emilysuessbtsm-blog

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Where I'll Be

Where I’ll Be

Hi everyone,

I don’t have anything new to report, but I wanted to give an update. I didn’t want you guys assuming the worst about my absence.

The Fight Against Lincoln Financial Group

The legal junk with Lincoln Financial Groupcontinues. I have nothing new to report, just another reminder that they are awful and you should tell your family and friends to never do business with them. If…

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Still Waiting on those MRI Results

Still Waiting on those MRI Results

Yesterday, a friend sent me a message because she was worried that I hadn’t posted the results of this month’s MRI, and that’s when I realized I’d been absent from my blog and social media and I was unwittingly worrying people.

My last MRI was with new, local doctors and so the switch has complicated getting my results. See, when my MRI results are reported to me every four months or so, the…

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Update: Suess, Emily v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

Update: Suess, Emily v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

Things are changing around here, and I’ve been meaning to update you all for a while now. Better late than never, right?

The first thing I have to report is that last week I signed a retainer agreement with a law firm, and I now have legal representation in my fight against Lincoln Financial Group. It took me a good long while to find someone. I’m too tired to explain why lawyer shopping feels…

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An Open Letter to Doctors in General, But Particularly Penn Medicine Doctors

An Open Letter to Doctors in General, But Particularly Penn Medicine Doctors

Dear Penn Medicine Doctor,

If Lincoln Financial Group was paying, would you say a woman with an inoperable, malignant brain stem tumor was “not disabled” and in “remission” despite her attending physician’s professional opinion to the contrary?

If the price was right, would you pretend you know best when even the patient’s own oncologist defers on the matter of her disability?

If the…

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This post contains affiliate links.

Just a heads up that for the next 7 days, you can read Chapter 1 of Who You Gonna Believe? on Patreon for free. All you have to do is click on this link:

Chapter 1: Triggered

Yes, that’s in addition to the Chapter 2 sneak peek I posted here in June.

I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. First, I’m hoping that by running the promotion, I will…

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Introducing Chapter 4: Liar, Liar

Introducing Chapter 4: Liar, Liar

It’s the 30th again, and that means there’s a freshly released chapter of Who You Gonna Believe? over on Patreon. Chapter 4 is titled “Liar, Liar”, and this month we reach the part in the story where Rodney, my first husband, confesses to being a compulsive liar. (Yes, of course, he picked afterwe were married to come clean about that.) I also spill the beans about the night I confronted him for…

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Oh, SNAP!

I applied for SNAP benefits this week. For those of you who don’t know the joys of being disabled and impoverished just on their own, let me tell you how thrilled I am to have had the opportunity to jump through these hoops while working my way up to the second-worst migraine I’ve ever had in my entire life the past ten days.

Actually, let’s skip the part about my migraine. Unless you have…

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How to Help: Fighting Brain Cancer and Lincoln Financial Group

As my Lincoln Financial Group horror story garners interest, more people are asking how they can help—even complete strangers. I’m really grateful, but not always sure what to suggest. I figured if I created a list, people could pick what works best.

Donations and Financial Support

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/emilysuess

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emilysuess

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com…

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Nothing Gets Better From Here

Nothing Gets Better From Here

This week I had a phone conversation with an attorney that left me feeling really depressed.

While we talked about the circumstances of my long-term disability denial from Lincoln Financial Group, the attorney asked if I was permanently disabled. She wanted to know: was I going to get better?

“It’s permanent. It’s inoperable,” I told her, “to just be totally frank, things are only going to…

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Lincoln Financial Group Officially Denies My First Appeal

Lincoln Financial Group Officially Denies My First Appeal

I mean, let’s be honest, we all knew this was coming. At 11:09 this morning, Lincoln Financial Group sent me this email. What’s next? I don’t know yet, but when I do I’ll probably post it here.

At some point I will get around to uploading the supplemental documents I added my second letter and the letter itself. I figure if nothing else, you should see what exactly they get away with ignoring…

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One Thing You Can Do

Feel free to copy and paste the letter below directly into an email, or just use it as a springboard for writing your own.

Hi all! A few people have asked about helping me in my fight against Lincoln Financial Group. Today’s post is in response to that question. One thing you can do to help me this week is send an email to the Dean at the Perleman School of Medicine where Dr. Lee Hartner is listed as a member of the faculty.

(The dean’s publicly listed email is evpdean@upenn.edu. Additional emails can be found h…

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Yesterday, Philadelphia Weekly, published a story about me and my fight to appeal Lincoln Financial Group. I hope you’ll take a few seconds to read it:

Woman with brain tumor says local doc, insurance company conspired to kill disability payments

Even I find the candor of the article a little jarring. It’s one thing to tell your story, it’s something else entirely to hand it over to a…

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Professional Disability Associates, Reliable Review Services, and the Shady Doctors They Hire

Professional Disability Associates, Reliable Review Services, and the Shady Doctors They Hire

I remember when Anne, a representative at Lincoln Financial Group first told me that my disability claim was up for review. She explained that after 24 months of receiving long-term disability benefits, things were changing. I was leaving the “own occupation” period and entering the “any occupation” period.

Or, put another way, instead of proving I could no longer work as a technical writer, I…

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Who You Gonna Believe: Chapter 3 Now Available on Patreon

Who You Gonna Believe: Chapter 3 Now Available on Patreon

Today I’m saying goodbye to June and hello to another chapter of my serial memoir, Who You Gonna Believe?

Chapter 3 is titled “Suicide is Painless,” and though I don’t want to give away too much, I will tell you it deals with my mother-in-law’s suicide in 2006. The title may sound flippant, but I assure you it is entirely fitting.

If you’re already a patron, you can read it right away. If…

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Open Letter to Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. Regarding Castle Conolly "Top Doctor" Lee Hartner

Open Letter to Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. Regarding Castle Conolly “Top Doctor” Lee Hartner

This is an open letter, published at: emilysuess.com/open-letter-castle-connolly-top-doctors

I am writing about a concern I have regarding Lee Hartner, a doctor named in your Top Doctors list at www.phillymag.com. If there is a better place to direct this communication, please let me know whom I should contact, and I will write them directly.

My name is Emily Suess, and I am a disabled…

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Open Letter to Dr. Lee P. Hartner, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Perleman School of Medicine

Open Letter to Dr. Lee P. Hartner, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Perleman School of Medicine

Dear Dr. Hartner,

Who hurt you?

It might seem like pure snark to ask you that question, but I am one hundred percent sincere. Ever since I received a copy of the report you wrote to support Lincoln Financial Group’s cancellation of my long-term disability claim, I’ve been asking myself, “Why would someone—a doctor no less—do this?” And the thing I keep coming back to is this adage:

Hurt…

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On Being Disabled

This list was originally published on my Facebook page, but I don’t Facebook anymore and I wanted to preserve and update it.

Inspired by the disability community on Twitter who have compiled similar threads, I wanted something to point to the next time someone says to me “you could work if you wanted to” or “you’re asking for special treatment.”

Okay then. Here we go.

Being disabled is…