Liver Transplantation - Condition and Symptoms
The liver is the single largest internal organ in the human body. It is located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity, just below the diaphragm. It performs a number of different functions. Some of them are:
- manufactures bile, which is essential for the digestion of fats.
- stores glycogen
- breaks down old red blood cells
- detoxifies the blood
- produces some hormones
- produces plasma protein
Because of the fact that the liver performs so many different functions and interacts directly with so many other organs, it is also very vulnerable to a number of different diseases. Some of these include hepatitis A, B, or C, cirrhosis and cancer. The liver is also susceptible to damage from alcohol and certain medications. An interesting feature of the liver is its remarkable ability to regenerate itself. It also has a tremendous reserve capacity. Because of these two positive attributes, many liver diseases show few symptoms until significant damage has occurred. When they do finally appear, some of the symptoms of liver disease may include:
- Fatigue
- Dark-colored urine
- Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and/or eyes)
- Swelling of the feet, ankles, or abdomen
- Pale-colored stools
- Excessive bruising and/or easy bleeding
- Intense itching that cannot be relieved by medication
When damaged badly enough by disease, the liver begins to fail. Once this point is reached, the only long-term treatment is liver transplantation. During this surgery, a healthy liver is removed from a deceased donor and then replaces the living recipient’s damaged liver. Because of the complexity of this operation, surgery usually lasts up to 18 hours. A liver transplant is also one of the most expensive operations modern medicine has to offer.
Because the need for healthy donor livers dramatically exceeds the available supply, a relatively recent development has been the living donor liver transplant (LDLT) as an option for those whose options are otherwise limited. During LDLT surgery, a portion of a living donor’s liver replaces the recipient’s diseased liver. Because of the liver’s ability to regenerate itself, the donor’s liver will be back to normal size and function within a couple of months, although recovery may be slightly longer for the recipient.
As with any transplant surgery, there is always a risk of rejection. This is the result of the recipient’s immune system interpreting the new organ as foreign matter that must be fought. Therefore, transplant recipients are put on immunosuppressant medications for the remainder of their lives, making them vulnerable to infections.
Filing for Social Security Disability with a Liver Transplantation Diagnosis
Liver transplantation is listed as one of the conditions which can qualify a person to receive Social Security Disability benefits in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) impairment listing manual (alternatively called the “Blue Book”). As part of the criteria the SSA has set forth, a person who has received a liver transplant will be considered disabled for a period of one year following the date of surgery. After that time, the case is to be evaluated based on residual effects from surgery, rejection episodes, post-operative liver function, and any other side-effects from treatment. In simpler terms, this means that a person who has received a liver transplant is automatically presumed to be disabled for a period of one year after the surgery just because of the nature of the operation. After that, the recipient may still be eligible to receive disability benefits, but those benefits would then be based on whatever other medical issues continue to linger. For example, if one were to develop chronic infections as a result of the immunosuppressant medications, a diagnosis related to the compromised immune system would serve as the basis for the disability case, and so on.
Your Liver Transplantation Disability Case
If you have had Liver Transplantation surgery and are unable to work, there is a strong possibility that you are eligible to receive Social Security Disability benefits. While the Blue Book’s criteria make it seem as though approval for disability benefits is certain, you would be well-advised to have your case evaluated by a Social Security Disability attorney.
Less than one third of all first-time applications for disability benefits are approved. For the applicants that remain, there are few options other than to enter the log-jam of appeal cases waiting to be heard. While someone who is legitimately entitled to their benefits will likely get them eventually, the sad fact is that many of those who are denied disability in the first place are denied because of errors or omissions in their application paperwork and the documents that go along with it. Most of these unfortunate claimants could have saved themselves a world of frustration simply by consulting with a Social Security Disability lawyer.
If you have received a Liver Transplant or are facing the possibility of having one, save yourself the grief of a protracted appeal case by contacting a Social Security Disability attorney.
