john999

When you get to the VBA the happy face of the VA changes into a snarl. Many people dealing with vets on the financial side consider vets to be gold bricks, fakers, and frauds. This true in many cases. They despise us. Many are envious of us because we get benefits they wish they had. Many just don't give a damn. If you starve so what?

I am not SC for the back and shoulders. I was hurt on the job. I got some benefits for that through WC, but after I got TDIU, WC went away. There is nothing the VA can do for me that private doctors can't do. I have good insurance. Going out to my VAMC is an ordeal. No parking, long walks in the heat to get anywhere, and dufus doctors.

If not for my IMO's I would never have gotten TDIU. I ended up getting three IMO's to defeat VA. It did not cost me much at all but that was 20 years ago. If you have to spend some bucks to get TDIU or 100% it is usually well worth it. Consider, your spouse and children get special benefits if you get TDIU or 100%. You get state benefits usually. Consider the IMO an investment.

I went for a C&P exam for my DMII and PN. I was expecting an increase in my DMII, but got a very significant increase for the PN. If I had blown off the C&P exam I would still not have schedular 100%. Under no circumstance would I refuse a C&P exam if the VA insists on it. C&P exams are like rolling the dice, but if you don't like them you can appeal. I have appealed many exam results in the past. I have had some terrible exams mostly from VA doctors not the contract doctors. Just go to the exam and tell the truth. Don't get mad or dispute the doctor. You can get your own IMO. I have done that more than once.

Does PT do you any good? How about the back injections? My back is killing me and I go today to start PT. I don't use the VA for this. I had a CT scan.

Does it matter if your survivor get DIC on the 10 year rule or due to SC condition?

I have heart disease, HBP and diabetes due to AO. I have one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. Unless I get a foot cut off I doubt I will get SMC besides the "S" I already have. However, I still will file claims for AO conditions regardless.

You know I don't think most vets are after money before they get sick. When you get some sort of rating you find out about all the rest and how to get more. The VA tells you nothing about compensation. Not once in 30 years did the VA ever mention Agent Orange to me.

I won't be getting any money but I want the SC anyway.

So, for anyone who knows what is the latest on VA claims for HBP due to AO exposure. My claim was moving right along and now is stalled at the "gathering evidence" stage. I already had a C&P exam and all my records are at the VA. I take four blood pressure meds from the VA.

If you are getting SSDI and TDIU I would be very careful about any work that involves an IRS 1099 or a W-2. VA is notorious for just dropping the hammer and letting you appeal for a couple of years while you starve. I so wanted to continue some kind of little business, but I knew it would be a danger to me. I physically could not do it which just frustrated me no end. I had a good job and I hated to have to retire on disability. Sometimes you must face the awful facts. I don't understand people who want to retire at 50 and sit on their asses for 30 years. Now because I am so disabled I do sit on my ass, but I am 72 with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. With VA or SSDI I would not tempt fate! The love to make examples of people who they accuse of fraud.

If you can afford to have a long term treatment from a real doctor who knows you and is willing to write a report for you that is the best way IMO. I did get a great IMO from a doctor who was the wife of my lawyer. She was a former VA shrink. When VARO got her report they just surrendered. She knocked the ball so far out of the park it landed in New Jersey, and I live in Florida. She is retired now but this is the kinds of deal to get if you can get it. She charged me $250 and insurance paid for that. These doctors charging 3-5 thousand bucks are just lining their pockets. How long does it take to review some records and write a two page report with the correct buzz words and phrases? If the doctor has access to your records all they have to say is "After a careful review of the vet's records..ect." then you are off to the races. You want your doctor to give a DX and a prognosis such as " this vet is permanently disabled from all work due solely to his SC condition." If the doctor mentions other NSC conditions the VA will jump on that as the real reason you are 100%

Is there any benefit to a service-connected death to survivors as opposed to the ten year rule. I have been P&T for 20 years, but my SC conditions will most likely kill me one day. I migh get lucky and have a VA van run over me on the way to the VA hospital and then I could truly say the VA killed me.

If you use a VA cemetery and want to be buried you still must buy the box and pay for the service. That could cost thousands. You can be cremated and have your remains stored at a VA cemetery. I mean when you are dead you are dead. Why not let your widow/widower keep the money. You won't feel a thing.

If you want to make a big pot of money get small invest in bitcoin! That is the dumbest advice I ever heard, and I have been investing for 30 years and made a lot of money buying common stocks.

I got a Pell grant way back in the 1970's. It wasn't much, but I was a poor as a church mouse. One way to get more aid is to rent a cheap room and make that your son's official address. Since the idea is that he is paying rent etc. on a very low income he should be able to get more aid. I got consideration for work at the college I was attending. I was getting the G. I. Bill but that was so little I could not live and pay tuition and books. Tuition is so much higher these days. I could not do it now and I would not borrow a lot of money to go to school. Unless you finish and get a really good job you will be paying back for decades. I had to work 20-30 hours all the time I was in school.

If you don't go to an exam your claim is automatically denied. Can you get that through your head. You encourage people to not go to exams and then deny it. Have not you been warned about this before on Hadit?

CUE I am not attacking you. I am saying what everyone knows that if you refuse a C&P exam you are going to lose your claim. Maybe if you want to screw around with the VA for 20 years to prove a point that is your choice. When you encourage vets not to get exams you are not doing right and you should know that.

If VA orders an exam you better go because failure to appear is an automatic denial in my experience. I know you have a special case CUE.

Bronco Your story really pisses me off due to the hardships you faced while the VA fooled around with your claim. I am glad you got your retro and house back. When I got fired from my job due to my disability I got tunnel vision. The only thing I thought about was getting every penny I could as a disabled person. It obsessed me for a couple of years. While waiting for SSDI and worker's compensation to come in I lost about 25 pounds. Finally I got SSDI and WC. That put money in my pocket so I could work on TDIU/100% without feeling like the world was crashing down around me. Since I got TDIU I have filed at least 6 claims. I won every one of them except my CUE for retro. I do fine down here in Florida except for dodging hurricanes.

Thanks, Jbasser. I had the same conversation with AskNod some time ago. I don't want to have to file for LOU. Whatever money the VA might pay is not worth losing use of a foot. I would like to know more about "foot drop".

No, I am not trying for OSA as service-connected. I am at 100% now . Unless I can connect OSA to DMII, High Blood and heart disease I don't think I can get OSA service connected. I have been out of the service for over 50 years. In those days I don't they even knew what OSA was.

Someone high up in the VA has decided they just don't want to approve claims for OSA. Many of these guys have a low opinion of vets. They think all vets are just freeloaders. They would never admit to this prejudice but I think it is there.

Are you rated P&T? If you have a valid claim then pursue it. I have done that over and over since I was rated P&T. I would not let the VA intimidate me. File your claims and be ready to appeal.

Just appeal, appeal and then appeal some more. I was DX'ed with a heart condition. The VA rated me at Zero. I appealed and got 60% just because I appealed it and got some new evidence from the VA itself.