Long stoy short.
I had brain surgery 20 yrs ago this July. Dr’s at time ‘strongly encouraged’ me to file for both SSI and Disability. I said Why? I can still walk, talk work etc lets leave it for those who can not. Never mind I would and do have a 24/7/365 headach, Never mindI have a dent in forhead, nevr mind I can not wear a certified helmet except for a few minutes at a time. ( due to maany things as a result of the surgery that I really dont want to get in to right now) Dr’s ok’d me to ride again about 6 mths after surgery.
Fast forward almost 20 yrs. While I finally understand fractions and log rythms( not spelled correctly never could spell that words for some reason) and stuff that one would never used in real life better than I ever did prior to surgery. I tried hard to work for more than a few months to a yr with out my medicl problem disrupting life as it were. But one day I would be fine the next I would be in the hospital because I went for a Dr’s apt annual testing and stuff for several days. Or my medical problem of hte headach would make it nearly impossible for me to function. But not only that my body threw up new and exciting way to try to kill or at least mame me in some way or another. Ie tearing rotator cuff while reaching for something on a table, a new( to me) painful neurological problem called dystonia thought to be a delayed side effect to my surgery but not proven as of yet, And now something called Polycythemia Vera. Which if left un dx’d could have eventualy killed me and is a distant cousin to Leukeimia
So I finally filed for disability only to be told I do not have enough points to qualtify. Something like not working five of the last ten years or something like that . But I do ‘qualtify’ to at least apply for SSI. Further research going through the various SS documents and qualtifying problems I can find both my old problem ( the reason for hte surgery and the surgery itself And now this new blood thing) are what is called in laymans terms almost instant approval things. I am of course still waiting for determination one way or the other.
Anyway. All these things are PITA’s but on teh normal level I can still function once I get dh away from reating me like a china doll and wrapping me in bubble wrap… But both problems get in hte way of doing stuff. Like I will be on medications for hte rest of my life. I will need ot go in right now every two weeks for a removal of one pint of blood with hopes that I can eventually streach the time frame out to once every two or thre months. Whch baffels me because blood basicaly regenerates every 30 days so going every two or three mths I would think wold put me back to where I was at hte dx’d time up to 2x’s as much blood as any body needs.
Anyway where I was going with this … Is is a possibility while recieveing SSI ( going with the guess it will be approved) to ride show if want to etc? Or is that a huge nono… Both on the legal point of view and on the person ( what would people think if they knew?) point of view…
Thanks
Thanks
It can be done!!!
My neurologist wants me to ride as much as I can for as long as I can. I have a progressive disease of the nervous system and my body will continue to regress for the rest of my life. Riding mimics actual walking, thus it improves my walking. Mentally, riding is extremely healthy for me. When my spirits are good, my pain is not my focus. Ever since I was 15 years old, I have had several physicians tell me I would never walk again, much less ride a horse. I used my anger to fight and prove them wrong. I do not walk “properly” or in what would be considered close to a normal gait pattern, but I walk.
My neuro considers my equestrian activities a form of therapy. Regular PT makes me worse, but riding helps me. If your doctor will stand by you, there should be no problem with you riding 
polycythemia vera is an increase, mostly, in red blood cells, not blood volume. It makes the blood think and makes it more diffucult to pass through the veins.
