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rpowell01
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Posts posted by rpowell01
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Well I awoke 2:30 am in the morning and I was hurting but right now I feel fine. Just sore like I did 200 situps yesterday. It also seems that the gallbladder issues were masking my cervical herniation issues. My arms are in more pain today than ever. Does this happen?
Yep I can't wait to start and hopefully on Thursday after I talk with a corporate VP I will have a good job back in IT. Wish me luck on landing that position.
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Busy yes...Been there done that back in 2002-2003. Went to school from 8am-1:30pm M-F and went to work 2:45pm-11:15pm Sunday-Thursday. Yep I know what it feels like those 16 hour days are a killer 3 times a week. It was rewarding though after I completed the class.
I was in and out of surgery today, I feel a lot better overall and glad I made the choice to have it removed. I didn't really know how it was affecting me overall.
rpowell
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It's done!!!! I feel a lot better overall. Some soreness from the insertion area but overall I feel a lot better. I never thought i would ever feel like this again. It has been awhile.
God Bless,
rpowell
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Well said....
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i get 60% disability and iam enroll in vr&e ILP but i dont receive anything ..i have a familiy to support and just living off 941 dollars a month can i get helf anywhere
I would also apply for SSDI. Yes you might get denied but try again and again. They like to play those types of games. But if you have your doctor write up something that you can't work then more likely you will get it. It will help you a lot.
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Well I have my gallbladder surgey tomorrow and start online college Monday. What else can I ask for? Oh wait forgot to mention as some of you might know I am laid-off IT person working in a position I "retired" from years ago because of my SC'd issues. Well good news is, today I had a Regional Vice President of a huge corporation contact me about a possible IT job here in Florida (about 45-1hr from my house). Well if this doesn't take the cake. First they find out exactly what is causing a lot of issues with my blood pressure rising and me having these weird attacks, then I start college on Monday paid for by the VA with subsitence allowance and I might be starting a new job back in IT sometime soon.
Whenever life itself gets you down and you feel you are at the end of your rope I know God makes a way for you. I don't care who you are he will make a way. I feel what going through was for a reason and He is the only one who knows why.
God Bless,
rpowell
Maybe me and JBasser can hook up on a bass fishing trip if he moves down here sometime soon.....I would enjoy fishing once again like I use to, I just have to purchase new gear....
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Instead of using "medical doctors" in the ER they are using intern residents. Yes the VA does it also. It's cheap and convenient.
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My mistake. I want to explain this correctly. The Doctor told me that whenever a Doctor can't diagnosed something they turn to Anxiety. What may seem to be Anxiety really isn't but something else. Anxiety has many symptoms and so whenever they can't find the cause they turn to Anxiety which in honest opinion is being overused. It gives the ER doctors a way out from not doing extensive testing for a diagnosis. Just my opinion because I have seen th is many times myself in the ER. What I felt was from the gallbladder not Anxiety. This is what the surgeon told me today. I don't blame the doctors I just blame the system on how they give up diagnosing whenever there should be extensive testing than just lab work or EKG.
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Okay tomorrow they will be doing the gallbladder surgery.
After you got your gallbladder taken out did the Anxiety go away? I think this is what is causing me more than my cervical and back issues. I was use to the pain from my neck and back but this stuff with my gallbladder took me to a new level. I hope it all goes away.
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I knew it!!!! I knew I wasn't crazy!!!!
So what were your symptoms Pete53?
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WOW I actually suffered since 2005. Had a bad attack then, ruled anxeity (first time). Was at work about 2 years later walking to lunch, boom attack. Last year boom attack, Monday and Tuesday of this week, boom attack. Yes I go see a Vascular Surgeon tomorrow. I am hoping he takes me in Friday because I feel it is killing me because my blood pressure jumping that high 200/100 will cause me to stroke out one of those times.
BTW I might have jumped conclusions on my chest pain thing. The reason why is because it is my pectoral muscle having trigger points which is from my cervical issues. Below the chest I have other pains which is from the gallbladder. I just came back from the Orthopedic Surgeon for my neck. He wants to do surgery now but he wants a dynamic MRI. He said there is one in Tampa but I just don't know if my insurance will pay for it. Hope he is a good talker to the insurance company. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida but they are very picky. I couldn't get a thoracic nor lumbar whenever I had a cervical. The Dynamic MRI he wants will see more true issues because of the pressure on my neck while I am standing plus I move my head from front to back. He said if the others are worse on the MRI he will go in to fix those also.
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I would just gather all the information you need that is stated on Va Form 28-8606. My Counselor stated that she has to write out the plan. I took everything to her yesterday and it was approved. Today she emailed me all the contracts I had to signed and I scanned them and sent them back. Now I await for May 2. If the school gets the voucher in time I will start May 2, if not then I will have to wait until July 5. I have trust in my counselor because I found out if you work with them they will bust their butts for you, well mine has so far. Hope it works out for you...
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Well, well, well, I finally found out what is causing my chest pains, shortness of breath and blood pressure to elevate. I really thought I was going crazy.. I have had the constant chest pains since last April 2010, every day. Well it got to the point I felt myself going downhill and to be honest I didn't think I was going to make it to the end of the year last year. On August 6,2010 I ended up at the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I explained what I thought was everything to the Doctor. Of course he see's you for the max of 2 minutes then orders all these tests which btw is another topic by itself. They put me on a EKG and did some lab work. For 3 hours they monitored me and then came back to say "Oh you had an Anxiety Attack"...I kept telling myself noway was this Anxiety. I know some of you remember me posting it a few times on hadit.
Then in February a new private MRI found the herniated disc at C5-6. So then a couple of us was thinking okay it is radiculopathy because of the disc herniation. Well here is where things became a little bizarre. Two weeks ago I had a epidural cortisone injection at C6 which btw did help take the tingling away but not the numbess and now my neck is in a lot of pain. It has been a roller coaster of a two weeks, up one day and feel really good only to be down the next day feeling really bad. All in my arms as I speak. BUT, onething that didn't change was the chest pains and the shortness of breath and the elevated blood pressure. Anyway, yesterday I was over in Sarasota for a Voc Rehab appt. and my kids were with me, thank God they were. Well, right after my appointment we jumped in the car and as soon as I got on the road I had this pain to the right of my diaghragm which lasted about a good 30-60 seconds. I never felt this pain before. Remember I only had chest pains 24/7 and some shortness of breath. Well I told my daughter I do not feel good at all and then my face turned pink red she said. It felt like I was dying. I quickly pulled into a 7elevan and handed her the phone. I said if anything happens to me dial 911. We were 1.5 hours away from our house. As soon as I got out of the car I starting feeling a little better. All the way home I just didn't feel good. As soon as I got home i started feeling stick again. Well, I jumped into the car and went to my Doctor who in turn sent me to the ER. At the ER they once again put me on EKG and Vitals, checked my blood but this time there was a good Doctor from Polland there. He did good. He asked me exactly what happened and has I explained to him the details he pushed on the spot where it was hurting for 30-60 seconds but it didn't hurt whenever he did that. Well he ordered a ultrasound on that area and come to find out I have SLUDGE in my GALLBLADDER and that is what is causing all my chest pains, shortness of breath and blood pressure to jump sky high. Just Friday of last week my blood pressure was 120/78...<-----Good dont you think? This is the way it use to be all my life. Anyway after another 3-4 hour stay he told me to go see a Vascular Surgeon to probably have it removed because that is what is causing all my problems in my chest.
Please tell me I am not crazy!!!!! LOL I knew I wasn't and I knew it was a matter of time before the truth came out. Dead or alive the answer would have been found....Seriously though I wrote all of this because my step mother's mother died from the exact same thing but back then they didn't have much to go on. So her gallbladder poisoned her and killed her. I just hope he takes this thing out really soon because 2 days of really bad episodes do it it.
BTW one last symptom I would get after the attack was I would be real gassy and whenever I explained all of this to the nurse over at the vascular place she said Yep that is your gallbladder and DO NOT EAT FATTY FOODS....And come to think about it I ate some homemade TACOS Sunday evening, NICE!!!! Today I ate chicken fried rice========= not good she said....
I learned that everbody's symptoms on the gallbladder is different for some reason, they are kind of grouped but might have one from the other group. An officer at work has the same problem and will have surgery next week and her symptoms are the exact same as mine where others were bent over and was in pain. Weird huh....
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Yes I will share will you my story. I have Cervical Disease, Spondylosis of the Thoracic Spine, Type II endplate disease at T9, Lumbar Disc Disease and I have Lumbosacral Joint Disc Disease. I know what you feel and I know what you are going through. It was 15 years ago I was discharge from the Army. I was 29 and on top of the world. You don't think about what that Army Doctor told you before you leave, "It is degenerative". At that time I didn't know what that meant because I didn't want to know. But now I can tell you what it means because I am feeling it everything. Earlier this year I filed for Vocational Rehab benefits. I went to the appointment and the counselor asked me a series of questions. She wanted to know what my SC'd is, do I have any claims pending and what experiences I have. After I talked with her about the problems I have with my current position, how it aggravated my SC'd condition she stepped out of the room. A few minutes later she came back and stated to me "I had to talk with my supervisor because we had to make a legal obligation decision". She told me that I should not be in the current position because it is aggravating my SC'd injuries. See I have been a Florida Certified Corretional Office for 20 years. In between this I turned over a new leash and took a year long college course in Computer Networking. I new back in 2002 that I needed to change careers because I starting feeling it in my back, opening cell doors, standing for long periods of time and having to use physical force on people well that took the cake. So in 2003 I was offered a IT position and I accepted it. Everything was going really good and then in 2009 a oneday notice was given to me that my position was being eliminated (Workforce reduction). The only thing I could do was fall back to what I use to know and that was being a Correctional Officer. Well 7 years later I didn't realize my neck and back was more brittle than before. It just isn't panning out. So, I applied and the counselor told me I qualified for Vocational Rehab. Whenever she explained to me that the VA would pay all my tuition, books and give me a good allowance of $859 a month, my mouth dropped and I was stunned. This was all back in March and on May 2nd I will be starting my education, again. Good thing is that Networking Class I took, I already have 30 credit hours. I will be attending Florida Technical University and everthing is online. College have come a long way with the online courses that is being offered. I asked the counselor how much is allowed each year and she told me they pay up to $25,000 a year for tuition. My friend you cannot beat that deal anywhere. Good thing is you are still qualified for Grants and Loans. Myself I will not get the student loans, don't want them, can't stand them, they just put people in hole they can't dig their way out of. BTW, my Cervical Disc Disease has now turned into 2 bulge disc and 1 herniated disc all mainly caused by cervical strain that I have had for 15 years. Take care of yourself while you can because later it will get you.....
Remember your allowance is paid to you based on if you are full time or part time...I am going full time :>)
Hope this helps...
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Veterans are eligible if they:
- Have received, or will receive, a discharge that is other than dishonorable
- Have a service-connected disability rating of at least 10%, or a memorandum rating of 20% or more from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)
- Apply for Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) VetSuccess services
Basic period of Eligibility
The basic period of eligibility in which VR&E VetSuccess services may be used is 12 years from the latter of the following:- Date of separation from active military service, or
- Date the veteran was first notified by VA of a service-connected disability rating.
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They want to know what is causing your problems at work. Don't worry about the unemployment thing. Just show up at he appointment, be polite and truthful. My counselor is a very nice person and I just told her the truth. It is a common sense thing. If you are SC'd for your back and/or neck and your work details that you lift a lot then they will see that. My opinion would be for you to bring with you you job description because you will have to provide that if you get accepted.
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This is why it is so important for past, present and future veterans to get a COPY of your c-file whenever you can. Before you get out of service copy the whole thing because you never know!!!! I have my copies from 15 years ago before I got out, then I scanned them to hard drive, kept the copies though. Next I am going to burn everything to two discs, give one to my dad and one to my mother for safe keeping. Better safe than sorry.
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What in the world is this dial up you mentioned, must have been before my time
j/k....:>) -
I am working and qualified. Just be truthful with the counselor. If you back bothers you that bad because of your current position tell them that. Tell them your afraid because of the risks. Just be honest and everything will work for you. If approved, just be ready for that crazy test you will have to take, it fried my brain. I don't want to tell you about it and ruin the moment...LOL
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I am a great example of the eligibility dates on this. I was SC'd back in 1997 but I still am qualified for Vocational Rehab qualifying limit of 12 years. Two reasons; first my SC'd is aggravated by my current position. Here is the story. In 1990 I was certified as a Florida Corrections Officer. It was in 1994 I was discharged for my injuries from active duty. Well I went back into Corrections at that point. In 2002 I took some classes in Information Systems and in 2003 I obtain a nice career change in IT. Well, in 2009 that position was eliminated so I had not choice but to go back in Corrections (believe me that was the last thing I wanted to do because I knew what would happen). Well it is 2011 and because of my current position aggravating my SCd condition the VA Counselor told me they had a Legal Obligation to approve me for Vocational Rehab.
As for disconnecting your claim, you can disconnect it anytime and then activate it again. Once you are approved you are approved from what my counselor stated.
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I wouldn't blame the VA as much as St Louis because they should never send orginal's to the VA in the first place. They should make copies and send them just for reasons like this.
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Yep I have seen the private Orthopedic Surgeon this past Monday who said he wanted to try 1 ECI. On Tuesday I had the procedure which btw I will never, ever do again because of a reaction I kind of had and it is still affecting me today. The Orthopedic Surgeon I seen this past Tuesday showed me the Herniation on the privated MRI I had back in February. I did tell him I was concerned with my cervical spine being straight like a 2x4 and he told me they are hoping the ECI will help relieve the muscle spasms causing it. Well, it is Saturday evening and well while a lot of the symptoms have somewhat decreased I can start to feel others such has shortness of breath and chest pains once again. I have found out that the chest pains are actually really small trigger points on the muscles that runs through the space of the ribs. This is why it feels like my heart has the pain but in all reality it doesn't. This is why I have Anxiety. It seems the old pattern is coming back already. I do have pain in my right arm which is baffling them because the MRI showed Left Foraminal Stenosis. I now have more pain in my right arm than any other place. The Orthopedic Surgeon told me that I would only have to go through the ECI onetime if that didn't help then I will go under knife. They both were so assured it would fix the issue but I know it hasn't so far. Don't get me wrong there is a possibility that I might have herniated the disc below the current one. It was bulged and if you look on the MRI it was close to be herniated. I have read on some website that the top herniation will at times cause the bottom one to go also.
I will get the VA MRI and have the private orthopedics compare them for me. If it is seen on the VA MRI guess I will file a complaint with Patient Advocacy.
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Berta, actually the two people are privated radiologists and there is my private orthopedic surgeon who showed me the herniated. I am researching on WHY the VA didn't detect the herniation last May whenever I had all the symptoms. It is my understanding they outsource the radiologists? I want them to acknowledge there was a mistake. I did file secondarys and with those secondary's I did give them copies of all the private MRI reports. I am hoping the RO at least acknowledges somebody made a mistake.
Reading a lot of stories on hadit has opened my eyes that this will probably never be corrected and I will be like this the rest of my life. I hope not but I am coming to the realization of it now.
Thanks Susan I think I will go over there maybe next Saturday and get a copy. I know the MRI is open on Saturday at Bay Pines..... And I will ask for copies of the newest one on my thoracic spine which they said shows mild spondylosis. If they say this is mild then I would hate to feel what moderate or severe feels like. This doesn't feel mild. BTW I am 42 and this has somewhat baffled the orthopedic surgeons because they said you don't see this that much in patients my age.
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Thanks Carlie I just learned what a CUE actually was. I understand the RO and C & P Examiner were going by what was on record. I think I am going to wait on the current secondary claims I have in which might put me close to the top, if not the other ones I didn't file for yet probably will. This thing has created a huge mess in my life. I am still trying to comprehend how some of you folks have lived with it for so long. I only have been like this for 1 year and 2 months and it is driving me up the wall.
The other question, I am allowed to get a copy of the MRI CD?
j/k....:>)
Monday Is The Day For Me...
in Vocational Rehabilitation
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I am out of work until I see Doctor on Thursday morning. Yea I know what you mean but I don't want to lay around either which is bad for you. Got to move just a little up and down a little. The college is online so sitting here will be the easy part...