Canadian CPP Disability

[ShiftKicker]

Anyone with PLS who is Canadian? Anyone who has successfully applied for and received CPP Disability? Any pointers are gratefully received.
Apparently I'm entitled. And officially disabled, according to my doctors. Hard to confront. Mostly because the paperwork is unbelievably complicated.

Many thanks~

fiona

 

[Vincent]

Take the forms to the clinic you are seen on. They had everything filled out for my next appointment. It takes about 6-8 weeks to hear back from CPP, no glitches after that.
Vincent

 

[ShiftKicker]

Thanks Vincent- your clinic sounds a little more proactive and willing to provide direct care than mine.
My ALS clinic doesn't seem to want to do things unless they absolutely must- they seem to be just about consultation (For example- the ALS clinic social worker was the one who told me to apply for disability, but said my family physician could fill it out). I'm getting all the paperwork in order and will bring in the forms next time I see my gp. I'm not sold on the overall benefit of the ALS clinic for me except as a place that keeps track of my loss of function.
I'll post when and if I get approved. I have to say, going through the "How does this affect your daily function?" section was a total eye opener. The changes have been so insidious that I had no real concept of just how much till I had to detail in point form. The fact I had to get a friend to walk me through it and write it out for me because I don't appear to be able to concentrate or hold a pen for more than 5 minutes at a time was quite distressing. I had no idea I had been compensating and adjusting to that extent. Not feeling sorry for myself, just completely amazed at the denial.

 

[Gorby]

Hi Shifty,

I am a fellow Vancouverite. I was diagnosed with PLS in August, so am a bit of a newbie. I have read some horror stories online about people being denied CPP disability. I didn't find any specific reference to MND, but you never know. Apparently the appeal process is very long so you want to get it right the first time. The Vancouver clinic social worker also advised me to get the forms filled out by my gp. I said that I preferred one of the clinic docs and he replied that it would not be a problem. My feeling is that the clinic doctors could make a stronger case. That said, I haven't started the process myself - plan to get going on it at my next clinic appointment in Jan.

Good Luck.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hi Gorby-
That's what I was worried about. I will be bringing the forms to my gp on Monday and speaking to her about what she thinks. She's been the one to work with me over the past few years while I've been searching for answers, so I figure she'd be the one to fill in the forms with the most detail. The one thing I've experienced with the Vancouver ALS clinic is a distinct lack of hands on- they have repeatedly told me to get prescriptions through my family practitioner- though when asked for something directly, they will act. Just in their own sweet time. My gp has not received the report from my latest visit in November, and it took them 6 weeks to forward the report for my first visit. If I depended on them filling in the forms, I'd be waiting for more than 6 weeks, I'm sure.
I'll let you know how it goes.