Married Couple Face Future With Alzheimer’s Disease

Obtaining Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be a time-consuming and stressful experience. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied. Mrs. Roberts suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. But even someone in her condition can find it hard to obtain their SSDI. Fortunately for Mrs. Roberts, her loyal husband of 39 years became her advocate so she would not be denied her disability benefits. Read their touching story.

 

 

 

 

Edgemoor, South Carolina—Kay Roberts had a long, productive work life. Her memories as a church secretary, medical assistant, wife, mother and grandmother would fill a book.

 

All that is now just a memory—and not even her memory. At only 59, Mrs. Roberts has entered the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, leaving it to her friends and relatives to treasure who she was not so long ago.

 

Jim and Kay Roberts have been married for almost 39 years. During that time, Jim worked at the power company, often making long trips. Kay was always at their home in Edgemoor, about 35 minutes from Charlotte. “She’d take care of everything,” Mr. Roberts said. “There’s no way I could do something like that.”

 

They relied on each other, but for the last three years Mrs. Roberts has depended on the devotion of other people, many of whom she no longer knows.

 

That assistance extended to her securing Social Security Disability benefits, which turned out to be hard to obtain, even for someone in her condition.

 

Jim Roberts recalled the couple’s many happy years together, particularly their activities in their church where Mrs. Roberts was the secretary. She also worked later as a hospital secretary and medical assistant.

 

Her first medical setback occurred in 2002. Mrs. Roberts had a colonoscopy that revealed two polyps, one of them malignant. Surgery in May 2002 showed that the cancer had penetrated the colon wall. She underwent low-dose chemotherapy for six months, after which she was cancer free.

 

“I had 30 years at the power company,” Mr. Roberts said. “I took leave from my job to care for her.”

 

Although recovered, Mrs. Roberts never returned to work. Together, the Roberts turned their sights on their hard-earned retirements. He left the power company in 2006.

 

Mrs. Roberts, however, would face more health problems.

 

“In January 2007,” Mr. Roberts recalled, “we had gotten a call. The son of a church member had been killed in an aircraft crash in Columbia, S C. When Kay ran to the phone, she fell and broke her right wrist. She had to have an operation.

 

“Then she started to forget things,” he added. After a full battery of tests in June 2007, her doctor said that under no circumstances could she operate an automobile any more. She was diagnosed with first-stage Alzheimer’s right before her 57^th birthday.

 

The time had come for Mrs. Roberts to seek SSDI benefits. “A friend referred us to Allsup,” Mr. Roberts said. “The company had handled his disability claim, so I contacted them in August 2007.”

 

Allsup is a nationwide provider of Social Security disability, Medicare and Medicare Secondary Payer compliance services for individuals, employers and insurance carriers.

Founded in 1984, Allsup employs nearly 700 professionals who deliver specialized services supporting people with disabilities and seniors so they may lead lives that are as financially secure and as healthy as possible.

 

Allsup specialists gathered Mrs. Roberts’ medical information and submitted her SSDI claim. However, as happens most of the time on a first application — regardless of people’s conditions or who helps them — her initial request was denied.

 

“She got a letter stating that she could still do a job making less money,” Mr. Roberts said. “When I got that letter, her neurologist wrote a letter in return that said, under no circumstances could she hold a job again.”

 

Allsup filed Mrs. Roberts’ appeal, and she received a favorable decision in February 2008. “I was elated when she got approved,” Mr. Roberts said. “That’s what we were working toward.

 

“We had a very good relationship with Allsup,” he continued. “We were very pleased with all they did for us. Without Allsup, the process would have been a whole lot longer.”

 

The hard work, however, continues as Mrs. Roberts’ condition worsens. By April 2010, she had slipped into the sixth or seventh stage of Alzheimer’s.

 

“Nowadays she doesn’t know my name, if she’s married or how many grandchildren we’ve got,” Mr. Roberts said. “It’s a bad situation. You never know what you’re going to get from one day to the next. One day it’s like fishing in a lake with calm water. The next day you’re in the middle of a hurricane. We keep our faith and trust in the Lord.”