Understanding Aplastic Anemia and Its Impact on Long-Term Disability

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 13 of Winning Isn't Easy. In this episode, we'll dive into Understanding Aplastic Anemia and Its Impact on Long-Term Disability.

Aplastic anemia is a rare but serious condition that can profoundly affect your ability to work. It’s not just an abnormal lab result - when the bone marrow fails to produce enough blood cells, fatigue, infections, bleeding risks, and cognitive difficulties can quickly interfere with daily functioning. In the context of a Long-Term Disability claim, these symptoms can create complex questions about work capacity, treatment, and medical documentation. In this episode, we break down what aplastic anemia is, how it develops, and why it matters for disability claims. We then examine the symptoms and functional limitations that often impact work, from severe fatigue to concentration challenges. Finally, we explore complications, treatments, and how these factors shape the disability claim process. If you or someone you care about is navigating aplastic anemia and a disability claim, this episode explains how the medical realities of the condition intersect with the documentation and strategy needed to support disability benefits.

In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:

One - What Is Aplastic Anemia?

Two - Aplastic Anemia Symptoms and Their Link to Disability

Three - Aplastic Anemia’s Complications, Treatment, and Their Link to Disability

Whether you're a claimant, or simply seeking valuable insights into the disability claims landscape, this episode provides essential guidance to help you succeed in your journey. Don't miss it.


Listen to Our Sister Podcast:

We have a sister podcast - Winning Isn't Easy: Navigating Your Social Security Disability Claim. Give it a listen: https://wiessdpodcast.buzzsprout.com/


Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

LINK TO ROBBED OF YOUR PEACE OF MIND: https://mailchi.mp/caveylaw/ltd-robbed-of-your-piece-of-mind

LINK TO THE DISABILITY INSURANCE CLAIM SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR PROFESSIONALS: https://mailchi.mp/caveylaw/professionals-guide-to-ltd-benefits

FREE CONSULT LINK: https://caveylaw.com/contact-us/


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Please remember that the content shared is for informational purposes only, and should not replace personalized legal advice or guidance from qualified professionals.

Transcript

Nancy Cavey [00:00:11]:
 What happens when your body can't make enough blood to keep you alive and functioning? For many who have aplastic anemia, it's just not a medical diagnosis. It's a daily struggle that can affect every aspect of life, including your ability to work. Hey, I'm Nancy Cavey. I. I'm a national ERISA and individual disability attorney and I want to welcome you to this episode of Winning Isn't Easy. Before we get started, I've got to give you a legal disclaimer. This podcast is not legal advice. The Florida Bar association says I have to say this, but now that I've told you that this isn't legal advice, nothing is going to prevent me from giving you an easy to understand overview of the disability insurance world, the games that carriers play, and what you need to know to get the disability benefits you deserve.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:00:53]:
 So. So off we go. Today, I'm going to be diving into the rare but serious condition that can dramatically impact your ability to work. Aplastic anemia. Now, this isn't just a disease that shows up on a lab test. It's a condition that can SAP your energy, challenge your cognitive abilities and create limitations that you might not have expected until it hits your daily life. And I'm going to break this episode into three focus sections. First, I'm going to explore what aplastic anemia actually is, how it develops and why it matters in a shorter, long term disability claim.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:01:27]:
 Next, I'm going to look at the wide range of symptoms and explain exactly how they connect with your inability to work. And finally, I'm going to examine the complications of treatment and how those factors can affect your claim and daily functioning. So by the end of this episode, my goal is that you understand not only the medical aspects of aplastic anemia, but but how it interacts with your long term disability claims process and what you need to document to give your claim the strongest possible chance of success. So whether you're navigating your own diagnosis or helping someone you care about with a long term disability claim, stay tuned because we're going to break it all down step by step so that you know exactly what you're dealing with and how to advocate for yourself or family members. So let's dive in. Number one, what's aplastic anemia? Two aplastic anemia symptoms and their link to disability. And three, aplastic anemia complications treatment and they're linked to your disability claim. Let's take a quick break, but be sure to come back with a piece of paper and pencil because there's going to be lots of great information that you won't want to miss.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:02:31]:
 Let's take a break.
 
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 Nancy Cavey [00:02:57]:
 Welcome back to Winning Isn't Easy. So what is aplastic anemia? It's a rare and serious disorder where your blood simply stops producing enough new blood cells and it comes down to the stem cells in your bone marrow, the cells that are responsible for generating red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Now, when those stem cells are damaged, your bone marrow either becomes nearly empty of blood cells, which doctors call aplastic, or it contains very few cells, referred to as hypoplastic. Now I will tell you that this disorder does not discriminate based on age. It can appear suddenly or it can slowly develop over time. And the severity can widely vary widely from person to person. It can be mild, manageable cases or it can be severe and life threatening. And some cases are short lived while others persist chronically that require ongoing monitoring and care.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:03:52]:
 So for anyone who's filing a long term disability claim, understanding and documenting the severity and duration of your condition is crucial. I will tell you that insurance carriers, disability carriers and disability plans want clear and objective evidence of both your diagnosis and the impact your symptoms have, not only on your life, but your ability to do your own or any occupation. Now the causes of aplastic anemia are just as varied as this presentation. Often your immune system will mistakenly attack the very stem cells it's supposed to protect. And sometimes there's no identical cause which has caused idiopathic aplastic anemia. There are other contributing factors such as autoimmune disorders, viral infections like hepatitis, Epstein Barr, parovirus, B19 and HIV, and even pregnancy. So there are also, by the way, medical treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy that can damage the bone marrow, while exposure to toxic chemicals like benzenes, pesticides or insecticides, and even certain medications including antibiotics or drugs used in rheumatoid arthritis, can increase the risk. All of these factors matter because in the context of a long term disability claim, carriers are going to review your full medical history to evaluate the credibility of your claim.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:05:14]:
 In my experience, being thorough, documenting potential triggers and showing a clear medical narrative is key to building a strong case. Got it. Let's take a break. Welcome back to Winning isn't easy let's talk about aplastic anemia symptoms and their link to disability. The symptoms of aplastic anemia are not just medical. I think that they directly impact your ability to work and perform daily activities, which is why those symptoms are so important in a long term disability claim. Now, because your blood counts are low, fatigue is almost universal. You may notice a rapid or an irregular heartbeat, pale skin, frequent or prolonged infections due to the low blood cells.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:06:12]:
 Now, platelet shortages can cause easy or unexplained bruising, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, prolonged bleeding from minor cuts or even skin rashes. Physical symptoms can extend beyond blood related issues. So it's not uncommon for people to experience dizziness, headaches and sleep disturbances that can make basic daily tasks like standing, walking, lifting objects extremely difficult. But aplastic anemia also affects your cognitive and your emotional functioning. Many people will report difficulty concentrating, slower completion of tasks, challenges with communications or social interactions, memory problems, and even depression. These cognitive and emotional impacts can impair your work performance and your ability to do your own occupation. They obviously impact your daily living. I think that the functional limitations caused by these symptoms are critical when filing a claim.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:07:14]:
 And as I've said, people often find themselves unable to sit, stand, walk for extended period of time. They may have to do frequent position changes. Endurance for even the most basic tasks can be limited. And daytime napping is common. So disability carriers are again going to be looking at your medical records. The way I want my clients to tell their story to their doctors is by using this formula. And the formula is this. Write down all of the symptoms of your aplastic anemia.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:07:47]:
 You might have 10, you might have 15. Write them all down. And I want you to move across a piece of paper, and at the top of the piece of paper I want you to put location of symptoms, the duration of the symptoms, the frequency of your symptoms, and give me an example. So again, you might have an issue with fatigue. That's one of your many symptoms. But what's the fatigue? It's 24,7. And that fatigue is both physical and cognitive. So we want to break that down in terms of the physical fatigue.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:08:23]:
 You want to explain that even the most simplest of things and give an example causes you to be physically fatigued. And it might be that even without activity you become fatigued. And as a result you have to take a nap. And you take a nap three times a day for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. You also want to talk, for example, about the cognitive fatigue. You may become slower during the course of the day. As your fatigue increases, you may have problems completing tasks, starting tasks cognitively. You may have trouble following things.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:09:02]:
 You may have trouble doing simple, routine, repetitive tasks. So you want to talk about the cognitive symptoms and list them, explain how they happen, when they happen. If there's a rhyme or reason to them, you want to explain and give examples. This that's really important because your medical record should be telling a story. Now. That story needs to be bolstered and proven by the objective medical evidence and your doctor has to comment on your functional limitations. Disability carriers will have your doctors fill out attending physician statement forms. I think they're a waste of time.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:09:39]:
 We have to do them, but I supplement them with Social Security Disability Residual Functional capacity forms for aplastic anemia. We Social Security lawyers, and I'm a Social Security lawyer, in addition to doing ERISA work, have developed these forms to really explain the basis of the diagnosis and a person's physical and cognitive functional restrictions and limitations, the impact of fatigue, the need to alternate sitting and standing, the issue with concentration and pace, the being off task and absenteeism. To me, those are the right questions. In my view, you need to understand the definition of your occupation, the definition of disability. Make sure that you are giving your doctor the history of your symptoms and functionality using my formula, and then make sure that there are objective reasons for the diagnosis and your restrictions limitations, and have your doctor sum that up in the residual functional capacity forms. I rarely find that the medical records tell the story of the person's ability to lift, stand, walk, stoop, bend, those sorts of things. They may tell the story of functionality, but not necessarily in a way that a disability carrier needs to understand. Because they're going to compare those functional, physical, cognitive or psychiatric restrictions against the definition of disability and occupation.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:11:08]:
 Try to match them up and if they can't, they're going to deny the claim or terminate benefits. Got it? Let's take a break.
 
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 Nancy Cavey [00:11:54]:
 Welcome back to Winning Isn't Easy. Aplastic Anemia's complications treatment and they're linked to your ERISA disability claim. Now Aplastic anemia has serious complications. And those complications can be just as important as the underlying aplastic anemia. Patients will face a long term risk of infections, a higher risk of infections. You can have uncontrolled bleeding, extreme fatigue that can make performing your own occupation difficult, if not impossible. But there are secondary issues that can impact the case. And by that I mean you might have problems with depression or social isolation.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:12:38]:
 And those problems can be just as disabling as the underlying physical condition. But we have to be careful. Many disability insurance policies or plans will have two clauses that can limit your benefits to just two years. And that is a subjective medical condition limitation. And the second is, is a psychiatric restriction provision. And in the first, the policy may say, look, if you have subjective complaints of pain or depression or anxiety, benefits are limited to just two years. Or there might be a mental nervous limitation that says, hey, if your disability is caused or contributed to by depression or other psychological problems, benefits are limited to just two years. Now, that version is what I call the Monty Python version of the mental nervous policy limitations.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:13:33]:
 But the policy limitation might be so broad that says, hey, if your disability is caused by depression, anxiety or a psychological problem, benefits are limited to just two years. That's the one I'm not so worried about. The one I'm worried about is the Monty Python, if you will, wafer thin contribution. Mental nervous policy limitation. And so we want to kind of parse both the physical problems that a person has, cognitive problems, and any psychological problems that a person has. Now, diagnosis of aplastic anemia relies on objective medical testing, including complete blood counts, bone marrow biopsies, imaging, and they do that to rule in and rule out other conditions. So it's really crucial that we have objective medical evidence of the diagnosis. That's also true if you're having cognitive impairment.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:14:36]:
 So we want neurocognitive testing to document the cognitive impairment and the impact that fatigue has. Now, if you're having psychological issues, obviously we want to have testing, but at no point do we really want a doctor to say that you're disabled as a result of depression. We want to try to minimize that as much as we can consistent with your medical condition. But what disability carriers are going to be looking for is treatment. And that's important because every policy has a requirement that you get appropriate medical treatment that's consistent with the nature of your medical care by an appropriate physician. Now, the clause for regular care and attendance is not uniform, so you've got to get that out and read it, because whatever it says in your policy or Plan is what you need to follow. So normally, what we see in aplastic anemia cases is that there's ongoing treatment with specialized medical care from a hematologist, and depending on the severity, that can include medications, therapy or rehabilitation. Now, I do know that you can have side effects from that treatment, such as fatigue and cognitive impairment and physical limitations that can further erode or limit your ability to do your own occupation.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:15:55]:
 We want the disability carrier plan to consider not only the limitations caused by the disease or complications of the disease, but caused by treatment. So it's really crucial that your medical records are documenting not only the diagnosis, your symptoms, the exam findings that corroborate the diagnosis, but that it shows continuous medical care throughout the life of your case, with that care being addressed in terms of its efficacy and in terms of impact on your ability to function. And what do I mean by that? Sometimes disability carriers will challenge the treatment plan that your physician has you embarking upon, or you might have multiple medication trials. I think that is helpful. If the disability carrier plan is questioning the nature of your treatment, that that be documented and why you're getting the treatment you are. And certainly if you're having different responses to treatment modalities. We want to explain what the treatment is, what your reaction was, why it might be changed, or why the dosage might be increased. So it's really clear here there needs to be a comprehensive approach that addresses both the physical and mental health aspects of the case in a way that ensures that your benefits are potentially not limited to just two years.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:17:20]:
 But we also want to make sure that your records are addressing the real world impact of aplastic anemia. We want the records to document your symptoms, the objective findings of the diagnosis, the objective findings that support the restrictions and limitations assigned by your physician. We want to address treatment and treatment complications, and obviously we want all of this to paint a picture that establishes that you're unable to perform your own occupation. So in summary, aplastic anemia is not just a rare blood disorder. It's a condition that impacts your energy, your cognition, your emotions, and your ability to function at work in addition to daily life. It's really crucial that your records and you are telling a story that's consistent with the nature of aplastic anemia, your particular course, and your response to that treatment with a clear narrative about your limitations and functional issues. Got it. So that's a wrap up of today's episode of Winning Isn't Easy.
 
 Nancy Cavey [00:18:25]:
 Thank you for tuning in. I hope you found this episode helpful. Please take a moment to like our page, Leave a review, share it with your family and friends and subscribe to this podcast. Join us next week for another insightful episode of Winning Isn't Easy. Thanks for listening.