JENNIFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Before you apply for SSI again, please email me at division902@hotmail.com. If it hasn't been too long since your last application, you can appeal it and if you win someday, they will owe you backpay for ALL that time. Also, have you ever worked? If so, you might have enough credits to qualify for SSDI as well! My husband and I just won his SSI/SSDI case after 28 months of fighting, appealing and finally having a hearing. The qualificaitons for SSI/SSDI are the same, and one factor can be your PFT's, but my husband is in the 85% and he still qualified, so don't get down because you think yours aren't "low enough".
Here is a link to some very valuable SS information and CF
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm">http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm</a> Look under 3.00-respiratory, and also 5.00 if you have digestive issues. you DO NOT have to exactly list what the options A,B and C say. For example, in my husbands case, he almost "met" situation C except his lung infections were about every 8 months, not 6 months. But then he had an episode of bronchitis about once a year, and had some digetive issues as well (listed under 5.00) but nothing that "met" the listings there either. When someone evaluates a CF case, they are required to take all things into consideration since it is a disease that can effect so many different things and parts of the body. The judge said that although he didn't meet one single listing in the digestive or respiratory section, he had some issues in both of the categories and the combination of all of them was bad enough to equal one of the listings (if that makes sense) so he ruled in our favor.
and here is a little blurb of what it says about CF, but you should go there yourself and read in depth!
3.04 Cystic fibrosis. With:
A. An FEV1 equal to or less than the appropriate value specified in table IV corresponding to the individual's height without shoes. (In cases of marked spinal deformity, see. 3.00E.);
or
B. Episodes of bronchitis or pneumonia or hemoptysis (more than bloodstreaked sputum) or respiratory failure (documented according to 3.00C, requiring physician intervention, occurring at least once every 2 months or at least six times a year. Each inpatient hospitalization for longer than 24 hours for treatment counts as two episodes, and an evaluation period of at least 12 consecutive months must be used to determine the frequency of episodes;
or
C. Persistent pulmonary infection accompanied by superimposed, recurrent, symptomatic episodes of increased bacterial infection occurring at least once every 6 months and requiring intravenous or nebulization antimicrobial therapy.
The table wouldn't fit on here so you can see it on the website.
Please please email me though, I have a breakdown of my husbands daily activities for like two weeks that really helped our case out (go figure someone who does 1/2-1hr of chest pt, 3 different nebulized meds lasting 30 minutes each and a lot of pills- both in the morning and night, taking up about 4-6 hours of their day, doesn't have time to work a full time job) plus some other information that you might find useful. division902@hotmail.com
Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)
