran through some of my previous employments. He said I probably acquired some transferable skills. He also testified that in light of my back condition, it was unlikely that I would be able to sustain gainful employment in this economy.
The judge recessed for 5 minutes. We could see them on the screen, but we couldn't hear them. When he turned the volume back on, he said he was going to issue a bench decision. He read off a lot of information, "for the record," then he addressed me and said, "I am going to approve your claim for disability and SSI."
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