Opinion ID: 2971559
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony of Simons and Her Mother

Text: Simons testified at the hearing as to both her exertional and non-exertional impairments. With respect to her exertional impairments, she testified to pain in her lower back and down her left leg. She also testified to having muscle spasms in both of her shoulders. Simons claimed 4 (Case No. 04-5021) her lower back pain was worse than her upper back pain. The pain, which Simons said was constant, would sometimes abate and then she could move around a lot. She testified that she was taking pain medication, specifically Lortab, but that it carried no side effects and it helped the pain. Simons claimed her pain was worse when she was on her feet for long periods of time or when she sat for long periods of time. She testified that the only thing that made her pain better was lying down. She said she was using a spinal cord stimulator, an implanted device, for the pain. Simons also testified to having tried nerve blocks, steroid injections, and physical therapy. None of these, according to Simons, alleviated her pain. Simons stated she could not lift or carry over five pounds and she could not bend over or pick up objects. She also claimed she could not crawl or climb a ladder. She testified she could use her hands as long as she did not need to grip anything because her hands sometimes shake and go numb. According to Simons, she often had to use both hands to do things like pick up a skillet or a gallon of milk. Simons also testified she could raise her arms to head height, but no higher. Simons, a smoker, stated she has asthma, which affects her ability to breathe while walking or going up and down steps. However, she testified that she could go up ten steps, or walk approximately a half of a block, before she had to rest. Simons used an inhaler twice a week for her asthma. She testified that she often felt fatigued and that her fatigue was brought on by heat, stress and worrying. 5 (Case No. 04-5021) As to her daily activities, Simons testified she had difficulty driving, but could do limited household chores, sometimes requiring assistance from her fourteen-year old son. According to Simons, she was forced to lie down often during the day. She did not engage in any social activities and her entertainment consisted of watching television and renting movies. She testified that she had to move around frequently, changing positions often, to help alleviate the pain. Despite the pain, Simons was able to perform her personal grooming. With respect to her non-exertional impairments, Simons testified that she was seeing a psychiatrist. He was not, however, willing to evaluate her for purposes of her claim because she was a relatively new patient. She did testify to taking medication for depression, but again claimed that the medication alleviated her symptoms and carried no side effects. Simons testified that she could read and write. She claimed to have been an average student, with math and English being her strong subjects. In response to the ALJ’s questioning, Simons testified to her ability to write a letter and count change. Simons’s mother, Patricia Woodson, testified on her daughter’s behalf. According to Woodson, Simons had difficulty performing everyday tasks. Woodson testified that Simons needed help sitting and rising. She also testified that Simons was in a great deal of physical pain every day. According to Woodson, Simons could not sit , stand, or bend. She claimed that Simons was always in pain and that her hand and neck hurt. Woodson testified that Simons was getting progressively worse. She stated that Simons used to work hard, but that she was unable to work or do the things she used to do. Woodson claimed that Simons slept a lot and complained constantly about the pain. Woodson corroborated much of Simons’s testimony 6 (Case No. 04-5021) regarding her inability to sit, drive, and hold onto objects. Woodson also claimed that Simons’s personality changed and that she became “temperamentally ill.” Lastly, Woodson testified that Simons was unable to complete household tasks unassisted. C. Past Relevant Work Experience & Vocational Expert Testimony Simons completed the eleventh grade, but never earned her GED credential. Her past relevant work experience consisted of jobs as a paint line worker, a factory laborer, a grill cook, a machine operator, and a carpet installer. The vocational expert, Dr. Kenneth N. Anchor (VE), classified Simons’s past jobs in the range of unskilled to semiskilled, light to medium exertion. He testified that Simons could not perform her past relevant work with the restrictions under which she was operating, but stated there were other light and sedentary jobs she could perform in the Tennessee regional economy. According to the VE, there were a number of jobs available, such as time keeping clerk or telephone operator. Approximately two-thirds of the jobs would be eliminated, however, for a person who was limited to occasional use of both hands for fingering, feeling, or handling. When asked if the jobs would be reduced by two-thirds using Dr. Schooley’s medical assessment, the VE testified that the jobs would not be reduced. The available jobs did not require significant bending, squatting, crawling, climbing, or reaching above the shoulder level. They did require literacy, which ideally would be a high school education or GED, but the VE stressed that literacy was the basic requirement. In other words, a person with good oral communication skills who was mature, stable, motivated, and willing to learn, could perform the jobs to which the VE cited. The ALJ asked the VE to assume Simons’s testimony was fully credible. 7 (Case No. 04-5021) Assuming Simons’s difficulties were as severe, chronic, unremitting, and unresponsive to treatment as she claimed, the VE testified that there would not be any full-time jobs available to her.