How to Get Disability Benefits for Cancer in Oregon

Disability Benefits for Cancer Cover Many Forms of the Disease

Cancer comes in more types than most people can name. Social Security lists several specific forms of cancer that are covered by disability benefits:

• Soft tissue cancers (in muscles, tendons, blood vessels, etc.)
• Skin cancers (such as melanoma)
• Lymphoma
• Leukemia
• Multiple myeloma
• Salivary gland
• Thyroid gland
• Breast cancer
• Skeletal (bone) cancer
• Maxilla, orbit, temporal fossa (skull) cancer
• Lung cancer
• Pleura or mediastinum cancers around the lungs
• Esophageal cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Small intestine
• Large intestine
• Liver cancer
• Gallbladder cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Uterine cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Testicular cancer

If you have a more rare type of cancer, or any cancer not on the list, you can still get benefits.

With any medical condition, whether it is named by Social Security as qualifying for benefits or not, you can work with your medical providers to give Social Security a measure of what they call your “residual functional capacity,” or RFC.

Your RFC is a report on what level of physical and mental exertion you can perform despite your diagnosis. An experienced disability lawyer knows how to get this information in the proper shape for you.

Start with a free conversation with our disability law firm to see how your disability claim for cancer might look.

Is Cancer a “Disability?” What You Need to Prove Your Benefits Claim.

Cancer comes in so many levels of severity that not every case of cancer will necessarily be approved for Social Security Disability benefits.

If someone can still mostly work while they undergo cancer treatment, they won’t be approved for benefits.
For you to win benefits, you must provide hard medical evidence of the severity of your illness and how it makes working impossible.

For a disability application for cancer, Social Security will take forms of evidence like these:

• Medical records showing your diagnosis
• Reports from biopsies
• Reports from exploratory surgery
• A list of medications you take for cancer
• Documentation of surgeries you’ve had for cancer
• Schedules showing your radiation treatments
• Details of how your cancer responded to medication, surgery or radiation
• Description of your side effects from treatment
• Records of any hospitalizations you’ve had
• Written descriptions of how your cancer has persisted over time
• Descriptions of how your cancer has recurred after treatment
• A history of how your cancer has progressed

This medical evidence, combined with information about your age, education, work history and demands of the types of work you’ve done, can give Social Security a clear picture of why you can’t work now—and why you should get financial assistance.

Social Security Disability benefits can help you get a greater sense of peace while you’re going through cancer and all the stress and upheaval in your life that comes with it.

It is the mission of the disability attorneys at Wells, Manning, Eitenmiller & Taylor to support our Oregon neighbors in times of need. We can take on much of the work of gathering your medical evidence for disability benefits, so you can rest easier.

We provide personal, caring attention to your case. Let’s talk.