Been there, done that. It's a little game the SSA plays.
You apply, they deny. You appeal they deny. You get a lawyer for 2nd appeal, they deny. Then replay process over and over for 24-30 months and then it *finally* reaches the 'SSA Judge' and you get approved ('most times').
The bad part is waiting all that time and going further into debt. The good part is you get a big fat check for all the months since you first applied (aka: Became Disabled), minus one month (SOP), and the lump sum payment is (should be) Tax Exempt to boot. Then you can pay off the debt you incurred in large steps (Big Monthly Payments) with the money and your credit rating goes back up pretty quick.
btw, a Lawyer IS Mandatory for those appeals or you'll never get approved. Their final cut isn't much as it's set by Law, and it's not 1/3 like with most lawyer fees (Binder and Binder is good, I know.).
So good luck. And get that Lawyer Monday.
We started off with a lawyer. seemed like a no brainier to me. I sold the business and went back to trucking to stay up with the bills.
Lawyer will get to work on it Monday.