Obtaining Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be a time-consuming and stressful experience. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied. John Smith loved being outdoors and up in the air. But a diagnosis of nonspecific bilateral neuropathy, a nervous system disorder that affects the nerve and muscle tissue, put an end to his adventures. In addition, he was diagnosed withchronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Allsup proved to be a lifeline for Mr. Smith and his wife. Read how here.

 

 

Mascoutah, Illinois – John Smith spent most of his working life in the air.

 

The East St. Louis, Ill., native scaled massive oil rigs off the California coast during the early 1980s. During the slow months, he would run off to Washington state or Montana for high-paying work as a tree topper.                       

 

He didn’t mind the altitude.

 

“I never had a fear of working high,” said Mr. Smith, now 54. “There was good money in it.”

But he would soon surrender the high ground—and his entire career—as his legs began to fail him.

 

Oil work dried to a trickle in the Golden State as the decade continued. Mr. Smith returned to southwestern Illinois in 1986 after seven years in California.

 

He bounced around a host of backbreaking jobs, working stints as a laborer and a commercial welder. He eventually settled into a steady job as an ironworker at a suburban St. Louis power plant.

 

It was familiar work that suited him well. Mechanically minded and good with his hands, Mr. Smith had worked at a coal strip mine before leaving for California.

 

A decade passed. Then a chance to return to the air came calling. In 1999, Mr. Smith bought a satellite TV package. He shared part of his story with the technician installing his satellite dish.

 

The technician was impressed by Mr. Smith’s aboveground experience and hired him on the spot. Soon after, Mr. Smith was working as a full-time independent contractor. It would be his final full-time job.

 

Mr. Smith spent his days, weekends and even holidays on rooftops and inside homes across the St. Louis region. He would hoist himself up 40-foot ladders and crawl through the innards of crumbling urban buildings.

 

“It was really physical—climbing, hanging on to roofs,” he said. “It was like half mountain climbing, half electrician.”

 

He enjoyed the challenging work, along with the ever-changing venues. He caught glimpses into the living spaces and everyday lives of hundreds of customers. “You were some place different every day,” Mr. Smith said. “Work was repetitious, but all the houses were different. I enjoyed it.”

 

During the Christmas of 2000, however, Mr. Smith noticed a strange burning sensation in his toes. Gradually, the pain got worse, spreading over both feet and up to his knees.

 

He worked through the pain silently for months. Climbing ladders and scaling walls became increasingly difficult. “It feels like you’re standing on a blow torch and somebody’s shredding your feet with a pitch fork,” he said. “There’s a constant burning you can’t get away from. I was in pain all the time.”

 

Forget hiking up a ladder. Just putting socks or shoes on his feet triggered excruciating pain.

 

He broke down and told his primary physician about 18 months after the pain first started. Puzzled, the doctor ultimately sent him to a podiatrist who made little headway in diagnosing the problem.

 

All the while, Mr. Smith slogged through work, one painful step at a time. He made it through another two years before barely avoiding a nasty accident at a four-story building that hastened his retirement.

 

He could no longer trust his feet.

 

“They were numb and not responding to what I was telling them to do,” he said. “That was the scariest thing I’ve ever had working high in the air.”

 

He quit his job in 2004. He spent the next few years meeting with doctors and trying to cobble together an income to support himself and his wife.

 

He managed to work about three months in 2007 as a prep cook at a local restaurant. Again, the pain became too much.

 

“It was a tough hit—we lost an income,” Mr. Smith said. “I was in such pain.”

 

Mr. Smith finally admitted his working days were over. He and his wife were struggling to stay current on their bills and maintain their four-acre spread on a single income. Mr. Smith decided to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

 

SSDI is a federally mandated insurance program overseen by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that provides monthly benefits to individuals who are under full retirement age (age 65 or older) and who can no longer work because of a disability expected to last for 12 months, or have a terminal condition. Applicants must have paid FICA taxes to be eligible.

 

Mr. Smith was leery of filing for SSDI on his own. He experienced a host of bureaucratic headaches filing for unemployment benefits and heard horror stories from family members who tried to obtain SSDI benefits without expert help.

 

“We knew what kind of nightmare it was going to be trying to do it on our own,” he said. “We just decided it was more than we could handle.”

 

He found professional help in his own backyard. Through an old friend, Mr. Smith learned about Allsup, based in nearby Belleville, Ill., which has secured disability benefits for more than 130,000 deserving clients and obtained nearly $12 billion in SSDI and Medicare benefits since its founding in 1984.

 

The Smiths reached out to Allsup, which received the case in January 2008. Months later, after a decade of anguish, a specialist provided Mr. Smith with a formal diagnosis: non-specific bilateral neuropathy. The nervous system disorder affects nerve and muscle tissue.

 

He also was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a group of lung diseases that block airflow and make breathing difficult.

 

Soon after, Mr. Smith’s first application for benefits was denied, a relatively common occurrence because the SSA denies about two-thirds of all initial applications.

 

Allsup representatives gathered more supporting medical materials and pushed forward with Mr. Smith’s case. In early December 2008, less than a year after filing, Mr. Smith received his SSDI benefits. The Smiths finally had some financial breathing room.

 

“I was just ecstatic,” Mr. Smith said. “We don’t have to fight this thing anymore.”

 

He also offers a word of caution to ailing workers: Don’t wait to file for your SSDI benefits.

 

“I just wasted a couple of years by not filing right away,” he said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to go ahead and try to get the ball rolling with Allsup.”