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Hello, 

I am about to start a two year long-term disability assessment to determine whether I'm able to work. Does anyone have advice going through this reassessment process? I'm currently with Manulife and they call this process change of definition, Which will determine whether I'm able to return to work at my company or work for any company. 

I live with low-grade ovarian cancer and I'm currently stable. However, I'm on maintenance therapy which causes muscle stiffness and joint pain. I'm worried I will lose my benefits because I'm not disabled enough. Does anyone have experience or advice going through this process? I have time as th process doesn't start until December. 

Thanks , 

C

Hi @cmcc ...I have not had these experience however, from watching on the sidelines of someone I know who went through this before, my advice would be to ensure you have solid medical evidence to support you through the process. Specifically ensuring your medical team (GP, oncologist, gynecologist etc.) are strong partners for you. I'd ask Manulife for information on what you should expect from the assessment process. What documents or medical advise do you need to provide? What other information will they be asking for or seeking? It shouldn't be a surprise process and they should be able to clearly outline what is involved in the assessment process so you are fully prepared. It sounds like they are going to assess you for "your occupation" and/or "any occupation". So you want to understand what those assessments mean and ensure you have all the medical evidence you can to support your disability. Ultimately you want clarity on how they define 'disability' whether it's partial or full or whatever their definitions are.

I hope that helps.

#Healthandwellness

@cmcc, I have been on LTD since my diagnosis, my 2 year term period will end June 2027.  Every few months my LTD case manager calls me to check in or will request info from my GP.  I have appts with my GP every 3 months to go over how I'm doing, recent ct scans, labs etc.  I think it's such a hard decision to think about returning to work, even when we are feeling relatively well other then the chronic aches and pains we now have from the effects of treatment. At first I wanted to get back to work but as time goes on I realize going back will add another layer of stress on my body especially when I think too about the recurrence rate of this disease.  I fear going back to work and then BAM a recurrence.  I recently saw my GP and he asked me how I was feeling about returning to work and I told him my thoughts.  Also, if I go back to work for 6 months +1 day I would have to reapply all over again for LTD and CPP-D again with no sick time to fill in the gaps.  And if I take early retirement I will lose my CPP-D and my income would be cut further by another 1/2.   He seemed pretty much on board with keeping me off as he understands the added stress  put on myself with returning to work,possible stress of being moved to a different work site 1hr + away from home, working less hours then I previously was, more financial stress from making less income post cancer, managing home life, appts, etc….Honestly, it is a decision that you need to discuss with your GP and see what insight they may have in terms of if it will likely be doable or not and what type of accommodations could be put in place if you do return to work.  Also, you always need to give them your worse days, worse symptoms.  I'm the type to not complain so this part for me is always hard to do.

not sure if that helps answer your question or not?

@Meinvan definitely some sage advise in your post. Thank you for taking the time to share.

@cmcc do you have additional questions relative to this process? Have you been able to speak to someone at Manulife to get clarity?

#Supportandencouragement

Thank you both for your replies. I hear you and have the same worry about stress causing a reoccurrence. I'm hoping for the best case scenario however, I'm learning that my old normal may not be possible anymore. I'm definitely not operating at 100% after taking AI. 

Good advice to document all of the symptoms and start communicating the symptoms with the doctors asap. I haven't started any RTW discussions with my Oncologist or Family Doctor yet. Sounds like it's time to.

I'll try to ask again what information my case manager may need for their CoD assessment. I have asked for clarity from my case manager, but there are so many possibilities that it's hard to get direct answers. I'm not sure what else I can do to prepare myself, and it sounds like I'm doing everything that I can. 

C

@cmcc you can be as bold as to ask the CoD to walk you through the assessment process. This is not new to them. They should be able to explain it so you do not have any surprises. I 100% agree with @Meinvan that having your medical team onboard and prepared is going to be key and important. They are the ones who will be completing the documentation from Manulife. The process has a protocol that is followed. It will take different pathways depending upon the information gathered but at a minimum, they should be able to provide a high level overview. I would hope they'd agree that the better prepared you are, the more efficient the process.

As well, if you haven't already, this may be a time where "Google" is helpful. I did a search of "Manulife Change of Definition" process and a lot of helpful information popped up. 

Please keep us posted.