severe abdominal adhesion pain

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

I have two health issues that cause me considerable pain. The first is IIH in which I now have a VA shunt to relieve my cerebral spinal pressure in my head by sending excess CSF to my heart. I had 3 brain surgeries and 3 abdominal surgeries to get this all worked out but I still have head pain much of the time. Originally I had a VP shunt. The catheter in my peritoneal was causing damage to some of my internal organs and left me with a lot of adhesions so that is why it was converted to a VA shunt. This condition alone caused me to be ruled "Unfit for duty" by the United States Coast Guard when I tried to renew my captains license they said because I have to take narcotic pain medication daily to deal with the pain. I have now had two surgeries for Lysis of Adhesions aimed at reducing or eliminating the constant pain in my peritoneal from the adhesions left over from previous surgeries and the catheter from the VP shunt. The first time lasted years. The second time was last June and I was pain free for only 3 months. My surgeon says that going in again could cause more harm than good and recommends I see a pain specialist. I have not talked to any pain specialist yet that have said they could help. I have contacted "Health Advocates" who are now trying to find me some doctors that may be able to help. If I can't get this under control I will lose my job. Is it possible to get disability benefits for chronic pain type disabilities?

Bryan
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 09:19 Permalink

Hi There,
I'm sorry to hear about that! It is possible to get disability benefits for a condition like that, but you may want to get in touch with a disability advocate or attorney, they can help you through the application process and fight for you if you need to appeal the SSA's decision. You can get in touch with one by filling out this form here:
http://www.disability-benefits-help.org/form/free-disability-evaluation

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