Obtaining Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be a time-consuming and stressful experience. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied. Successful bank executive Ramona Luttrell was diagnosed with thoracic outlet compression, fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disorder, Sjogren’s syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. When co-workers suggested she apply for SSDI, Mrs. Luttrell was repulsed by the idea. After numerous surgeries, she realized it was her only option. But the SSDI process took even longer than her decision to apply. Discover how Allsup stepped in and stepped up the SSDI process for Mrs. Luttrell.

 

 

 

Financial Executive Banks on Disability Experts

By Barbara Isaacs Renfro

 

Windsor, Kentucky—Ramona Luttrell knew her health was failing, but it wasn’t until she started falling asleep behind the wheel that she really got scared.

 

Mrs. Luttrell, 49, remembered other times her brain checked out—in March 2006 she was on the phone with her mother talking about March Madness, Kentucky Wildcats basketball, and the team’s coach, Tubby Smith. Suddenly, there was no response, but the phone line was still open. Family members went to Mrs. Luttrell’s home and they saw her sitting, still holding the phone to her ear. Her brother broke the door out of its frame and they rushed her to the hospital.

 

Doctors tested her for seizures and a stroke, but they found no cause.

 

Falling asleep while driving was certainly unusual. She prided herself on multi-tasking and needing little sleep. Mrs. Luttrell built a 27-year career at a small-town bank, working her way up from teller to vice president. In small towns, bank executives are often key players in numerous community organizations, and she belonged to more than 20 area boards and groups. She was always on the go, and she thrived on it.

 

“I would run like the Energizer bunny,” she said. “I’d go on two or three hours of sleep every day (insomnia). In retrospect, I think I probably pushed my body too hard.” Workdays were at least 10 hours, and many days longer plus some weekends.”

 

She kept that rigorous schedule despite significant medical concerns. In the early 1990s, she was diagnosed with thoracic outlet compression (in both her left and right sides), which didn’t allow enough room for nerves, blood vessels, muscles, collarbones and ribs. She lost function in her right arm and hand.

 

When conservative measures failed, she had major surgery to remove her first and second right ribs and a portion of her neck’s scalenus muscle. Her recovery took five months, and she had physical therapy for a year. Still, she continues to have problems with numbness and tingling in her right hand.

 

Within a few years, Mrs. Luttrell also was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which causes widespread pain, and with Sjogren’s syndrome, another autoimmune disease that causes white blood cells to attack moisture-producing glands, such as the salivary glands and lymph nodes.

 

Mrs. Luttrell also suffers from chronic back pain, both in her lower and upper back. She was diagnosed with degenerative disc disorder and in 2007 underwent fusion surgery to replace three discs and remove bone spurs in her neck. She still has periodic epidural pain treatments in her low back and expects more back surgery.

 

As these conditions began piling up in 2006, and Mrs. Luttrell struggled to work, co-workers suggested Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). She was repulsed by the idea.

 

“I was thinking that I’m not filing for disability. I’ve got my hands in too many fires. I feel like, the more you give in to stuff like that, the more it takes away and I’m not going to do that.” For months she resisted, until she knew she couldn’t work any longer.

 

She applied for SSDI on her own. She believed she was savvy about the process because she had previously helped friends and family apply for benefits. She expected the initial denial of benefits. But when she pursued it to the next level, she was denied again.

 

That’s when Mrs. Luttrell realized she needed help. “I didn’t want to do it with a local lawyer,” she said. “[I think] they prolong it, and I didn’t want to do that.”

 

She researched on the Internet and stumbled across Allsup. She was stunned by the company’s results, especially how 98 percent of Allsup customers who remain in the application process for a final decision are successful.

 

Allsup, based in Belleville, Ill., near St. Louis, is the nation’s largest and most experienced company helping people seeking SSDI and Medicare benefits. During its 25-year history, the company has assisted more than 130,000 people nationwide, who have received more than $12 billion in SSDI and Medicare benefits.

 

She was amazed how little it would cost if her case succeeded. “I had been through so much—I thought it was too good to be true.”

 

Once she began working with Allsup, she was thrilled with how organized the process was. “They stayed on top of everything, just the way I like things to be handled,” she said.

 

By then, the stress was significant. “It was just a life-changing experience,” she said. “I planned to work until I was 65.” Mrs. Luttrell always earned a significant salary, and it was a major adjustment to do without it.

 

Fortunately, because Mrs. Luttrell and her husband, Bruce, had saved money for a rainy day, they weren’t in danger of losing their home.

 

Less than eight months after contacting Allsup, she was approved, without a hearing before an administrative law judge. “I was so thankful,” she said. “I was surprised it came through so quickly.”

 

Even with SSDI, her life is stressful. She recently underwent testing for gastrointestinal symptoms, and her retinas were damaged by medication to treat her autoimmune problems. She still sees 10 doctors for her various conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, restless legs syndrome and osteoarthritis. She lives with chronic pain, day and night.

 

She also is a primary caretaker of her elderly mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer’s disease; her own mother also has dementia, but she has five siblings who share her care.

 

“The main thing is try to hang in there,” she said. “Be persistent and hang on the best you can.”

 

Mrs. Luttrell said she is grateful for the true help she received from Allsup. “They are there to help and support you. Let them do their job, because they will do it.”