Dear friends,

Many of us know that although we may be currently without evidence of disease, our new normal life may not be anywhere as productive or capable of the same things as we were prior to our illness. We all come from different backgrounds, jobs, occupations, and careers. Some of may be fortunate enough to be able to return to our previous occupations, while others not put things in the past. That's fine with me, because as far as I'm concerned, I'm much happier to be 6 feet above ground!

I became a physical therapist in 1999 and have worked as such until one year ago. I returned to work after my second bout with oropharyngeal cancer and after 2 years of working twice as many hours to accomplish the same amount of work that I did prior to having cancer treatment. I found myself consistently underperforming and getting written up for said underperformance and absenteeism (due to opportunistic infections related to cancer treatments). I was eventually put on probation at one job, even though I had a many years invested into this company with consistently good performance reviews. I was released from on my part time job for similar problems that I could not remedy. I simply could not keep up with my job responsibilities quickly enough in order to meet productivity requirements.

I realize that my situation is far from unique. My husband and I purchase a long term disability policy MetLife when we got married. I drew upon it during my first cancer treatment and recovery, during which I did not need chemo radiation. So my job performance when I returned between the occurrences was better by far than when I returned after my second occurrence (where I had aggressive chemoradiation treatment with complications). I returned to work as soon as I was able because of financial need. But, after 2 years of trying very hard and failing, losing two jobs, I decided to go back on my private disability policy. It was during this time that I also decided to apply for SSDI. I was rejected two times, which I understand is typical. It was at this time that I decided to seek legal counsel in order to assist me in my appeals process for SSDI. I am currently awaiting a date for my appellate hearing, which takes 14 months on average.

Recently, I heard from my MetLife claims specialist that I would be contacted by a field claims representative to set up a meeting in my home. I had a pretty good idea as to where this was going, and I found out reasons why they do this. I was on the right track and that they were going to be setting up surveillance shortly, trying to catch me telling falsehoods, get me to give too much information, check out my living space to see if i might have a second income, etc. I'm not worried because I am not a malinger, but this whole situation is still unnerving. My mother went through this when she was injured at work and she lost the function of her dominant arm as a result a work injury when she was a nurse. If anything, the surveillance it was taken of her actually helped her case.

Since my attorney is assisting me for my SSDI appeal only, I asked him for his personal opinion on whether or not I should seek counsel from someone else regarding my MetLife personal policy. He gave me the name and number of to trusted colleagues that will likely be able to help me.

Over the years my profession has enables me to work withpeople that are malingerers and people who are desperately, deservingly in need of disability assistance and (many times)they cannot get it. I have an uncle by marriage who has been milking the system for decades, and I cannot understand how he has gotten away with it for so long.

If cancer has given me any gifts, one of them is that I now have more compassion and empathy for my patients and others. I now know that just because you may look good, doesn't always equate to feeling good or being good.

I apologize for the length of this post. And could offer see me offer me some advice or any information of help. I will be contacting the attorney that was referred to me and I will not set up a home visit until I can get legal representation.

Love in OCF,
Kerri

Last edited by Kerri; 10-24-2015 08:37 PM.

37 y/o fem at Dx (23 wks preg @ dx on 3/16/11)
SCC L oral tongue (no risk factors)
L partial gloss/MND 3/28/11 @ 25 wks preg
T1-2N0M0; no rads/chemo
Tonsillectomy on 8/6/12 +SCC L tonsil T2-3N1M0 (HPV-)
Treated with 35 rads/7 carbo & taxol (Rx ended 10/31/12), but many hospitalizations d/t complications from rx.
Various scans since rx ended are NED!
Part of genetic study for rare cancers @ MGH.
44 years old now...I wasn't sure I would make it! Hoping for 40 more!