vetwifie

NSA Saigon - ET - Ahhh!!! Oh boy I understand now. Maybe all too well. I hope this time around, the doc's will be more willing to help out. We had a tough time finding anyone to write a nexus on other claims he had out. Still not planning on giving up. I got nothing else going on right now anyway. Taking care of VA claims is a full time job. Thank you again for your help and support and all the first rate insight. I'll keep you updated.

Carlie, The reasons for denial make no sense to me. The first reason they give is because at the time, my husband was seeing a private psychologist who diagnosed him have PTSD but they do not recognize her credentials. She later said this was the first time that they did not recognize her credentials. OK. so I understand under the new law that you need a diagnosis by VA appointed psychiatrist. I'll agree with that. However, there is a second denial reason they list. My husband was also seeing a VA medical center psychiatrist who said he meets criteria B, C and D but not criteria A. Which I understand from the VA website criteria A as the Stressor. My husband DD-214 list that he was in a combat zone. To my understanding, under the new law, we didn't need a stressor. When we spoke to DAV, they suggested writing one up so that is where I'm at now. I don't know what good that will do since the PTSD claim isn't in the system. I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels here. I think I will take NSA-Saigon's advise and just start a new claim. It looks as if Washington state was sending me on a wild goose change. They just pick and choose what they wanted to approve. Maybe I'll have better luck here in Florida.

Thanks Bergie. We not only have a letter from me, but his sister, & friend wrote letters too. My husbands psychiatrist read mine and said I showed signs of anger. Am I angry?? You betcha I'm angry!!

We will be putting in a claim tomorrow. When you say get rated for PTSD, is his VA Psychiatrist diagnosis of AXIS 1 PTSD with depression good enough? I understand they don't consider outside reports from psychiatrists or psychologist anymore. Should there be a second opinion from another psychiatrist? I am guessing that he will have to go to another C & P exam. I don't think they would use the one done 9/1/2010. Or would they just use his VA Psychiatrist progress reports? I have to say again. There is so much good useful information on this site. I good to know we are not alone in this. Thank you again.

That is a good idea. I didn't know you could do that. I hope this will not confuse them even more. I will open up a new claim and start from scratch and see what can be salvaged from the first one. He has a VA Center Psychiatrist that has him rated AXIS 1 - PTSD with depression. The rating is from Florida so it is pretty recent. QUESTION: Will they retro from the first time he started the claim back in 12/2009?? I think this time, we have a much better understanding of how the VA works and our evidence and supporting docs are more clearer and specific. Thanks for the advice. I feel a little better now.

Thank you for your response. Like I said from the beginning, the claims file has been messed up right from the start. Your statement " The VA will not schedule a C&P exam for an issue that they are going to deny". That is exactly what they did. The VA denied PTSD then scheduled C & P. The denial letter is date stamped April 16, 2010 and the C & P exam took place on September 1, 2010. 5 months AFTER they denied it. I have the denial letter and the letter that has the C & P scheduled date. This is the start of the confusion. I would think we would need a VA decision on September 1, 2010 C&P exam. We don't have that. We do have a complete copy of his C-file. They are organized in a footlocker in the middle of my living room floor. Also contains correspondences from VSO to VARO and so forth. The problem is, the copy of the NOD that we have isn't date stamped. That is what DAV is claiming. They don't have NOD date stamped. So that is why I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. If I have to start over, that's what we will have to do but I don't like it and I don't think it is fair one bit. I understand we all need to be patient but how long would we have been waiting for a response if we were patient. I just don't want to start the process all over again for something that wasn't our fault.

My husband hasn't gotten a reply on his PTSD claim. I'll try to explain. His claim file has been messed up from the beginning but we can't get anyone to take a look at it. In fact, the VA sent him a nasty letter telling him not to call anymore and he should just be patient. Back in April of 2010 he got a denial letter for PTSD but he was never seen by a doctor. He had been seeing a psychologist but VA would not take her medical opinion as evidence and he was denied for PTSD. At that point he did not have a C&P. His VSO put in a request to please review and file either a denovo or appeal (VARO's choice) He was given a C&P on 9/1/2010. To this day, we haven't gotten a decision on the C&P. We would call 800# and see VSO on numerous occasions and still the same story. 800# would tell us they don't see a PTSD claim and VSO would tell us everything is fine. We moved to Florida from Washington state in January and we transferred our files down here. Since we weren't getting anywhere with VFW, we went to the DAV. It has been very hard trying to reach someone at DAV. The NSO that has been assigned to our claims told us the same thing the 800# told us. There is no claim for PTSD. We asked what we should do and he told us "Don't do nothing. The VA has all the information they need." What???!!!! We called DAV in Seattle and he got back to us in a few hours and explained that they are missing a date stamped appeals request. I don't believe the VSO in Washington has stamp dated documents. He is 4 hours away from Seattle. He also said that the notes in the system indicate that they requested a stressor letter. DAV from Seattle suggested we write the stressor letter. St Peterburg FL DAV is scanning our file to see if it was just missed placed. That was Friday. It's now Monday and no phone call. We have a message out to the supervisor but we haven't heard anything. Of course if they don't find documentation that a request was in fact submitted, it is too late to put one in now. So now I am just trying to go forward as if we need to file a new claim for PTSD. Since we are in a new state, my husband has new evidence to present. He is on SSD for PTSD and lower back. The VA in Washington has his SSD file. Florida has given him another PTSD test. He has a new VA psychiatrist that can offer up his medical opinion and all new MRI's on his neck and back. Like I said before, he only receives 20% compensation and a SSD check. It doesn't add up to much at all. We lost our home in Vancouver WA due to this. We sent in hardship letters to the VA. This is why we are here in Florida. Our next step is to drive to St. Petes from Daytona Beach and talk to someone face to face and not leave until we feel this is resolved. This has been an uphill battle the entire way. I thank God that we can still manage to put dinner on the table but sometimes I wonder. Any advise as to what we should do next?

That is the best news I've hear in a long time!! Finally there is a shred of light on this nightmare. My husband is 20% SC for both knees. He basically has osteoarthritis from his neck to his ankles. We were living in Washington State and they really didn't do anything to help him. He has a lower back claim has been opened since 2006. PTSD has been opened since 2009 but there was always issues with the claim. He would call the 800# and they would tell him that he doesn't have a PTSD claim out there. Then he would follow up with his VSO (VFW) and he would tell him the claim is there and he just has to be patient. I knew there was a problem but I just couldn't get anyone's attention long enough to help with it. We are now if Florida and dealing with DAV. Again we were asking about PTSD claim and told there is no claim. Finally, DAV explained that they don't see the stamp dated NOD or appeals in his file. I can't tell you the sinking feeling we felt. I don't believe Washington sate used stamp dates on their correspondences. The VSO is in Vancouver WA and the RO is in Seattle. They are 4 hours away from each other. DAV also told us to do the stressor letter. It was explained to me that the vet would need combat medals or ribbons as the stressor and since he doesn't have medals or ribbons we wrote up the letter. Anyway, we are not giving up on this issue. The C&P exam was for lower back and PTSD. Both of the claims should have been de novo. The lower back in on appeals. Not sure why if it should have been de nove but that ok. The VSO's email was to de novo both claims but he doesn't specially state lower back and PTSD and my husband copy isn't stamp dated. OR maybe those requests are missing from my husbands files. This is not over. My husband is tired of fighting but I still have alot of fight in me. He is on SSD since 2010 and 20% for VA doesn't really add up to any kind of income at all. Thanks again and I can't tell you how much I appreciate these forums.

I want to say that I have found so much information on these forums. I don't think I would have been able do all research without all of you. I can't thank you enough for the education I got on these forums. I am putting together a stressor letter for my husband and I want to include supporting documents. Can someone please look over what we have so far and tell us if we are on the right track or if this is a waste of time. My husband was in Kuwait/Iraq in2003/04. He was assigned to camp security entry and exit points for American base camps in the area. He traveled in convoys in and out of Iraq/Kuwait daily. He doesn't have any combat medals but his DD-214 states he was in an immanent danger combat zone. His stressor is that his humvee was shot at. It was just him and another soldier in the humvee and they never did report it. At the time, they just wanted to forget about it. Plus it happened very close to the end of their deployment and they just wanted to come home. When my husband arrived home, he was enrolled in PDLC school so he was still active duty. The instructor noticed that he wasn't participating and looked very distant. They sent him to see the doc and a chaplain. He was excused from school due to Post Adjustment Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder and they told him he would feel better in a few months and he can finish his school. He never got better. He got worse. He now has a diagnosis of PTSD from a counselor and a VA psychiatrist. The VA asked for a stressor letter so that is what we are working on for them. Since the indecent was not reported, would a buddy letter from the soldier who was in the humvee with him suffice? I am planning on including the following documents along with the stressor letter. Any input on what else would help would be greatly appreciated * Stressor Letter * Letter from VA Psychiatrist with PTSD diagnosis and confirming the incident has resulted in PTSD * Buddy letter from soldier who was in the humvee with him. * DD-214 showing he served in a combat zone