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john999

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Everything posted by john999

  1. john999
    You know the VA does Inspire implants in vets with OSA. I could not tolerate the cpap so I got the Inspire implant a few years ago. If you get it done at the VA you will save many thousands of dollars. Look up Inspire sleep apnea device and you can learn more. My apnea is severe with the whole nine yards of breathing stoppage and many apneas every night. Inspire was the best I could do. In Tampa where I live the VA does the implants but they will try and make you use the cpap until you convince them it is not working for you. Cpap is the gold standard with most doctors. They are conservative in treatment even though about half of cpap users stop using them over time for all the usual reasons.
  2. john999
    I had TDIU P&T and then got an extra 60%. I had to file to get the "S" and then VA called CUE on themselves and granted me the housebound with retro. I guess if I did not file for something that should have been automatic I never would have gotten housebound. VA drops the ball so often they should be in Pee Wee basketball.
  3. john999
    For years when I went for VA C&P exams for mental health condition the exam doctor would look at my paperwork for about a minute and then ask me one question: "Are you working?".....end of exam! It did not matter about my symptoms or distress. It was just about "can you work?" This went on for years back in the 80's and 90's before I went on Hadit and learned a few things. I can tell you that without very good IMO's I would still be at 30% instead of 100%. Maybe you can win without an IMO but for a mental health condition it is risky business. Mental health exams are about 99% subjective. If the VA exam doctor believes that vets are fakers and free loaders you won't get a good outcome via just a VA exam. I am not making this up! Many VA doctors are horribly prejudiced agaist the vets they are supposed to treat. They work for the VA because they cannot make it on the outside just like the military.
  4. john999
    How about liver disease or other system failure. I have PTSD for the last 50 years. I have other agent orange related problems but I don't have the terrible symptoms you describe. Loss of use of the legs and lack of bowel control sounds like something much more serious and maybe it is related to alcoholism and liver failure. I am not a MD but this sounds so much more serious than a psychological disorder. How do you pay for the care he needs? Caregiver Program could pay you a couple of thousand bucks a month since you are doing the work the VA should be doing. If VA can pay you to do the care they should do then they save lots of money. He should be getting SMC for loss of use of his legs etc. You need professional help to deal with the VA. Lawyer or VSO but they need to get on it. We can advise here but you need one on one help IMO.
  5. john999
    There is a lot more wrong with her husband than PTSD or a brain disorder. Maybe liver failure or heart failure. Is he a RVN vet? Some of that stuff might be presumptive for AO.
  6. john999
    Are you getting Caretaker benefits. You should be getting them!!!
  7. john999
    I get a little over $4k a month. Since I do have SSA and a modest pension I do OK. With this inflation I feel it. I did invest money when I was able so I am ok these days. If I was a young vet I would invest at least 15% of my money every time I got a paycheck. It actually works to build wealth.
  8. john999
    Thanks for the advice. I think my wife will never deal with the caregiver program again. I tried to get her to retry the program but she is hating the VA pretty bad by now. I try to explain to her that she would get paid for doing the same things she does for free now, but she is pissed at them. With her you get one chance and they did blow it.
  9. john999
    Anything that might kill you should probably be pursued. Where is my electic car by the way? I got an extra 60% for the heart. If you have a serious disability even if are 100% pursue it.
  10. john999
    I tried to get Caregiver benefits for my wife. I found it extremely difficult for my wife to get the benefit. Unless you are bedridden or really out of it. I don't think that benefit is easy to get. This is wrong because many of us need help with meds and keeping track of things. I am diabetic and high blood and I definitely need my wife's help, but she became Irate with the VA and told them to shove it. They insulted her intelligence and she does not play well with fools.
  11. john999
    That gives a vet the strong incentive to go for 100% P&T. I don't think that is entirely fair, but that is the system. I guess when you get 100%/TDIU the VA must assume you are not working and really in need which is true. I think vets who are less than 100% should get more compensation as well as those 100%. Most vets who are 100% get less than $4000 a month even with "S" and a spouse. If you only have that much money you are making less than average median income in the USA. I think average family income is about $65,000 nationwide. 65K would be decent money for the deep south or Florida. Everyone in my old neighborhood makes twice that much these days. I am the poorest guy on the block and the only vet. If you ever watch "South Park" I am Kenny.
  12. john999
    Chapter 35 provides good health insurance to your spouse and kids if you have them. My wife has medicare and with ChampVA she pays no copayments or deductibles. State benefits for 100%/TDIU in Florida include exemption on property taxes. Where I live now this is a big deal. Of course, the VA should do much more for disabled vets. Our compensation rates are a joke in this day and age. They should increase them for all by 50% yesterday.
  13. john999
    Bronco Ain't it the truth! If VA makes a mistake they take it out of your AZZ. They make a business out of being slow and incompetent. You get retro and wait years and they pay no penalty for that! I owed the VA about $250 once from an overpayment on G. I. Bill. They hounded me and threatened me for months. If they had owed me $100,000 I would not have heard a word. If your claim is resolved quickly consider yourself very lucky.
  14. john999
    How big is the backlog on claims and appeals these days?
  15. john999
    That's true Charlie.
  16. john999
    I would say that if you have a mental health claim getting a friendly shrink to write you a letter is going to go a long way. I went from 30% to 70% TDIU thanks to an IMO. The VA was just determined not to grant a decent rating or TDIU even though I was on SSDI for the same thing. I was in treatment for years with private doctors so that helped as well. Now recently I got some major claims done without an IMO, but these were all Agent Orange related. I have used VA records for years now and VA has a hard time denying their own treatment records. I got IMO's and never paid a dime. My insurance paid.
  17. john999
    I hate having to go to the BVA. If you are unemployable not many can wait two years to start getting a decent income from the VA. I got all my major claims done via the old DRO system. Now days if I file a claim and don't get approved I just automatically appeal it. Even if it is for 0% I am going to appeal. Years ago I did not appeal a decision and it costs me many thousands of dollars because I could have won on appeal but I was too dumb to know it.
  18. john999
    A lot times the VA discounts anything you say as a vet. They want medical evidence from a doctor. Does the VA still do DRO claims? That used to be a way to get a review sort of having to send your claim to the BVA and wait two years. When I was trying to get TDIU I must have written the ten times explaining my condition. I had everyone I knew write statments for me about my syptoms. They just focused on the letter my doctor wrote. I would still get buddy statements and statements from a spouse to attest to symptoms. To get a nexus you really need a doctor to review your SMR's and opine that in his medical opinion your current symptoms are a continuation of the problems you had in the military. They assume every vet is liar and just trying to get a free ride.
  19. john999
    Badwolf None of us probably made the best decisions when we were young because we did not know that some injury in service was going to disable us in later life. Injuries I got and lived with for years did not really disable me until I was in my 50's and then it took me out of the game. Don't beat yourself up over this because we all start at some lower level and then as we gain knowledge we aim higher. I started out at just 10% and now have 100%. It took me years.
  20. john999
    Now you need to send in your notice of disagreement right away. This starts the appeals process. You will have plenty of time to gather up all your new and old evidence. If you could get a doctor to state that after a careful examination of all your medical records he believes that it as likely as not that your current disability in a continuation of the back problems that first emerged in service. The doctor believes that your back problems are a result of your military Something to those words could be your nexus. That is called getting an independent medical opinion. This is what the VA pretends to do all the time and you see how that worked out.
  21. john999
    Now you need to send in your notice of disagreement right away. This starts the appeals process. You will have plenty of time to gather up all your new and old evidence. If you could get a doctor to state that after a careful examination of all your medical records he believes that it as likely as not that your current disability in a continuation of the back problems that first emerged in service. The doctor believes that your back problems are a result of your military service. Something to those words could be your nexus. That is called getting an independent medical opinion. This is what the VA pretends to do all the time and you see how that worked out.
  22. john999
    Waiting is hell especially when you don't have a job or money to pay the rent. I waited about 6 months to get TDIU and I lost 20 pounds from worry. I just could not relax not knowing where the next paycheck would come from being as I could not work.
  23. john999
    Whodat You are so right about worker's comp. exam doctors. What a bunch of whores. I was on WC for a couple of years and it was an experience I would not wish on anyone. OWCP is the worst organization in America. Injured workers really get the shaft. The WC staff I worked with were just nasty, rude and took every opportunity to screw an injured worker. If VA gets like WC we are in for a shit storm.
  24. john999
    Law firms represent those seeking 100% or TDIU because they know there will be big retro payments and they get their share. The difference between what a 30% vet gets and what a 100% vets gets is so enormous that the lawyers just go for the big money. You should aim all your efforts at getting 100%. Forget the small claims and go for the big ones.
  25. john999
    I suggest you don't piss off the examining doctor or question their authority. Even if they are an incompetent they have the power and you don't. Just go along with the process and cooperate. You can take notes and ask some questions but you got to watch their egos. If you challenge them they will probably whack you. This is where getting an IMO/IME is important. You get medical evidence to rebut their evidence. Arguments don't work with these guys at the VA. Evidence is what works and you can create your own with help from your doctors. Be ready to appeal VA decisions. When I was trying to get TDIU I had to appeal every single VA decision which were based on VA C&P exams. They had their chicken shit doctors and I had my board certified doctors.
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