Disability Insuarance

Hi folks.

Back in August of last year, I applied for disability benefits under the Canada Pension Plan. I had told you in an earlier post why it was hard for me to go back to work after the surgery. So far I have dealt with five different companies when it comes to disability insurance and loan disability insurance. I have only been turned down by one and that was CPP.

They say on their website that every application is dealt with within 6 months. Well, after 7 months they told me I didn't qualify because I volunteer for Hockey Canada. They say they spent 7 months to decide because they needed to talk to doctors and neurologists to make sure what ever decision they made was fair. They did all that and I guess couldn't find a good reason not to honor my claim so they decided that because I volunteer 200 to 300 hours per year or 4 - 6 hours per week, I was capable of working. Forget the fact that there are few jobs in Herbert that are 5 hours per week. The good folks at Service Canada, now thats an ironic name, decided that I should be able to find such a job so my claim was turned down. Nothing like being punished for being a volunteer.

I have appealed the decision but that is not much more than a stalling tactic and a way for people to keep their hopes up. I am not very hopeful.

Drugs...

I had told you in a previous post that depression was a chemical imbalance in the brain and if you consider drugs as chemicals, which they are, any changes to your meds can cause this imbalance.

Mt body is missing dopamine which is why I have Parkinson's, but dopamine does a lot more that just control muscle movement. It has been referred to as the "pleasure" chemical in the brain and if you take it away, depression can easily result. Levadopa is the name for the artificial dopamine that I take and it a highly effective drug but the only catch is that your body will get used to it after continuous use for several years and it will lose its effectiveness at controlling Parkinson's. Hence the need for DBS surgery and all that comes with that.

The implants can easily be programmed to replace the levadopa or dopamine in your system but only from a muscle control standpoint. They implants will never replace the other things that dopamine does for your mind. The resulting chemical imbalance caused by not taking levadopa can cause severe depression along with other problems. I was under the false assumption that the implants could replace levadopa completely and they cant. Some amount of dopamine is still required by the mind and if you get that through medication or wherever, you still need it.

So there lies the new challenge. The right amount of levadopa must be taken to keep the mind intact while knowing that whatever amount you take, it is slowly losing its effectiveness in your body. The most positive result of the surgery has been that I have been able to significantly reduce the amount of levadopa my body needs and thus making sure it will stay effective longer. I just cant forget that my mind still needs the drug and that I cant replace it completely.

Finding something positive to say was not that hard after all.