I have a long term disability plan with the Guardian though my employer. I am 10 months post transplant, back at work as a VP of Finance, but struggling with chemo brain.
Does anyone have any experience with a long term disability claim for chemo brain?
Thanks in advance.
Forums
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
My oncologist has me on permanent disability with "chemo brain "as the secondary diagnosis, multiple myeloma being the first diagnosis. I haven't been able to go back to work because I completely blank. In fact, I've lost a large portion of my childhood memories too.
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Babs
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
There is a woman in my support group who is on permanent disability from her teaching job because of the cognitive problems that she was having from treatment and post transplant.
To apply for disability, you have to document the responsibilities of your job and how you are unable to perform those responsibilities. I would think that you would have a good case for disability. I know that my cognitive abilities were one of the factors in my deciding to retire from my job last year. It was taking me a long time to do any documentation on the patients that I was treating. I would end up working 3-4 hours extra a day beyond my regular hours just to do my documentation.
Nancy in Phila
To apply for disability, you have to document the responsibilities of your job and how you are unable to perform those responsibilities. I would think that you would have a good case for disability. I know that my cognitive abilities were one of the factors in my deciding to retire from my job last year. It was taking me a long time to do any documentation on the patients that I was treating. I would end up working 3-4 hours extra a day beyond my regular hours just to do my documentation.
Nancy in Phila
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NStewart - Name: Nancy Stewart
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 3/08
- Age at diagnosis: 60
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
Though I am suffering from numerous toxicities after a 5 year continuous Velcade treatment, and am nearly at relapsed/refractory stage, I feel that the development and worsening of cognitive impairment is the most distressing of all. I noted it developing over the past year, and like the patient above noted, it was taking me 3-4 hrs additional time to complete documentation in my position as a child psychiatrist.
Now, at the end of my short term disability, I will have to retire and apply for LTD. My doctors have not been addressing this issue or including it in my diagnosis. Quality of life has plummeted (along with my spelling and typing). A psychoneurological done 6 months ago did validate attentional issues and memory for short term. Some speech and language therapy and Nuvigil have not made much impact.
I am dispirited and anxious about the future,
Apparently I am not alone.
Dr Mike
Now, at the end of my short term disability, I will have to retire and apply for LTD. My doctors have not been addressing this issue or including it in my diagnosis. Quality of life has plummeted (along with my spelling and typing). A psychoneurological done 6 months ago did validate attentional issues and memory for short term. Some speech and language therapy and Nuvigil have not made much impact.
I am dispirited and anxious about the future,
Apparently I am not alone.
Dr Mike
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
Maybe I can add something to this discussion.
While I have not gone through the LTD process, I've done some research on the topic. I would imagine that people posting in this thread are in the same boat: relatively young, with intellectually demanding jobs, with high $ value LTD at stake. Such a person ultimately will face the LTD issue (soon or later), unless he/she is miraculously cured.
So what I did was to search the court docket for LTD cases that involve multiple myeloma. I ran a search in the entire country, both state and federal courts. My goal was to try to assess to what extent insurance companies fight LTD claims for multiple myeloma. Surprisingly, I did not see that many disputes.
Now, there may be various explanations for that, but considering the nature of today's litigious society, and considering that these LTD cases are usually ERISA, where the plaintiff attorney can recoup fees, I am assuming that there aren't too many cases because claims for myeloma LTD are not that controversial. Having a cognitive impairment and developing fatigue due to multiple myeloma related chemo are clearly conditions that would prevent you from performing your occupation.
Now, there is one very interesting case (only a complaint on the docket for now), Ayalon v. Unum, where the plaintiff filed and was approved for LTD by Unum based on various side effects such as excess fatigue, depression, lack of energy and impairment of his analytical abilities. As I said, Unum approved the claim, but after two years stopped making payments. The main argument of the insurer was that the plaintiff received the maximum benefits (2 years) because of his condition of "depression." Also, the insurer argued that the plaintiff took a trip to Israel and went on a cruise, hence he couldn't have suffered from fatigue.
There are several notable things here. One, when filing your LTD paperwork, it is extremely important to be precise in what your disabling condition is. This guy was disabled based on depression with a secondary of multiple myeloma. Well, most policies have only a 2 year payout period for a psychological illness.
Second, it is evident that the insurance company could and would use private investigators (again, I am assuming that with most of these cases, and as with the cases of the people that are reading this, there are significant sums at stake, so paying a private investigator $10-$15,000 is a reasonable cost).
Third, it is evident that if you retire and for some reason you seem not to be sick (e.g. taking trips and so on), there is a reasonable possibility that the insurance company will fight your case.
This leads to some very interesting scenarios. Say you are young and presently working. Say you experience some cognitive issues, drowsiness in the mornings, some fatigue, some muscle pain during Zometa treatment and so on. However, you still have an active life. You make it your purpose to be out and try to exercise and live life. Staying active helps you fight the disease and not break down mentally.
Well, you may be disabled under your policy because you can't do your job, but may not necessarily look sick as a terminally ill cancer patient. I think in this type of a situation, while seemingly there aren't legal disputes in the area, my expectation is that LTD may not be a smooth sailing. I am afraid that the general perception among some insurance companies out there may be, unless you are bedbound and sit at home all day sipping on carrot juice, you are not disabled.
Long story short, I think that based on what I've seen, with our disease and cognitive impairment, you should be able to go on LTD but do not be surprised if down the road you get some pushback.
Best of luck to you and keep us posted how it goes.
While I have not gone through the LTD process, I've done some research on the topic. I would imagine that people posting in this thread are in the same boat: relatively young, with intellectually demanding jobs, with high $ value LTD at stake. Such a person ultimately will face the LTD issue (soon or later), unless he/she is miraculously cured.
So what I did was to search the court docket for LTD cases that involve multiple myeloma. I ran a search in the entire country, both state and federal courts. My goal was to try to assess to what extent insurance companies fight LTD claims for multiple myeloma. Surprisingly, I did not see that many disputes.
Now, there may be various explanations for that, but considering the nature of today's litigious society, and considering that these LTD cases are usually ERISA, where the plaintiff attorney can recoup fees, I am assuming that there aren't too many cases because claims for myeloma LTD are not that controversial. Having a cognitive impairment and developing fatigue due to multiple myeloma related chemo are clearly conditions that would prevent you from performing your occupation.
Now, there is one very interesting case (only a complaint on the docket for now), Ayalon v. Unum, where the plaintiff filed and was approved for LTD by Unum based on various side effects such as excess fatigue, depression, lack of energy and impairment of his analytical abilities. As I said, Unum approved the claim, but after two years stopped making payments. The main argument of the insurer was that the plaintiff received the maximum benefits (2 years) because of his condition of "depression." Also, the insurer argued that the plaintiff took a trip to Israel and went on a cruise, hence he couldn't have suffered from fatigue.
There are several notable things here. One, when filing your LTD paperwork, it is extremely important to be precise in what your disabling condition is. This guy was disabled based on depression with a secondary of multiple myeloma. Well, most policies have only a 2 year payout period for a psychological illness.
Second, it is evident that the insurance company could and would use private investigators (again, I am assuming that with most of these cases, and as with the cases of the people that are reading this, there are significant sums at stake, so paying a private investigator $10-$15,000 is a reasonable cost).
Third, it is evident that if you retire and for some reason you seem not to be sick (e.g. taking trips and so on), there is a reasonable possibility that the insurance company will fight your case.
This leads to some very interesting scenarios. Say you are young and presently working. Say you experience some cognitive issues, drowsiness in the mornings, some fatigue, some muscle pain during Zometa treatment and so on. However, you still have an active life. You make it your purpose to be out and try to exercise and live life. Staying active helps you fight the disease and not break down mentally.
Well, you may be disabled under your policy because you can't do your job, but may not necessarily look sick as a terminally ill cancer patient. I think in this type of a situation, while seemingly there aren't legal disputes in the area, my expectation is that LTD may not be a smooth sailing. I am afraid that the general perception among some insurance companies out there may be, unless you are bedbound and sit at home all day sipping on carrot juice, you are not disabled.
Long story short, I think that based on what I've seen, with our disease and cognitive impairment, you should be able to go on LTD but do not be surprised if down the road you get some pushback.
Best of luck to you and keep us posted how it goes.
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ivanm - Name: Ivan Mitev
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: August, 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 37
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
Thanks for your very informative posting, Ivan. I really appreciate your sharing the results of your research with all of us.
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JimNY
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
DrMike (Galahad7),
How did cognitive disabilities start manifesting themselves? And it was 4 years into treatment?
Thank you
How did cognitive disabilities start manifesting themselves? And it was 4 years into treatment?
Thank you
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
My husband worked through 1 1/2 years of Velcade & dex, but has been on LTD since his transplant (and subsequent relapse 7 mo later) in January 2012.
There is an almost constant need to provide paperwork to prove that he is still disabled (for government LTD and for his LTD through his work). Now the LTD company is starting to ask "Ok, we understand that you can't do your old job, but can't you work some other job?"
First off, the answer is no (his myeloma is refractory again and they have added yet another chemo). And, secondly, not sure what they want from him -- he can't be an engineer anymore, but the insurance shouldn't have to pay up because maybe he could be a telemarketer from home?
It's very frustrating.
There is an almost constant need to provide paperwork to prove that he is still disabled (for government LTD and for his LTD through his work). Now the LTD company is starting to ask "Ok, we understand that you can't do your old job, but can't you work some other job?"
First off, the answer is no (his myeloma is refractory again and they have added yet another chemo). And, secondly, not sure what they want from him -- he can't be an engineer anymore, but the insurance shouldn't have to pay up because maybe he could be a telemarketer from home?
It's very frustrating.
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
Friends,
I worked for a year after my allo stem cell transplant. Then my company laid me off. I tried to get a job, but since I have multiple myeloma, and needed days off for doctor appointments, I was unable to find work. I then went online and looked into Social Security disability, I got my information in chronological order as to how and when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In 6 weeks, I was approved and started drawing disability.
It is not a lot of income, as it is based on your previous work history, but it is better than zero! I have a cancer policy and I believe there is LTD. So will check with that company.
So thank you for the information. But check out Social Security disability!
I worked for a year after my allo stem cell transplant. Then my company laid me off. I tried to get a job, but since I have multiple myeloma, and needed days off for doctor appointments, I was unable to find work. I then went online and looked into Social Security disability, I got my information in chronological order as to how and when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In 6 weeks, I was approved and started drawing disability.
It is not a lot of income, as it is based on your previous work history, but it is better than zero! I have a cancer policy and I believe there is LTD. So will check with that company.
So thank you for the information. But check out Social Security disability!
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Mary Degenkolb - Name: Mary Degenkolb
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 54
Re: Long term disability claim for chemo brain?
Hi,
A couple years ago when my husband was 59 and early in his treatment, he was experiencing many of the textbook complications of infections, broken bones, DVTs, etc, so we researched Social Security disability for him but didn't actually file.
This was because the Social Security website criteria seemed pretty clear that, to be eligible for Social Security disability, he would either:
Now at 62 yrs, my husband is still working and is currently in remission. He feels pretty good most days. We hope his Revlimid maintenance keeps him in remission a long time.
Best wishes,
Chris M.
A couple years ago when my husband was 59 and early in his treatment, he was experiencing many of the textbook complications of infections, broken bones, DVTs, etc, so we researched Social Security disability for him but didn't actually file.
This was because the Social Security website criteria seemed pretty clear that, to be eligible for Social Security disability, he would either:
- Need to go to transplant (which he is delaying until no other options -- he has stem cells currently in storage) or;
- Have relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, which he doesn't.
Now at 62 yrs, my husband is still working and is currently in remission. He feels pretty good most days. We hope his Revlimid maintenance keeps him in remission a long time.
Best wishes,
Chris M.
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Chris M.
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