Cpp Application

[Janette Rass]

Hi there fellow IC'ers. I have a question. Have any of you applied for CPP? If so did any of you get accepted? I had to apply just recently & I hope that I managed to get them enough info to approve my claim. Is there some advice or tips? Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks! I don't know about anyone elses situation. but my long-term benifit plan hinges on me being accepted by CPP. No CPP...... no benefit plan. It's totally scarry. I hope that I'm not the first to apply with IC, ground breaker I don't want to be! Lots of Big hugs to all, remember to take care of youself first & all the rest will follow! Wish me luck Janette

[Joanne]

Hi Janette,
How are you doing with your CPP application?
I have a little advice that I would like to offer you.
From what I have heard, if you have been diagnosed with IC and applied
for CPP, you are usually turned down the first couple of times.
You need to keep all records of doctors visits, dates and anything to do
with your IC and have a copy to send in to CPP with your application.
Explain details about IC and why you can't work. List your medications and doctors (including all specialists).
If after two turn downs by CPP you are still not getting anywhere with them,
try again (be very persistent!) Do Not Give Up, they expect you to, go to a lawyer and have everything on paper that you can already organized (because they will charge you for extra time spent) and explain to the lawyer you would like him/her to write a letter on your behalf to CPP. This should work.
Good luck and let me know how you do. Joanne
There is an IC Canadian web site that you can post there for help also.

[KimP]

Hi Janette,

If you go to the Canada IC Boards, you will get a wealth of support and advice from people in BC.

Looking forward to meeting you on the boards,

Kim P

P.S. I am in Ontario

[Janette Rass]

Thanks for the tips. My application went in about a month ago, no news yet. I am expecting to be turned down, but I'm prepared to pull out all the stops on the appeal if it comes to that. I'm still hoping to find someone who has been approved for CPP with I/C being the only illness. I'll keep checking for more news Thanks again Warm hugs to all Janette

[louise]

Hi Janette,

I was diagnosed with CPP Disability benefits about ten years ago before I had an actual diagnosis of IC but I had bladder problems for many years which went undiagnosed. My CPP was based on severe osteoporosis (at a very young age), osteitis pubis (a fracture of the pubic bone caused by a MVA), and osteoarthritis. My claim was approved within three months and they were very generous with me reimbursing me back for a year when I was not working. I know things have changed with the CPP and they have gotten a lot tougher than when I applied.

The best information I can give you is to provide them with LOTS of information about IC, letters from all the doctors you have seen relative to the IC hopefully stating that the condition does not allow you to work,
any articles or pamphlets, etc. documenting the excrucating pain and symptoms that IC causes and that it is a very debilitating and incapacitating disease.

Do you have a copy of Dr. Robert M. Moldwin's IC book called "The Interstitial Cystitis Survival Guide"? It is not only an excellent IC reference book, BUT it contains many descriptions of how difficult and disabling a condition IC is.
In my case, I copied parts of books on my conditions and forwarded them to CPP with my claim along with a four page letter documenting how my medical history affected my life and no longer made it possible for me to work.

I hope this is of some help and good luck to you. Please keep us posted and I would advise you to be patient. From what I have heard recently most claims are taking anywhere from six months to a year.

I will be thinking good thoughts for you. With all of my medical problems I just could not even begin to imagine having to get up and go to work each day. It is just not medically possible for me to do so.

Also, when you make your claim and if you send along a letter, document the worst days you have had with this miserable disease and how it affects you, your life, your family, your mental state (depresson is part and parcel of IC)
and general well being.

Best Wishes,

LOUISE

[Janette Rass]

Thanks Louise, Your advice is great. I will definetly purchase the book you have suggested. also I will improve on my collection of information needed for the appeal it seems that I'm sure to have! I have for the last few years kept a journal & calender, just about my meds, pain level, frequency etc. perhaps these can be used as they show my [our] daily struggles, how I/C affects our lives, & those around us. Your ideas are super, thanks again for the help & support! Big warm hugs to all. Janette

[louise]

Janette,

Boy, could I use that hug today!! Thanks so very much and you are welcome. I hope some of my hints help you. And good luck again with your application - I hope you get a speedy reply!!

Besides dealing with IC and severe osteoporosis, etc. I have been sick for the past month + with C.Difficile, the miserable bacterial infection that has been prevalent in a lot of hospitals and nursing homes recently. I contracted it while I was staying in Calgary to have a Botox treatment to try and get some pain relief for my severe bladder and pelvic pain. I also had a UTI and was on antibiotics which led to me picking up the infection while I was in the hospital. I hadn't heard about all the cases of C.D. there otherwise I would never have gone for the treatment as I have had this virulent infection twice before, as recently as 2002 when I was in the hospital for ten days. I am taking Vancomycin for the C.Difficile and hope it works faster and better than it did three years ago when I was sick almost a year with the infection.

Anyway, back to your CPP - please keep us posted when you hear something from them.

Sincere best wishes!!

LOUISE