You attributed the neck pain and the shortness of breath to overexertion, but when you began coughing up blood, you knew it was time to seek medical help. After a trip to CHI Health Lakeside where you received a variety of different diagnostics, including blood tests and an MRI, you were told that you had thyroid cancer.

Of the four types of thyroid cancers—papillary, follicular, medullary, and anaplastic—you were diagnosed with the most aggressive form: anaplastic. Those diagnosed with this form typically only have life expectancies of six months, even with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

You May Qualify for Social Security Benefits

Your treatment and quality of life make it impossible for you to work, but you still need to provide financial support for your family. Social Security disability benefits can help you, and you may qualify by a few different routes. The following are three examples:

  • Meeting a medical listing. To receive Social Security disability benefits under the malignant neoplastic diseases listing, you must have either a carcinoma that has spread beyond the lymph nodes near the thyroid gland and continues to spread despite treatment, a medullary carcinoma, or an anaplastic carcinoma.
  • Equaling a medical listing. If you do not meet the exact listing, you may still qualify if you can show your impairments are of equal severity to those in the thyroid listing.
  • Residual Functional Capacity. If you still don’t meet the listing, you may qualify based on your inability to work. The Social Security Administration (SSA) examines your physical and mental limitations in regards to work when determining if you qualify for the benefits.

Cuddigan Law May Be Able to Help

We understand just how difficult living with thyroid cancer is and want to help make things as easy as possible for you during this time. Call the legal professionals of Cuddigan Law to speak with an attorney about your situation and find out if we can help you receive the benefits you deserve.

 

Sean D. Cuddigan
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SSA and VA Disability Attorney in Omaha, Nebraska
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