Thanks, Rose, for your warnings....I will definitely be on guard with the B&B folks~no matter what promises they make! But unfortunately for me, they didn't make any.

I had my initial consultation and it went pretty much as expected. I spoke with an intake person, I couldn't even tell you if she was a paralegal or not, and we went over my history and she asked questions here and there. After maybe 30 minutes of Q&A and her looking over all my documents she said she had to go "talk it over" with her boss, I didn't bother asking who the boss was. She came back in with a letter to give to my primary doctor and said they would only be able to take my case if my doctor agreed to write a detailed letter discussing my condition and why I can't/couldn't work for 12 consecutive months. The letter she gave me was for me to give to my doctor that states what they are looking for and where to fax it once it's written, all on B&B letterhead. So if I can get the letter they want, then evidently they think they can prove my case. I have a consistent history of treatment with the same providers for several years.

The B&B lady said that I had a few things that were going to work against my claim...First, my age. I'm almost 40, and she said I was VERY young to win a disability case, regardless of the diagnosis. I thought this was strange, since depression really isn't age specific. I've been dealing with Major Depression since 1991...How long should I suffer with this before it's eligible for a claim? 30 years instead of 20? That aggravated me, not her fault, but if that's true, then shame on the SSDI people. Second, my primary diagnosis is depression with a secondary of fibromyalgia. B&B lady says these represent the two diagnoses that are most used to cheat the system, so flags go up instantly when these diagnoses are used for a claim. OK, this doesn't surprise me, but if I have the evidence to back me up, it shouldn't be an issue, right? Wrong, I know, I know, I will probably still have a very very hard time getting my claim approved, even with the best letter from the best doctor and the best attorney in the world, but there you go. This is all very disheartening, as I was caught off guard by the B&B lady's pessimism. I think I wanted a little sugar coating subconsciously, but the cold truth is better I suppose.

So now I must obsess over getting this letter from my doctor. He's a good doctor, heck, even a good guy, but is he going to take enough time out of one of his already double booked days to write a LONG, thorough, and most importantly SUPPORTIVE letter for my SSDI claim? Now that's the million dollar question! No pressure mr doctor, no pressure