How do I know what stage heart failure I am in?

[theta95]

I'm a 38 year old female who has been diagnosed with CHF and Cardiomyopothy. My injection fraction was 25% when I was first diagnosed and now it is down to 20%. I can seem to get a clear answer from my dr. I have daily symtems of CHF, my dr.s have discussed with me the pacemaker implants and or other such divices, possibly I may need a heart transplant in the future, but they were trying to do some prevenitive care to avoid a future heart transplant. I also have applied for goverment disability program, can someone tell me what are the chances of being approved for disability?

[theta95]

Thank you for your response gmachris. I haven't worked oever 10 years unfotunately. I quit working when my first son was born so I can stay home to be with him. Then I had 2 other sons later on. So I never when back to work. I'm a housewife who home schools her children. My husband is the only one who brings in any income and it's just barely enough to make our rent and basic bills. We have hardly anything to live off on after that and there is not enough for medical insurance, medicines, dr. visits and the like. S.S said my husband makes way too much to get any financial assistance and we don't qualify for any gov. assistance either. We've always paid our taxes, paid for everything, and now when I need it most I can't get the help I need so I can stay alive to see my sons grow up or be here for them when they still need me. Yet if you are an illegal, you get free money, free housing, free, food, free cars, free edjucation, and you don't have to prove you are a citizen of the USA. What a slap in the face to every American, and legal citizen!!!

[gmachris518]

My EF is around 20% and I am diagnosed at stage 4 heart failure.  

I've never signed for disability for the heart failure, as I ,partly, qualified with stage 5 kidney failure(end stage renal disease), so I don't know what the rules are for heart failure.

IF you have 40 work quarters immediately before you sign up for disability, then you stand a chance of receiving disability.  Which means you worked full time for 10 years before you became disabled.  If you haven't worked full time for the last ten years, immediately before becoming disabled, then IF you are low income, or no income, you might qualify for SSI.  Again, I'm not sure of the income guidelines for receiving SSI, except that you have to have little or no income to qualify.

SSI is a program usually used to get a disabled person by until they can get qualified for SSD(social security disability).  It comes with medicaid, and most of the time foodstamps, and housing assistance.  SSD, on the other hand, comes with Medicare, which most of the time the disabled person has to pay for, no food stamps, and no housing assistance.  However, SSD checks are usually larger and therefore the disabled person has more to work with.  The bottom line is, there is no free lunch in this country, for anyone who has ever tried to work and make an average life for themselves.  

What I mean by that is, whether you qualify for SSI, or SSD, the income you receive, even with foodstamps and housing assistance, isn't enough to keep your head above water.  

This country wants everyone to work until they have to be wheeled out the door in a body bag, and therefore they won't make it easy to live on disability.

I've been ill for 5 years and didn't work during that time, and I don't qualify for SSD because of that.  I also don't qualify for SSI because of my spouse's income.  I do qualify for Medicare because I'm dying, but I have to pay around $400 a month for it.  However, it's beats paying $50,000 a month for dialysis, I suppose, so I "guess" they are doing me a favor.

I hope I've shed some light on the disability probabilities.  If I were you I would go ahead and jump through all of the hoops, and maybe it will payoff....who knows.

Good Luck......