john999

Where is your claim and how long have you had the lawyer. He should only get 20% of your retro. I would just wait.

Well, I think you should get any increase in PTSD from the date you filed your initial claim since it has been on active appeal for six years. I think they will try and cheat you on this and base your effective date on date of second PTSD claim.

As Justrluk says "Be pro-active" about the reasonable accommodation. Don't have fireside chat with supervisor without a witness. You want to set this up so that you have taken all the steps required, and if your employer starts to take action against you then you have many ways to go. I worked for the USPS. They would spend a millon dollars to deny an employee accommodation. When I asked to be returned to dayshift after they changed me to night shift after 6 years on days I used the fact that VA had DX'ed me at the time as being bipolar. They refused to accommodate me. I filed a workers compensation claim after I saw a psychiatrist who was very smart, and treated many postal employees. Workers' compensation (OWCP) granted by claim, and the USPS had to move me to days again, or pay me to stay home. There are many ways to skin the cat. The really funny thing was that the USPS had to continue to pay me night differential and double Sunday pay because that is what I was getting on the night shift. They really hated that and really hated me, but they were stuck with me for an extra five years. The day the USPS fired me I filed for worker's compensation because they had begun to screw with me again and I just blew up. I went from work directly to VA nuthouse for in-patient stay. I eventually got WC for about a year and then switched over to TDIU and OPM retirement. I had SSDI by this time. The thing is to lay the foundation for this well in advance. You don't have to do it just like I did it. If you are not too ill I would buy a private disability policy. I did that many years before the USPS fired me. I am still collecting on that policy 13 years later.

If I was going to continue to work from home I would just keep quite about it. If you are not TDIU then you are not breaking any laws by working. However, usually VA considers those with mental disorders to be unable to work if they are 100%. I assume you don't have social security disability? John

If you get Chapter 35 you are p&t.

I think you may be dealing with these repressed feelings now for the first time in many years. Are you getting help from your VA shrink? I would call your shrink and report these feelings. I don't know about 6 week in-patient, but if you have FMLA you could probably get away with it. Who exactly do you work for in terms of civilian or governmental job. The government has to abide by FMLA. Very small business does not always. I would try Vet Centers like Berta says. Often people drop out of therapy because it brings up painful things. This is what you must work through even though it looks bleak now. We are pulling for you! John

Where was your appeal for six years? Did you appeal to DRO and wait six years? Did your claim go to BVA and get remanded back to the VARO. I have been waiting about 8 years and my claim has been to the DRO twice, the BVA twice and the CAVC twice. A lot of movement and still waiting but I think the train is on the track, maybe, this time.

How long since you got out of the military?

If your claim has no impact on your compensation rate now would it have had a impact if it had been approved originally?

You already have TDIU. If you want P&T you should just request it. Did you request an increase? You may get 100% scheduler. If you do then ask for SMC "S" which is housebound. IU and TDIU are the same thing. Does your spouse get ChampVA?

I got SSDI in about three months. I did have two very good IMO's and I never even was sent to a SSDI doctor for an exam. They just looked at the paperwork and granted my claim. I was 52 years old. It took longer to get TDIU than SSDI. The state you live in actually makes the determination and does the exams. Florida has an office of SSD determinations and they are very tough. You need a medical report that hits all the right buzz words and phrases. John

With all those problems I would be pretty depressed. Need I say more?

Explain "I was attacked for two weeks by ballistic missiles followed by engaging Republican Guard". What was your MOS? Did you get any combat awards or badges? If so I don't know how VA denied your PTSD claim.

Did you have a lawyer through all this?

If you are working full time it is very difficult to get a 100% rating or a TDIU rating. You are pretty lucky to have 70%. If you are going to get 100% then you should take disability retirement if it is offered. If you are 70% for schizophrenia did you ask for an increase due to PTSD? You know the VA lumps all mental health issues into one rating. Did the VA call you in for a re-examination on the 70%? Do you have a record of all the time you took of under FMLA? Give that to the exam doctor. If you are sitting at home on TDIU or 100% how is that going to help your mental condition? My advice is to keep working until your employer fires you. Your are getting a salary plus 70% thus you are building up SSA and probably getting medical benefits. What kind of retirement does your job offer? Do they offer disability retirement? If you can't work take the disability retirement. This will help with SSD and VA TDIU/100%. John

The exam doctor is saying you have no evidence in your SMR's that your injuries happened in the military? How did you get hurt and what evidence of any kind do you have that it happened in the military? Were you ever treated for a back injury in the military? Did you tell anyone you had injured yourself? Did a buddy see you get hurt? Were you hurt in a combat zone/situation?

If you use cpap for OSA and you can show OSA is service connected that is 50%. Also, your depression claim should be linked to overall medical conditions. Do you get therapy or take medications for depression? I see you list may joint disabilities. Are these due to injuries? Do you take pain meds for these? Are you in treatment with the VA or private doctors for all your listed conditions? You must establish that these conditions are current disabilities and treatment at the VA is a good way to show that? Do you suffer chronic pain? You can include chronic pain along with hearing loss to bolster depression claim.

Is your OSA service connected? Is sinusitis aggravating your OSA? If you can show that OSA is in any way secondary to sinusitis that would be a big deal compensation-wise. How many conditions are you trying to get SC'ed? Do you also have a PTSD claim?

So you are a federal employee? It will be very hard for the DOE to fire you. Do you have a union? If you file an EEOC complaint and the DOE fires you soon after for petty reasons you probably have a good case for "retaliation" for filing the EEOC complaint or request for Accommodation. I think you should officially ask for accommodation and if they do anything more to you file an EEOC complaint. You do not have to win the complaint. All you have to do is file it and this adds another level of protection. You have access to MSPB if you employer takes some serious action against you. When I was fired from USPS I hired a MSPB lawyer. The USPS fired me for cause. The MSPB lawyer got all that thrown out and I was allowed to take OPM disability and file for worker's compensation at the same time. I was too disabled to continue working anyway so taking OPM was in the cards. I threatened a supervisor and the USPS had a line of witnesses (co-workers who curried favor with their boss). That was really the only way I could have possibly got myself fired.

What is your evidence that your Hep C is service connected? Your current SSDI records don't help with the TDIU because the VA will blames your unemployability on NSC part of your SSDI. TDIU must be solely for SC conditions. I went through his myself but not for hep C. My TDIU was denied because VA said that I was unable to work due to use of opiates. I got another IME and got my TDIU. Now there is no question my opiate use is for SC conditions but first denial was 12 years ago.

You claimed 17 disabilities? Are you retired military? You have documentation in your SMR's for all those conditions. Better to get one condition rated at 100% than 17 rated at less than 100%.

Did you file Form 9 asking to go to BVA? Are you waiting for DRO Hearing? From what I read you should be able to see if your claim has reached the BVA. Often a claim will languish at the RO even after you file Form 9 asking for BVA hearing. When the BVA is ready to hear your claim they will ask for your case, but RO has to certify your claim to the BVA. Contact VARO and find out where your claim is at right now. It could just be sitting at the RO.

Why were you denied? If you have proof that you should not have been denied then present it at this meeting. If your VSO recommended reconsideration you must have some new evidence to support TDIU or even 100% scheduler.

TDIU must be solely for SC conditions. Your SSDI mentions conditions that are not SC. It also mentions age. These are factors that will not help a TDIU claim. How long before your 60% is protected? The independent Vocational Expert's report would help. What is date of your 60% award? On that date your rating is protected. You don't need to wait until 2015. You might wait until one day after your hit the 20 year mark. Was your SSDI award based on CFS and all the other conditions you mentioned, or just the CFS? If SSDI is for the total of all conditions then I would not use it as evidence. I would get an opinion from a doctor saying your are Totally disabled due solely to your CFS and use that as your evidence. John

If you are working it is hard to get a rating higher than 50% for PTSD, but it can be done. To get 100% you must be unemployable according to the VA's own rules. If everything falls just right you might get 70% without being unemployable. You will probably get a decision from the VARO pretty quick. You will most probably get connected for PTSD. The question is what percentage you get. The VARO is not generous unless the evidence is there to support a certain rating. If you are still able to work then 30% to 50% is most likely. John