john999

In three years your TDIU will be a permanent rating that cannot be changed. I sure would claim Chapter 35 benefits if I don't have them. I got P&T after being TDIU for about a year. The VA just wants to know if your condition is static or if you will get better. John

If you want to try and upgrade LTH discharge over 15 years old you will probably need a lawyer. I tried to have my honorable discharge changed to a medical after 15 years and I was immediately shot down on the 15 year deadline. There are lawyers that attempt these cases. I found the Army board of correction of military records to be very unhelpful on my own.

Tell them you have so many skid marks on your underwear it looks like Daytona 500. John

For your orthopedic conditions they will be looking for range of motion. As soon as you feel pain when VA doctor manipulates your back, shoulder etc. then sing out loudly. Don't let them run you through full ROM if you feel pain. Were you treated for all these conditions in the service? Were you in combat?

The way I do it these days is I request hearings, submit evidence and arguments, and then if I want company on the day of a hearing I contact a VSO and brief him on hearing date and send him evidence etc. I don't depend on VSO to do anything. If my case is important enough to have representative I go hire a lawyer if I don't feel I can do it myself. I have a claim that has been under constant appeal somewhere in the system for the last 7 years. 2 trips to the DRO, 2 trips to the BVA and now two trips to the CAVC. I am waiting almost nine months for a Court of Appeals judge to make a decision. I think this claim will end up taking ten years.

Carlie You have to really wonder about a health care system that probably serves 300,000 vets and does not have an ENT doctor? At Tampa VA Hospital I was told you can only see the ENT at 8:30 in the morning on Thursday once a week. I get 60% for heart condition and have never seen a VA cardiologist. I saw a neurologist one time at a C&P exam when I was dx'ed with PN. In the last 12 years I have only seen an orthopedist once and yet I get narcotic pain meds for back, shoulder and neck pain.

I would send a IRIS question and ask the VA what they are doing? Did you have a claim for ED in the system?

I think you should NOD the denial for all the conditions that could be secondary to sinusitis. Leave the PTSD alone for a while until you can get more evidence for a higher rating. The headaches, throat and sinus infections could all be secondary symptoms of sinusitis so that 50% rating could go back to 2005. Maybe run this by a VA lawyer. Are you working? I think you have enough for a TDIU claim especially if you are not working since they you could probably get your PTSD rating bumped up to 70%. I think the VA just does not want to pay you the 8 years of retro for the conditions you were denied for in 2005 because they seem like symptoms of sinusitis. I think the VA is trying to play "hide the retro". I also find it hard to believe you had no symptoms of PTSD in 2005. I think you can get money out of this thing if you have a good lawyer. John

Phil Who paid B&M? Since you don't have an award I guess you did not sign on for a 20% cut to them. I don't understand why they would not get you to sign a contract and stay with you until the end if they believe in your claim?

Rpowell You know if you persist you will win but meanwhile you have big pay cut. If you do lose after the hearing I think I would find a VA lawyer close to your home and St. Pete VARO. You have to file an NOD in order to hire a lawyer, right? The thing is to get this reduction overturned as soon as possible. You don't want a long learning curve on this. In the CAVC case I mentioned the vet did get the initial reduction thrown out after 60 years, but he was dead. His spouse is still fighting to get retro from 1956 when VA said they correctly reduced the vet yet again. She should win, but she is elderly and may not live long enough to get money. VA says that even when they make a CUE which sets new starting date for rating that other rating decisions made after the CUE are still valid. This does not make sense for 100% vet.

If you go to CAVC website there is a case Pirkl v Shinseki that involves a CUE case for reduction of a 100% rating in 1952 that finally went to federal court where the widow got a remand. The vet had his 100% improperly reduced via just one exam. He fought this off and on until his death when his spouse took over and kept fighting. The vet was 100% for schizophrenia and the VA reduced him three times to 10%. This case is over 60 years old and the vet did not live to see a partial win.

I know the number of 100% and/or TDIU claims have increased dramatically over the last5-10 years. Obviously, RVN ERA vets are getting older and sicke,r and we have been in two long and bloody wars. I think TDIU is an issue that sticks in the VA's throat. It is somewhat subjective as are many VA ratings. It is hard to produce absolute proof that you are unemployable. My advice to ward off reductions is to stay in treatment and take your meds.

I would persistently go for TDIU and don't give up until you get it. It will make the difference between poverty and being pretty well off in your future.

You need to show that you cannot due sedentary work as well. If you lose a particular job due to a certain disability that does not prove TDIU. I have foot problems as well and I worked for the post office. I have PN in my hands so doing sedentary work was painful as well. I actually got TDIU based on depression and other emotional problems that were aggravated by chronic pain. You might file for chronic pain/depression as well. You need to show there is no work you can do sitting or standing. John

I have been trying for years to get outpatient mental health records from Hunter Army Airfield/ Ft. Stewart. I know they exist but I get everything but those records.

I just got my VA pills from UPS overnight service. What next? They were 5 days late, however. I should have had them on August 31st. Labor day caused a five day delay. These are strong narcotic pills and if not for personal initiative I would have been sick days ago. John

The VA cheats on effective dates very frequently. They even make your ED the date of you C&P exam if they can do it.

That long acting morphine sulfate will turn your bowels into concrete.

You are lucky she cares!!! Just be sure to complain about all your conditions. Document that your symptoms, pains, upsets and all the difficulties you are having with your SC conditions. I am getting treatment at the VA to make sure the money keeps rolling in every month. Also, the drugs are cheap and I want second opinions. Some of the people at the VA think every vet is a scammer no matter what you do so why worry?

My narcotic meds are mailed to me supposedly on the 1st of the month but it can vary by ten days either way. I have to use my initiative. John

You are right about that, John. I told BC/BS the VA was billing them for NSC stuff and they just said it was not worth investigating. The VA billed them for my C&P exam. I went for eye exam for DMII and the VA billed my insurance.

Once you get a VA approved rating for PTSD you can hire your own doctors to write IMO's to try and increase your rating. If you are working full time you probably won't ever get more than a 50% rating. When you have PTSD so bad you can't work then you get the 70%-100% ratings.

Medicade is for the very poor. Medicare is for everyone who paid into it for a certain number of quarters. I have VA, medicare A&B and Blue Cross. As long as I can afford it I will take it. I even get coverage from worker's compensation for a few things. If your house is paid off and your car is paid the other big expense is insurance. I get second opinions on everything.

Get it while you can because the wind can start blowing in the opposite direction with a new administration that may think vets are lazy and overpaid. I think from what I have read that VA HQ, and their congressional minders think 100% and TDIU vets suck up too much of the money in the system. Of course, these are the vets that really need it. VA thinks we are like the 90 year old medicare members who suck up large money in final days. John

For vets who qualify for TDIU I sure would go for it and not wait. When the last soldier is out of Afghanistan that war and OIF will be forgotten so fast it will seem like it never happened. The government will forget the vets who were there even faster. Get your benefits now!!! Unless we get into another long war vets will become invisible again within a few month or years. The public wants to forget and they don't want to pay if it means their taxes will go up. John