Disability assessment process

Well, after seven months and four days, I finally received the decision—and predictably, it was positive. Everyone is celebrating, but the joy is short-lived. It’s glaringly obvious that nobody thought to make copies of everything before submitting it to the Social Security Administration, though honestly, who would? It was a massive mountain of paperwork. Technically, I should have made copies, sent both the originals and the duplicates, and then waited for them to return my files. I truly don't know whether to laugh or cry at this mess. 🤔
Fourteen years of dealing with this illness, and yet I don't have a single scrap of paper detailing what comes next. What's the protocol? Apparently, the process restarts from wherever the full documentation was originally filed. Does anyone out there have any insight, actual knowledge, or even just some helpful info that could guide me through this?

feralridge3 said:Well, after seven months and four days, I finally received the decision—and predictably, it was positive. Everyone is celebrating, but the joy is short-lived. It’s glaringly obvious that nobody thought to make copies of everything before submitting it to the Social Security Administration, though honestly, who would? It was a massive mountain of paperwork. Technically, I should have made copies, sent both the originals and the duplicates, and then waited for them to return my files. I truly don't know whether to laugh or cry at this mess. 🤔
Fourteen years of dealing with this illness, and yet I don't have a single scrap of paper detailing what comes next. What's the protocol? Apparently, the process restarts from wherever the full documentation was originally filed. Does anyone out there have any insight, actual knowledge, or even just some helpful info that could guide me through this?

I missed this post, and you might have already sorted it out by now.
Your papers are at the Social Security Administration office. If you handed over your originals, just head to the nearest SSA office and fill out a request to have them returned since you need them for upcoming medical appointments and follow-ups. The clerk there will send a request to the central headquarters, and it usually takes about two weeks before they call you to come pick them up. Even if the files went through a local evaluation center, they eventually route back to the SSA, so that's where your documents are sitting.

Look, I’m just gonna say it: if you’re currently grinding through this process, you’re essentially an outlier. Every single one of you.
Don't go thinking your situation is going to mirror someone else's story. It won't.

A little while back, I went through my own SSA disability evaluation.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, I finally got the news a few days ago—my claim for total disability was approved.
(Age isn't really the deciding factor here, though I'm under 40)

So, good luck to everyone out there. Hang in there. 😍

P.S. I’ve actually been sitting on a 100% rating for one condition and a 70% rating for another for quite some time now.