it's a grueling process, and many, many people get denied on the first try. See if you can have a conversation with the worker assigned to your appeal. Also, a lawyer would be a good idea (as hellion suggested). Don't let them win... they count on people losing momentum and giving up. I had a friend who could not work because of a back injury who was denied twice before they finally approved him... It's not necessarily based on merit so much as the repoorts written by a bunch of people that only know you through paperwork. I lucked out and had a great worker assigned my case. We had a few conversations (some pretty long) about my history and what the future looked like. Workers can put in their own input to the decision, so if you can get into a good working relationship with yours, it may help your case.
it's worth the fight. YOU'RE worth the fight...