Where To, Bud?

Today, I received a letter from SSDI telling me that a favorable decision was returned from the administrative law judge who heard my appeal on February 2nd. After almost 3 years of living from paycheck to paycheck, my wife working because I could not and living like nomads, this whole nightmare is finally over. Well, almost. I have to fill out some paperwork at Social Security which will determine how much I'll get a month and how much is owed me retroactively, but the worst is behind us. My thanks to Becky and Bill, Lisa, Margaret and everyone who visits the blog (well, all except one and he knows who I'm talking about) as well as all my Doper friends for hanging with me throughout this whole thing. It has just about worn me out, going to Doctors' appointments, being tested and being worried about D's health as she worked and I'm glad that I am finally getting the money I've paid in all my working life. Thanks Bill

This is a subject which has occupied my life of late: ever since I found out I have Alzheimer's related dementia. As you can see from the link (just click on the title line above to read), no one really knows for sure, do they. Some stats say 4.1 for males and 4.5 for females, depending on life style and prior history of head injuries. In my case, I have no idea what my life expectancy may be, but you may rest assured I am keeping a close eye on my symptoms and maintaining as active a lifestyle as I can. If it can be considered "a good thing", barring an accident or a cancer, I have at least some idea of when I may die, so this gives me more than an average ability to be proactive and hope for a cure. As I mentioned, I do have a fear of dying, but before I began my skydiving, I also had a fear of heights (I once jokingly said that I can't even stand to be this tall), so I am hoping that as time goes by, I will become more accepting and life my life as if I were to d...

I have been given a great opportunity and honor from my local Alzheimer's Association and my counsellors Suzette and Kathy, and I wanted to tell y'all about it. It is a chance to be granted a scholarship to attend the Public Policy Forum/Advocacy Action Summit which will be May 15-17 2011 in Washington, DC. It will be a time to become educated about the issues, learn new skills, network with fellow advocates and take our message directly to members of Congress to fight for our legislative agenda and I am honored to have been chosen to have my name submitted for this event. If I am chosen to receive the scholarship, I plan not only to participate in all of the above events, but to serve as a "reporter" and write about what I see and experience there. This will also allow me to put to use my journalistic skills which have been "moth-balled" of late. Quoting from Karen Kauffman's* article, 2010 was a year of optimism for those of us in Alzheimer's Advo...

Nothing to talk about, so I thought I would share with you one of my favorite groups of all time: Goose Creek Symphony. Hope you enjoy the music....... No charge for the music, but won't you please click to feed the 4-footers? Thanks!

I had been dreading today ever since I found out last November that my case would be heard before an administrative law judge and that he would make a decision on my disability based on my answers to his questions and my medical records. Just as a reminder, next month, March the 13th it will have been 2 years since I applied. Time really flies (except when you're waiting to be approved for disability, that is) doesn't it? So how'd it go? Very well, I thought. The judge was very professional and courteous. He didn't try to trip me up nor ask me anything other than what was pertinent to my case. One surprise I didn't expect: Before we went into the courtroom, my lawyer Todd asked me how much pain my degenerative disc disease was causing me. "Huh?", I said. "Yeah, Bill. It says right here on your medical record that you have it in C6 and C7. So how much does it hurt - it's kinda important." Well. I remembered my doctor ordering an MRI about 2 1/...