ptsd Newbie To Forum And Looking For Help

[ssg_rw_brown]

My husband got out of the military in 05. He spent 12 years active duty with a total of 21 eyars with his reserve and guard time. he spen over a year in Iraq in from Feb. 04 to March. 05.

He initially received a rating for a knee injury he recived from and explosion in Iraq but several months later after passing out (I thought he had a stroke!)at our dinner table and being hospitalized for over a week, and numerours testing he was diagnosed with "neurocardiosyncope". Told him nothing he can really do just make sure he eats 3 meals a day , drinks a lot of gatorade, avoid stress, caffeine, and plenty of rest. Then to make a long story short we ended up at the Va and not sure how it happened but he was finally diagnosed with " mild traumatic brain injury". this was kind of a releif because we now had and answer. They did a tilt test there, and sent him to speech class to help with the memory loss.

From my prospective I had noticed a change in him since the day he returned from Iraq...I chalked it up to the war and things he had seen and done...never sleeps, when he does its on the coach because any moves in the bed wake him up, personality change, irritability, forgetfullness, changes in taste, wanting to stay alone or just with me and the kids (antisocial behavior) little subtle things that I knew were different but never occured to me what or that it was a brain injury.

Fast forwarded he received rating for 10 % for the brain injury. So total he gets 10% knee, 10% tintinus, 50% PSD, 10% Mild Tramatic Brain injury.we have put in claims for different things that came up but were denied. Chronic back pain, tried to increase the knee because of the chronic pain but they say it's nothing and he has full range of motion so no increase. Vision problem, he had 20/20 vision his whole life with no problems and now needs glasses which they say is probly from sun exposure (focusing problem and light sensitivity). I have just stumbled across this site and read with interest the new changes with the brain injury. he was rated for the TBI in September of 2008 and when we received that rating I thought it was crazy. He has a combined rating of I think 60 or 70 percent (we get like 1200 per month with 3 kids under 18). Recently we received a letter saying they were decreasing his compensation to 900 because at his last compensation visit they felt he was "improving" (PTSD) which I thought crazy because he's on meds! that's why he seems better! so i talked to a VA guy and he said to send in a letter to say we were appealing it which I got a reply last week that said because it was only a "proposal" they were not accepting it and that now since we hadn't sent in evidence to contradict these claims it was now official and if we wanted to appeal it we coud. I'm so frustrated! I don't feel that we can find any help to wade through these VA paperwork. I really feel like he should be getting more compensation but not sure how to go about it.

We did talk to a VA guy a month ago who felt he should be getting 100% and pushed him to try, and told us the form to submit but yet i'm at a loss what else to do. I feel that there should be someone to help him wade through his medical papers and find out what he needs to send in and what claims he needs to file. So far we have submitted individual claims in the past for the passing out, back pain, vision problems but all got denie....but I kind of feel that maybe it should be compiled because basically I think it all goes back to the brain injury. He passes out for no apparent reason, we never know when it is coming on but i can usually trace it back to heat, stress, pain, didn't eat that day. he passes out and then when he comes around the first time he thinks he is back in Iraq, and needs a medic, he says he has sand in his mouth and needs a drink...then he starts to cry and without going into detail goes through a lot of guilt ...eventually he will pass out again and the 2nd time he comes around he's back in the real world....i worry he will do this driving or somewhere that he will get hurt so I have always felt he should be getting more compensation but just am at a loss on how or what do do to obtain it. He does not do good with people and public situations, to much anxiety and gets very agitated very quickly but the main fear for me is the passing out. I know this is getting very long and there is so much more I would love some input on but don't want to bore everyone but plese could someone give us some advice on what do and how to go about it. Thank you for listening.

[out_here04]

ssg_rw_brown ..his wife did not get a response from hadit. we can do better, people:

http://www.hadit.com/forums/index.php?show...mp;#entry159863

" Aug 11 2009, 11:46 PM

Post #1

Recruit

Group: New User Review

Posts: 2

Joined: 11-August 09

Member No.: 6,430

Service Connected Disability: 60

Branch of Service: USA

My husband got out of the military in 05. He spent 12 years active duty with a total of 21 eyars with his reserve and guard time. he spen over a year in Iraq in from Feb. 04 to March. 05.

He initially received a rating for a knee injury he recived from and explosion in Iraq but several months later after passing out (I thought he had a stroke!)at our dinner table and being hospitalized for over a week, and numerours testing he was diagnosed with "neurocardiosyncope". Told him nothing he can really do just make sure he eats 3 meals a day , drinks a lot of gatorade, avoid stress, caffeine, and plenty of rest. Then to make a long story short we ended up at the Va and not sure how it happened but he was finally diagnosed with " mild traumatic brain injury". this was kind of a releif because we now had and answer. They did a tilt test there, and sent him to speech class to help with the memory loss.

From my prospective I had noticed a change in him since the day he returned from Iraq...I chalked it up to the war and things he had seen and done...never sleeps, when he does its on the coach because any moves in the bed wake him up, personality change, irritability, forgetfullness, changes in taste, wanting to stay alone or just with me and the kids (antisocial behavior) little subtle things that I knew were different but never occured to me what or that it was a brain injury.

Fast forwarded he received rating for 10 % for the brain injury. So total he gets 10% knee, 10% tintinus, 50% PSD, 10% Mild Tramatic Brain injury.we have put in claims for different things that came up but were denied. Chronic back pain, tried to increase the knee because of the chronic pain but they say it's nothing and he has full range of motion so no increase. Vision problem, he had 20/20 vision his whole life with no problems and now needs glasses which they say is probly from sun exposure (focusing problem and light sensitivity). I have just stumbled across this site and read with interest the new changes with the brain injury. he was rated for the TBI in September of 2008 and when we received that rating I thought it was crazy. He has a combined rating of I think 60 or 70 percent (we get like 1200 per month with 3 kids under 18). Recently we received a letter saying they were decreasing his compensation to 900 because at his last compensation visit they felt he was "improving" (PTSD) which I thought crazy because he's on meds! that's why he seems better! so i talked to a VA guy and he said to send in a letter to say we were appealing it which I got a reply last week that said because it was only a "proposal" they were not accepting it and that now since we hadn't sent in evidence to contradict these claims it was now official and if we wanted to appeal it we coud. I'm so frustrated! I don't feel that we can find any help to wade through these VA paperwork. I really feel like he should be getting more compensation but not sure how to go about it.

We did talk to a VA guy a month ago who felt he should be getting 100% and pushed him to try, and told us the form to submit but yet i'm at a loss what else to do. I feel that there should be someone to help him wade through his medical papers and find out what he needs to send in and what claims he needs to file. So far we have submitted individual claims in the past for the passing out, back pain, vision problems but all got denie....but I kind of feel that maybe it should be compiled because basically I think it all goes back to the brain injury. He passes out for no apparent reason, we never know when it is coming on but i can usually trace it back to heat, stress, pain, didn't eat that day. he passes out and then when he comes around the first time he thinks he is back in Iraq, and needs a medic, he says he has sand in his mouth and needs a drink...then he starts to cry and without going into detail goes through a lot of guilt ...eventually he will pass out again and the 2nd time he comes around he's back in the real world....i worry he will do this driving or somewhere that he will get hurt so I have always felt he should be getting more compensation but just am at a loss on how or what do do to obtain it. He does not do good with people and public situations, to much anxiety and gets very agitated very quickly but the main fear for me is the passing out. I know this is getting very long and there is so much more I would love some input on but don't want to bore everyone but plese could someone give us some advice on what do and how to go about it. Thank you for listening."

my conversation TODAY with ssgt brown's wife, a day before a C &P EXAM!!!

ssg_rw_brown

Re:your tbi post on hadit dot com, Today, 08:22 PM

Recruit

Group: New User Review

Posts: 2

Member No.: 6,430

Joined: 11-August 09

No, no one has responded privately or other as you can see. I was rather disapoointed because of looking at the board it appeard to be very helpful and responses pretty quick. I thought maybe i had done some improper board etiquette or something. We go tomorrow for the C&P screening again. He talked to his Psych last week and she was furious and sent in a request to have it redone. She said she hated to say it but they are after a number and that is it. I hae written a rather lenghty long letter describing his sympstoms and not srue that is helpful or not but thougth it wouldn't hurt. They never allow me to go in with him but I am going with him and goign to try again to go with so he tells them everything! He does't want to sound like a whiner but I told him he HAS to tell them or they will not know. Thank you for check on this though andy help would be greatly appreciately. And if I did something wrong I apologize.

QUOTE

i saw your post and that no one replied within the post. did anybody send you a private message? usually they start telling you how he possibly should go for tdiu, total disability individual unemployability, IF he doesn't/cant work.

just didn't want him to "slip through the cracks". i'm not a moderator at hadit, just a contributing member/poster like most.

[jbasser]

It was posted inthe wrong forum as it shoud have been posted inthe claims forum.

It does include a TBI but it is a claim.

The TBI forum is an information forum that deals spacifically with TBI issues. All claim s should be posted into the later forum.

J

Out here, I sent the Folks a PM.

Thanks for bringing this one to our attention.

J

Edited August 28, 2009 by jbasser

[Roy]

I real think you need to contact a VFW or DAV representative to help you. You must remember when ever there is a change in your husband condition the VA will most likely lower It. Until he becomes total and permanently disable or he have been rated for the same condition for a long time than he won’t have to deal with CP exams; however, this subject I am not really familiar with and hopefully someone else on this forum can explain this better than I can . In addition, I would get a second opinion for your husband’s knees and back condition either a VA doctor or an outsider ortho physician. Finally, hang in there the VA is a pain the in the A??.

Roy

[out_here04]

true, jbasser, and if you don't look in the "off-forums" these sometimes confused newbies (i still am one at time) get lost. just got alarmed that the vet didn't get an answer in a timely manner.

[ssg_rw_brown]

I real think you need to contact a VFW or DAV representative to help you. You must remember when ever there is a change in your husband condition the VA will most likely lower It. Until he becomes total and permanently disable or he have been rated for the same condition for a long time than he won't have to deal with CP exams; however, this subject I am not really familiar with and hopefully someone else on this forum can explain this better than I can . In addition, I would get a second opinion for your husband's knees and back condition either a VA doctor or an outsider ortho physician. Finally, hang in there the VA is a pain the in the A??.

Roy

Thank you for the response. I did talk to a rep here locally and he recommended we request 100%. He told him the forms to fill out and to request a "one on one" (this is coming second hand from my husband) but that is bascially it. We go in the morning for his C & P on his knee and TBI. I have been reading that we should probably ask to be rated under this new rating code but not sure if we should or not.

[Ricky]

With the issues mentioned this appears to be a complicated claim. One that will be hard to wade through via the internet. The OP really needs someone in their local area who can sit down and wade through the VA replies and the veterans SMR's. If they do not know anyone personally then they are going to have to depend on a SO from DAV, VFW etc.......

The most important thing at this point is to APPEAL THE ATTEMPT TO REDUCE immediately. This will hold off the VA for a bit until the vet can find someone to assist with the issue. Once this is done then maybe Hadit can assist.