Cholecystitis and Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits
Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ. It is located right below your liver, on the right side of your abdomen.
Your gallbladder helps in the digestive process. It also stores and concentrates bile that has been produced in your liver.
Bile is a digestive fluid that is secreted continuously by your liver. It neutralizes acids and emulsifies fats in partly digested food.
Cholecystitis falls under the heading of biliary tract disease. Biliary tract disease refers to a group of complications that cause a blockage inside one or more of the bile ducts of your liver.
Cholecystitis is inflammation of your gallbladder. Usually, bile goes out of your gallbladder on the way to your small intestine. With cholecystitis, the flow of bile is blocked, causing it to build up inside of your gallbladder. The result is pain, swelling and, sometimes, infection.
Cholecystitis can be either acute or chronic. Acute cholecystitis is a sudden inflammation of your gallbladder that causes severe abdominal pain. Chronic cholecystitis is ongoing irritation and swelling of your gallbladder.
It is estimated that between 10 and 20% of people in the United States have gallstones. It is also estimated that as high as one third of these people will develop cholecystitis.
Usually, cholecystitis develops during middle age. Women are 6 times more likely than men to have this disease between the ages of 20 and 50. However, after age 50, the incidence of cholecystitis is equal between men and women.
There are several signs and symptoms that you may have with cholecystitis. These signs and symptoms are usually experienced after you eat a meal, especially if it is a meal that is high in fat or a big meal. These signs and symptoms include:
Vomiting
Nausea
Abdominal bloating
Steady, severe pain in the upper right part of your abdomen that increases when you take a deep breath
Loss of appetite
Pain that radiates to your back or right shoulder from your abdomen
Sweating
Chills
Fever
Tenderness in your abdomen when you touch it.
You or your loved one may have been diagnosed with cholecystitis. This disease and/or complications resulting from it may be why you or your loved one is not able to work. It may be causing your disability and need of financial help.
You or your loved one may decide to apply for financial assistance from the Social Security Administration for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by cholecystitis and/or complications resulting from this disease. Have you already done this and been denied?
If you or your loved one intends to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration, remember this important fact. People who have a disability lawyer like the one you will find at Disability Case Review are approved more often than people who are not represented by a disability attorney.