chinavet

Great pic! I will either be living in New Haven or Chicago when I return.

do those hardship letters ever carry any weight??

The more I have thought about service dogs, the more I am sure I want one regardless of the VA decision. I think it would change my life. I cannot be in places with lots of people, cannot walk over pedestrian overpasses, have to leave movies to get re-grounded and get through a panic attack and so on... Any suggestions for a good agency?

Thanks! I got married and did the 70's thing and hyphenated my name. That screwed up my DOD and VA files...They want a legal name change doc to combine the records even though the SSN is the same...So, now I am afraid to mess with my folder until they make a decision...I would love to be able to access inline...It is a reall hassle to call the VSO or the800# from China... They have had it in decision phase about 5 months....They asked for the C&P clarification last month and got a positive answer. I am wondering how they can say no (it is rhetorical cause I know they say no all the time) if their doc said in the C&P it was service related.....It seems like that would be easy to fight in court...But, I have no experience or knowledge on this stuff...I have been in a haze for 7 years....The VA put me in Klonopin and it stopped my 5 panic attacks a day, but turned me into an angry vegetable.... Just want it to be over... I was in the 82nd a whole 3 months....Got assigned instructor duty at Ft Sam and did not go back after jump school at Benning.... Good luck on yours too...Let me know what happens!

91B CMB But the stressor was stateside. I went to OCS then EOD training after 55D school. Explosion blinded me for a year in one eye and my house was destroyed by fire in the same 2 month period. Haven't been right since, though I would love to be. I worked on a lot of trauma cases but ER and emergency never phased me.

Just spoke with VSO. He says AMC wrote back to my Senator (Kirk) and said that as soon as they got a diagnosis verification from the C&P doc that they would give it to a rater. They gave it to a rater on the 11th of October. VSO based on info he sees in file that he believes I have a 90% shot at 100%. I don't trust anything anymore, but nice to know that this might be over sooner than later.

Did you ever hear from China?? I live in NW China now....I have contacts around the country via social networks and friends in over a dozen schools. Let me know if I can help expedite something.... I can also help you get oriented about what you are getting into... It is getting expensive here, but still cheaper than the US... I have sat out 7 of my nine years of appeals here... Good luck!

Fantastic!

So happy for you!!

Social Security can be tough, but I got it done within six months. It was actually a lot easier than VA. I am on year 9 with the VA. Good luck!

Thanks Berta I am still learning how to navigate the site. Getting better! I did not know that you could even apply for TDIU. Is it a form? I fought for over a year to get the SS decision. The VA has lost a lot of my data. I am not sure if the SS decisions are there. Is there a way to find out without stalling the appeal process? Thanks for your answers. I feel awfully lost over here some days. There is absolutely no one to connect with here. The DAV seems totally lost about what to do for a vet overseas. They have not been very proactive. Their answer to virtually every question is "I will look into that" and then 3 weeks later when I call they go, "ohm I will have to look into that."....Really easy for me to get lost in the system... They have my C&P and an independent medical eval that backs the C&P saying "90% housebound. Group situations impossible"....."GAF 30" "Service related" The anxiety now that we are close is killing me....

Thanks I am in China. I have only returned for the C&P and travel boards. That killed my budget. I have had some form of autoimmune since my time in the service. They diagnosed early symptoms in the military. The SSi was based on the PTSD. Most recent C&P clearly indicated 100% service connection.

I will scout for a scanner. I don't have one. The SSI disability was for PTSD. They used my EER s and OERs to determine and validate stressor. I had perfect really perfect, ratings until the event. I was Euro Med command soldier of the year a year before the event and received a bottom 10% Efficiency Rating after... The first hearing officer heard the case, without my files, almost three years ago.' I have four volumes of files. My additional C&P was pretty well written in stone that the PTSD is service related and severe (GAF 30)

I looked and could not find an earlier answer. How powerful is a C & P in the decision making process?

I will make a long story short. I am a Vietnam Vet with PTSD and autoimmune issues. The VA lost my files and dismissed my case many years ago and I opted not to fight them I applied again 9 years ago when symptoms got worse. I was living in China on pension. I had been on SSI and that ended with my pension. I had a C & P and the doc saw me for 10 minutes. He said it was a 15% chance it was service connected.My GAF was 60 The VA denied the claim and I appealed. They ordered a travel board hearing. I wrote them to ask if we could schedule it at a different time. They gave me 2 weeks notice to appear. They denied the request and then denied my claim because I did not "desire" to show for my hearing. Nuts. The BOVA remanded the case. They scheduled a new travel board hearing and I flew to chicago and they did not have my records. They said they did not expect me to show up. The hearing officer used language from the doctor and said my PTSD was hard to figure out and my current symptoms were probably caused by other more recent stressors. and since I had held highl evel jobs I was probably not disabled--he did not note that i never held a job more than a few weeks. I wrote angry objections to the finding and BOVA ordered a 2nd C&P The examiner saw me for an hour and had worked with my case for 7 years. He said he was 100% sure I was disabled because of the Army, My diagnosis was PTSD and severe depression and my GAF was 30. The regional office developed the case and said it was ready to rate in November of 2010. A second doctor concurred with the C&P and it was added to evidence. I asked Senator Kirk to get involved and he sent a letter and asked them to expedite die to financial hardship and sickness. My autoimmune is killing me. They have not yet looked at the autoimmune issue.I filed that 2 years ago and they said they will have to rate the PTSD first. The case was assigned to a rating specialist last month on the 21st. He requested clarification of the diagnoses. He received a positive response about my condition--one that supported my diagnosis on the 14th. Whew. So two questions: How much longer do you think it will be? What are the odds of a positive rating? 9 years and counting.