Thank you, Alpaca. Wishing you well, also. Thanks for listening.

Hi, my friends.

My husband (Dan) and I are meeting with the long term disability attorney this Friday.

I'm getting very anxious, but I am doing everything I need to do in order to protect me and my family.

I'll keep you all posted.

Love in OCF,
Kerri

Best wishes Kerri,
Thinking of you, Tammy xx

Good luck, Kerri. I think you're doing the right thing.

Hi Kerri - Just checking in and hoping that everything went well with the attorney meeting today for you and your husband. You certainly did everything to be prepared in the best way possible and really do deserve some good news coming your way.

Thanks for checking in, Anne-Marie!

We had a very good meeting with our new attorney.

She was compassionate, confident, and seems like a very good fit. I feel even better after meeting her and knowing that she came highly recommended from my SSDI attorney.

I signed an agreement with her for her to do all of the work involved up to this point and to represent me at the field rep meeting. If they end up denying my claim, then we need to talk about further fees.

The downside to getting an attorney for this kind of case is that you have to pay for services as you go, rather than working with an attorney on a contingency basis. So, Dan and I agreed to pay $1200 (in 2 installments of $600) for the services that I already mentioned. For what she is doing, the fee seems very reasonable and to tell the truth, Dan and I were expecting to have to pay a lot more. Also, they are willing to work with us on paying in installments. They know that their clients are struggling financially and this is the kind of law they practice.

Currently, my policy pays out $1500 a month, so spending $1200 in the hopes that we prevent them from denying my claim and stop paying out, then the money seems well worth it. Dan had to recently liquidate $7000 in the lingering investments in order to keep us afloat until the end of the year.

I'm trying to keep my stress in check, but it's difficult for me. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful husband who is my teammate in life!

I'll keep you posted with any further developments.

Love in OCF,
Kerri

Kerri - It was great to hear that everything went so well with the attorney meeting and that she was so well recommended. I'm sure that does put your mind at ease. It is really hard to keep stress down . . your mind tends to go over and over things but if you can try to give the stress a time limit, like two minutes - then stop and force your mind to go to the more positive elements of what's happening, like that wonderful husband of yours, it might help. . . Or the cute things your children do or say. My kids are all 40+ and they still do and say cute things. :-)
I hope everything continues to go very well for you and Dan. Do keep us posted.

Thank you, Anne-Marie.

You are so thoughtful, always.

Those are all good suggestions! I like the two-minute time limit .

Love in OCF,
Kerri

Hi, friends.

I just wanted to give you an update.

Dan and I met with my attorney and two Metlife representatives.

Dan and I were well prepared with a spreadsheet document containing every date of service, provider, their contact information, etc. We also had all scans listed with dates. Basically, every medical encounter (except inpatient stays) since my first cancer in 2011. Thank goodness for Google calendar!

There were pretty impressed and thankful that Dan provided all of the information they requested in such a thorough and organized way. Dan is a self-proclaimed data organization nerd, lol! I am grateful to have him for so many reasons!

My attorney was great. She is a former occupational therapist and I am a former physical therapist, so she has great insight into my job requirements as there are many areas of overlap in the things we do for patients.

The worst part was anticipating the appointment. Once we were there and got going, I felt more relaxed. The meeting lasted about two hours, where most last about an hour. There was a lot of ground to cover.

Dan and I were very relieved when it was over. I was emotionally drained. My attorney felt as though the meeting went well and that we have a good chance at being able to keep getting my monthly benefit paid.

Although she does not represent me for my SSDI claim, she said that she feels as though once I get a hearing, that I have a good chance of overturning the appeal and getting SSDI benefits.

I'll be sure to keep you posted. Thank you for all of your support, as always!

Love in OCF,
Kerri