john999

The VA has every cash incentive to low ball or deny valid claims as Bronco has said. This is why we have to become jail house lawyers to protect our claims.

I don't think it will help or hurt. Having active vocational rehabilitation will probably rule out getting P&T for obvious reasons. If you were turned down for Voc Rehab that would help TDIU. It makes sense that the VA should try and rehab vets who are TDIU. In reality I am not sure it works that way. What is your intention with the voc rehab? Do you see employment in your future?

Raider Was there a possible inferred case of TDIU? A year to wait after a C&P exam is a long time. Usually, the decision comes soon after the C&P. John

Did you get a copy of the exam?

Like Bronco says I would file for TDIU yesterday. You want that TDIU date as early as possible. I filed when I was just 30%. You have many conditions that would make a person TDIU. Vets make a mistake by waiting. If you cannot work due to your conditions then file official form for TDIU. John

It took one year for a remand from CAVC to BVA to get back to the CAVC. There was a clerical error in the BVA's initial decision. It makes me want to weep. I was in my 50's when I filed the initial claim and now I am going on 63. "Justice delayed is justice denied." MLK. We vets are a persecuted minority in the USA.

My lawyer put in a request for a copy of my C-File and he never got it. I had to give him my copy which I eventually got back. The VA respects no man or woman. In that they are equal to all. "The price of war is visible here and we don't give a damn" VA motto.

I have had a file at the St Pete VARO for the past 40 years. They *&^%$# with me no end, so I am glad to see they seem to be getting better. I originated a claim with them almost 7 years ago that is still on appeal higher up the chain after being denied at the VARO twice. Right after Vietnam if you could get a claim done in two years that was fast. in the 70's and through the 90's Vietnam vets vanished off the face of the earth at the VA. John

SSDI pays more than you would get at 62 and less than you would get at 65-66 (regular retirement age). I got SSDI 10 years ago, and like Stillhere it took about 3-4 months. It usually takes longer with appeals etc.

To win a claim at the VA in nine months is light speed. You have to figure in 6 months for coffee breaks and walk-around-the-buildings.

What happens at CAVC is that lawyers make legal arguments about the validity of your claim. No new evidence and you don't have to be there for anything. Unless you are a VA lawyer or maybe a self-interested VSO you will be crushed. I have been there for two years with a remand to BVA and back to the CAVC. My lawyer's first brief was about 40 pages long just for the argument with pages of citations. There have been two extra briefs since then.

You guys are going to win your claims. You need to concentrate on staying alive to collect. Your health comes first. Your spouses need some education about DIC as do all spouses of vets with serious SC conditions.

I think you should file for TDIU now! That is the date they will use for the TDIU award regardless of your present rating. I filed when I was 30% and that was the date they used when I got it 18 months later on appeal. I had a long fight with these guys. With your AO problems I don't think it will be that long since they are presumptive. You may get 100% anyway. John

Pro Se at CAVC is suicide I think. Get a lawyer.

Hollis I got a PTSD stressor from a dog handler. He was standing by my guard bunker at night chatting with the guy that was awake while I was trying to get a little sleep. The dog got away from the handler and fell into my bunker knocking over the M-60. I woke up with a big, black German Shepard staring at me. I froze and the dog handler crapped his pants because he was worried the dog would eat me up and he would get a courts martial, ha, ha. John

Justuluk What are the steroids doing to your body? Do they make you gain weight? I know you want to keep working and I don't blame you. Immune suppressive drugs scare me, but I guess if you are very careful it is OK since the alternative is not good. Does untreated PsA totally cripple a person? Can't they just do a blood test to see if you have it at the VA? It seems you face a risk either way. John

I have had gross mistakes on c&p exams and as Bronco says the only way to correct bad medical is with good medical. When I was trying to get TDIU P&T I had 4 IME's over a two year period. This was the only reason I got my TDIU P&T even though I was on SSD and had 70% rating. The VA came up with all sorts of reasons to deny. They took one half sentence from an early IME to deny TDIU even though the doctor said I could not work and was totally disabled.

When rated 0% for heart problems secondary to AO DMII I asked my PCP to refer me for some testing since no testing was done when I got the 0%. The NP that did the C&P exam just did an incompetent and incomplete C&P. After more testing and filing a NOD and appeal I got 60% rating which got me "S" smc. The VA has all the testing devices including CT scans and heart testing machines. I bet if you look up your exam schedule many things were left off the exam or were given routine negative answers (vet unfriendly) based just on guesses. To my mine the C&P exam is just round "one" in a ten round fight. John

I think if you just get a copy of your SMR's you could use that for an IME/IMO. No doctor actually reads your C-File. They will look at your SMR's if it is not too long or at least say they did which is what you want. That you get from St. Louis.

Appeal! My good friend in Vietnam got 30% for PTSD just on his word and his appearance. He was one nervous guy and depressed guy in Vietnam I know that. He ETS'ed right out of Vietnam so he had no mental health record in service that I know of unless in basic or AIT.

She did not say you were unemployable due to your chronic adjustment disorder. Do you have any private records for psychiatric treatment? It is just a guessing game to try and figure out what rating the RO will give you on this. The doctor does not make your rating. With your AO claims it may not matter that much about your Adjustment disorder rating. Have you sent in a TDIU claim officially? You should do that I think because I take it you are not able to work. You might want to get an IMO/IME on all your conditions to get evidence that you are completely disabled. Have you applied for SSDI or any other form of disability?

That's a good response, Berta. There is much that is unclear in this case. I don't see how a vet could shoot himself in the head and keep serving.

I use cymbalta and that helps some. It takes my mind of the pain. You can get your shrink to prescribe it. 60mg of cymbalta does help but it is no cure. If you do things that aggravate your pain then you will suffer. Hire someone to clean house or do the yard. Massage helped my neck pain for a short while. John

Justrluk I am not there yet either. One doctor said I did not need surgery and one said I did. I have pain, but there is no sureness that even if they fix my herniation or stenosis that my pain will go away. I have pretty full ROM, but just this miserable pain running down from base of my neck to my shoulder and arm. It is DDD and slowly getting worse. I have pills and I have to restrict my activites. After reading about the surgery I can understand your not being there yet. John

I think the VA is feeling the heat about vet suicides. Is the VA saying the vet's suicide was misconduct? What sane reason does a young man who is not suffering from some fatal illness have for attempting suicide? The VA is saying he had a "rational" reason for killing himself. When I was in Vietnam at least three guys in my unit attempted suicide, very serious attempts. I don't know what happened to them. One guy attempted homicide against a First SGT. He was out of his mind when he did it. The VA has reached a new low.