Thanks for all the input.

I contacted my PCP and left an eMessage asking her if she'd fill out the form. I sent a message to my MO regardless of the relationship. She said she'd be happy to process it. I'm hoping that she'll be a professional and do it fairly.

I'll update this as things develop.

Good news (tentatively).

My PCP, a GP, called me early this morning and said "Of course I'll sign it. This treatment is very difficult and impossible to work during. I'll sign it for the full 12 weeks."

It takes a real dick (excuse the vernacular) not to sign those forms. Everyone responds differently to treatment, Cancer Related Fatigue (CRF) is a real condition that can affect patients months/years after radiation/chemo. Your medical professional should know that...normally in these cases though the oncologists will take their cues from the ENT with the exception of drug scripts.

I had 4 different Dr's during treatment (more for surgery and recovery from) and I can tell you that they really don't communicate well and rely on the patient to fill them in before ever looking at your file. If one isn't giving you what you want, get it from another more compassionate Dr.

You know you, you know if you are capable of working or not. Your RO knows radiotherapy...ask him how he felt after radiation treatment and chemo...ask him if he could write lines of code for hours on end afterwards...especially if you are also under the effects of pain medication. When he fails to answer, because he's never been where you are...tell him to "F" off in the nicest possible way and sign the "F"n form and shut his yap. Again sorry for the vernacular.

Dr's don't know everything, in fact medicine is a practice and an art, some dr's are better and more insightful then others. I'm under the belief that most MD's have their head in rather dark places (better vernacular!)and was very thankful for the medical team I had and very scared anytime I had to see any other MD. They also made sure my forms were filled out so that I qualified for Disability and SSI.

A good patient is also a good patient advocate.

Good luck,

Eric

Hey Eric,
I had to show my girlfriend your note as an excellent example of Sailor Talk For Public Consumption. :-)

In my head I still translated all the jargon into normal guy talk.

And I feel exactly the same way about MD's. They're just like in any other profession. Some good, some bad, some dishonest, some honest.

The key is trying to figure out which are the good ones as quickly as possible.

Joel,

I'm glad you liked it. I start out keeping the Dr's at a distance and make them earn my respect. When you think about it we really are "consumers" of their services...who wants to give money out to an arrogant dick with a God complex?

Keep to the fight Joel, hope all works out.

Good luck,

Eric

Joel:
Iknow its been a few months since you started this post but I wanted to let you know that a diagnosis with any type of HNC automatically qualifies you for social security disability from the government with none of the RED TAPE that most have to go through to get it.

I just reviewed the information regarding the various exemptions and if you have an income of a $1000 per month it says you are generally not disabled. I cut and pasted the sentence off their site.

Are you working?

If you are working in 2010 and your earnings average more than $1,000 a month, you generally cannot be considered disabled.