Plantermunn What a stroke of luck to find at a garage sale, huh? And it sounds very much like something I could use. I'll keep an eye out for one. And Ezzirah.. girl, I NEED a couple of those tools they have there. Thank you! When I get paid, I'm looking forward to getting me three items. I thanked them profusely and asked them for a catalog hoping they have more, but no, just what's online. I did have a chance to peruse the accessibility forum. I really love the spirit of some of those gardeners have - especially those in chairs. Wow! There I found a few more ideas, but not as good as these were. :) Mostly, I was reminded to plan ahead while building this garden of mine; keep things level and plan for accessibility with crutches or wheel chair. It would be pathetic to build it and need to restructure it later. So, I should start now. Mostly, I think the raised beds (3 foot or more) got the best reviews for accessibility.

I want to thank everyone and am so glad I came across this forum too. I was diagnosed with DDD back in 1999. after being injured wrking with a child with emotional and physical disorders (god bless) they did not understand I was injured again after having surgery a disc fusion at c5-c6 which resulted in a second fusion at c6-c7. I have a bulge at c7 and at c3-c4. I am considering if I need to have another surgery I will look into the new laser surgery. I have also been diagnosed with DDD iny lower back I fell at a local store back in October in which resulted in my lower back issue and an increase in my neck and shoulder issues. I too began having numbness in my left face after the fall. I too was afraid it was a stroke and was chked for blockage and found non it seemed to slowly let up some to only increase. I am getting ready for another MRI. I have pain radiating down my arms and have arthritis in my neck back shoulders arms and hands now. I do have nerve damage in my left shoulder as well as a loose shoulder joint. I so miss wrking with the children but to high risk for me. I did apply for disability back in 2000 was denied I thought I was not ready to consider myself disabled. again I was told I needed to apply so I tried again in 2005. in the meantime I started a home business/hobby to help take care of my family. I had children at home back then. again I was denied. my doc told me I needed to apt again so I have in and applied only to be told that I was being denied and that I no longer had any disability available to me. apparently if you are not wrking they have the right to start subtracting your disability that you wrked and payed in. where it goes I do not know. Here I thought I was being a strong and good person. my advice to those of you in this same health direction don't Waite, apply. this only seemed to get worse unfortunately and as many of you said. others do not understand the daily pain we go through. and for those of us that want to fight and live, we def pay for it at the end of each day. My husband is a saint. massages me every night to help Eliviate the pain. the headaches I get are deabilitating I either end up with shots or taking a heavy med that knocks me out. some days I'm not sure what scares me more. I want to thank everyone for sharing as well as allowing me to express. it's def a lonely ace to be when those around you do not understand. I don't look for sympathy I just try to find answers and be my own advocate . I too have tried pt several different times and only find that it aggrivates and inflames . I wish you all much strength and support through this. it's sad there are so many of us with this diagnoses and unanswered questions. I am glad however that I stumbled upon this sight. Sorry for the long text! I hope this helps even one person not to end up with no support or no disability. If you would like to talk let me know and I will be happy to share my emai! I wish everyone my best! <3

I'd probably answer "less than an hour." My DH went thru this & the state had a "rehab specialist" who suggested he could work as a cashier at a service station! The judge told him he'd never seen one offering a cot so DH could lie down after an hour. (He had already had 3 back surgeries & quad. bypass.) Our attorney had another court appearance that day so couldn't go with us...first thing Judge said was "let the record show they appeared w/out benefit of an attorney" & it was very first sentence in our award letter...however the fee was with held anyway & it took over a year to recover that amount! Also failed to receive check for minor child; DH went to SS office with son's birth certificate. Not enough...they wanted more!! My DH asked "Do you want me to bring the kid in so you can SEE him in person?" No, records from his pediatrician, day care & on & on! Another six months before those checks came. It was a nightmare! One pc. of advice...take copies of all of your records & give S. S. ONLY the copies. They tried to keep some of ours. Sure hope your luck is better than ours! Suzi

I got only SSI because the judge ruled that my disability started more than 5 years after I quit working. I quit working in 1996. The judge ruled that my disability didn't start until 2002. So it was ruled that my disability had started more than 5 years after I last had a job. This 5 year limit made me inelegible for disability benifits. But I was still elegible for SSI. SSI is based on household income. So Cindy can only make a certain amount before my SSI check is reduced. SSI is a maximum of $521 per month. If Cindy makes over $600 in a month, then that amount is reduced for us. The $600 amount is derived from a formula that takes into account household expenses such as rent, utilities, child support, etc. They base each month's check on what household income was last year. Or what it is projected to be. And we have to periodically send in Cindy's paycheck stubs. If they estimate a month high, and Cindy's actual income is lower, they will make it up. This month, based on last years income, I only get a little over $300. But Cindy will still make under $600. So sometime in the next few months they will send us the difference between this month's check and $521. You SSI and disability checks are retroactive. The payments will be for the period of time from the day your disability started. So if it takes 2 years to go thru the process of applying, you will get the payments for all that time back to when you became disabled. If you get approved you will get a really big backpay check at the beginning. This will be the back pay. They split mine into two checks. If you used a lawyer to help with your claim, he can only charge up to 25% of the backpay. You will get a letter from SS telling you how much he can charge you. I was told it is very hard to get approved for a physical disability. The questions for them is "is there any job you can do". They consider if you can sit at a desk and work then you can get a job. The standard was even higher for when I applied to have my student loans discharged because of disability. They told me unless you are comatose you can forget it. I was denied and I am going to see what other options I have. Pooh Bear