Disability for Lymphoma: Do You Have a Claim?
Lymphoma is an extremely dangerous disease and can be life-threatening. Its effects can easily leave one unable to work. Many of our Social Security disability clients wonder, “Can I get disability for lymphoma?”
In this article, we’ll answer your question, “Can I get disability for lymphoma?” and share some tips you can use when seeking disability benefits for lymphoma.
IMPORTANT: If you have lymphoma and are unable to work and seeking disability benefits, our Social Security disability lawyers are ready to help. Please call 1-800-525-7111 for a free, no-obligation consultation. You won’t pay any attorney fees unless we get you the disability for lymphoma you need and deserve.
What is Lymphoma?
Lymphoma is the general term used to describe a group of blood cancers that range from mostly survivable to often fatal in severity. The two most commonly-known types of lymphoma are called “Hodgkin’s disease” and “non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”
The overwhelming majority of all lymphomas are non-Hodgkin’s. Most people diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease are younger and, therefore, usually respond well to treatment and have much better odds of long-term survival. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is typically a more serious diagnosis because it is more difficult to treat successfully, partly because the patient is generally older.
Common symptoms of lymphomas include:
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Weakness
- Loss of appetite
- Night sweats
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Shortness of breath
- Weight loss
These symptoms of lymphoma can be severe enough to keep a person from working. When lymphoma prevents a person from working, disability benefits for lymphoma may be available.
Social Security Disability for Lymphoma
The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes that people with lymphoma can be so limited in their ability to do things that they could in no way work in full-time employment. Therefore, there is a category in the Listings of Impairments specifically for lymphoma.
In order to be approved for benefits under the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma listing, certain diagnoses must be confirmed by a doctor, specifically:
- Aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, meaning that chemotherapy or radiation does not “cure” at least in the short term; OR
- A sub-type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma called “indolent” that is so persistent that it requires more than a single round of chemotherapy or radiation therapy within a one-year period.
You can also meet the lymphoma Listing if you have to undergo a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. These treatments are so taxing on the body as a whole and on the immune system in particular that the SSA recognizes that no one could work while receiving them.
The principles described above apply to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Disability for Hodgkin’s Disease
To meet the listing for Hodgkin’s disease, you must show that your cancer failed to go into remission for at least one year from the time you finished radiation or chemotherapy treatment.
This is in line with the general principle of all disability claims — that a person’s impairment of any kind must last at least one year or be expected to result in the person’s death in order to qualify for benefits. Most sufferers of Hodgkin’s disease can have their condition put into remission within a year of diagnosis and treatment.
“What if I don’t meet the technical ‘Listing’ for disability benefits for lymphoma?”
In certain situations, you can still qualify for disability for lymphoma if you meet certain other criteria.
When a lymphoma sufferer does not meet the technical requirement of the Listing, he or she can still be approved for disability benefits if their “residual functional capacity” or “RFC” (i.e., what you can still do despite your impairments) is so limited that full-time work is simply not possible.
For example (as mentioned above), lymphoma of all types almost always involves a lot of weakness and fatigue. Even the easiest, simplest full-time jobs require a person to be physically and mentally “present” for most all of the workday. If your fatigue is so overwhelming that you have to rest or sleep several hours of the day over and above the sleep you get at night, you can be approved for benefits even though you do not meet the technical requirements of the lymphoma Listing.
For a FREE consultation with an experienced disability lawyer handling lymphoma claims, please call 1-800-525-7111.
We serve clients throughout North Carolina, including Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Jacksonville and Wilmington, to name a few.
Free consultations are available by phone, email, text or even video conference and no in-person visit is required. The health and safety of our clients is our top priority.
Call 1-800-525-7111 for a free, no-obligation consultation today.
How to File a Claim or Appeal for Lymphoma Disability Benefits
The documentation and proof needed to support a disability claim based on a lymphoma diagnosis (whether Hodgkin’s disease or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) is significant. It is strongly recommended that you consult with an experienced North Carolina disability lawyer who can help you pursue your lymphoma disability claim or appeal.
For a FREE, no-obligation consultation with a North Carolina disability lawyer who can help with your disability claim for lymphoma, please call 1-800-525-7111 or complete the easy form below.
There is never any obligation and you won’t pay a dime in attorney fees unless we win your case and you receive disability benefits for non-Hodgkins lymphoma or Hodgkin’s disease.
Please call 1-800-525-7111 today and let’s review your claim for disability benefits for lymphoma.
We believe Justice Counts for those whose disability prevents them from working and we are ready to help however we can.
Our team can help you regardless of whether you haven’t applied yet, or you’ve been denied by the SSA.
“Even if you’ve been previously denied by the Social Security Administration, you still have options.”
Please call 1-800-525-7111 today to speak with an experienced North Carolina disability lawyer for help with your disability for lymphoma claim.
The consultation is always free and we don’t get paid unless we get you the disability benefits you need and deserve.
Justice Counts.