[mekasan]

There are several phases. The initial applicaton, the reconsideration of a denial, the appeal, appeals council, etc... All of this could take upto 2 years or so depending on the back log in each state. The initial decision could take three or more months. Many many cases are denied on initial, denied on recon, and then win on appeal so never give up. You don't need a lawyer to appeal (of course it helps) but you can find everything you need on the ssa.gov website to win an appeal.

Also, breast cancer that meets a certain set of criteria is on the list of impairments that may be support a finding of a presumptive disability. However, you must meet the listed elements in order to show unquestioned disability.

First, the agency must find that you suffer from an impairment that prevent you from being able to do work. Then they must determine that your disorder is "severe" by asking if it is a condition that will last 12 months or end in death. Then they look at the Listing of Impairments to see if you meet one. If you do, then you win. They can also readjust your onset date to whatever they want.

If you don't meet a listing then they look at your level of functioning to see if you can continue the work you are doing. If not then they look to see if you can do any of the past work that you had done in the past 15 years of your life. If not, then they assess your residual functional capacity (how well you can move about despite your impairment), they also consider your age, your education, and your employment history to determine if there iare any hypothetical work you could do based upon a big book of jobs (Dictionary of Occupational Titles). I say hypothetical, because they only need to exist in the book not in your community.

All this imformation can be found online at ssa.gov

First thing to know is that the goal is not to show that your breast cancer is disabiling, but rather to show that you are disabled based upon all your conditions. This may include any other physical or psychological impairments related or unrelated to breast cancer. Many people fail to list other conditions. List everything you can think of, and let the decision maker throw it out. This makes the facts different for every applicant.

Second, if you don't clearly meet a listing, you can still be found disabled. This part is also very different for each applicant, because its based on work, education, age, functional capacity of each applicant.

I hope this helps.