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.

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.

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.

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.

My SMR's are a mess since I got them 50 years ago. They are totally incomplete and the ones that exist make no sense. I had military doctors that deliberately left things out of their exams. I had a shrink that did not submit any written records in an attempt (he said) to protect me. 90% of my basic training records are missing and all the records at my last duty station are missing. I have looked all over creation for them with no luck. Back in the day the Army did not supply discharged soldiers with any records. I got no copies of records when I was discharged. This was 1971.

The doctors go from one extreme to another. Either they are pushing pain meds like candy or not wanting to give you anything. Now they are so afraid they will get in trouble with the DEA they don't even want to treat pain. Some of us have chronic pain that methods besides opiates don't relieve.

He made some dumb comment. It did not affect my rating. I had some other doc tell me that vets get fat on purpose just to get diabetes so they can get paid. What can you say to such ignorance?

I had one crazy exam doctor ask me about my religious feelings. He asked if I was a Christian. I thought he was nuts. I told him I believed people who ran the VA would burn in hell for their sins. That shut him up.

Cut the dose in half and see if she can tolerate it . Pain doctors frequently overdose elderly patients. My aunt was 85 and she broke her hip. She was in the nursing home and they gave her so much dope she though she was on a bus traveling through Georgia. My wife is little and when she had a ulcer they doped her up with morphine and she was out of her mind for a few days. The docs always seem to overdose little people and women. Now for me when my foot was operated on I had to beg for pain meds. I was begging for morphine and they were so worried I might become addicted by taking it for two days. 20 years ago every doctor was prescribing tons of Vicodin or Oxy and now you have to beg for it.

It is a crap shoot. I had an exam via LHI and it turned out very well for me. You might get lucky. LHI is just in it for the money like all of them. I don't think they care about the results of an exam one way or the other. The worst exams I ever had were done by the VA. They seem to have a vested interest in low balling vets.

Come on down to the vet crash pad.

Maybe we should have a cooling off period. People sometimes say things in anger on the internet they regret later. I am not totally sure what all happened with Berta and Hamslice and others. Just Chill everybody for a while. I have delt with many doctors trying to get help with various claims. I know that if a doctor gets to be a thorn in the VA's side they better walk the line because government will make their lives miserable. It was the same when I was on Worker's Compensation. WC sent me to a new doctor every month trying to find one that would say I was ready and able to go back to work. Nothing every happened to those whores that I know of.

If you realize that Iraq and Afghan vets will be filing claims for the next 40 years you understand why VA wants to save money at the expense of us. They pray that us Vietnam vets will just die as soon as possible so they can pay the current vets. With those bastards at the VA it is just about the money.

Start seeing VA psychiatrist and learn about depression. If you are depressed because of physical disability then file for depression as secondary to the physical stuff. Many vets never do this for various reasons. Don't be embarrassed about it . When you see the VA shrink don't minimize your pain and depression. Don't be a tough guy. Tough guys go broke.

I have high blood and I am hoping the VA will make it presumptive for AO exposure before I die. I am not counting on it. I was in pretty good physical shape when I left the army in 1971, but soon after I started to have high glucose readings and then actual diabetes. It took about 30 years to get DMII service connected.

Berta Your winning for your husband was a great achievement! Your discussion of new and material evidence is so important. It can take years for vets to figure this stuff out on their own.

Where are Pete53 and Phil? I like those guys.

The DAV is OK as an advocate for the veteran population, but not on an individual level. If you want to make a charitable contribution then life membership is OK. They treat life members just as bad as non-members.

I think $5000 for an IMO is pretty steep unless you are going for big retro. I got one years ago for about $250 but that doctor has since retired. I went through an attorney that I used to represent me before the MSPB when I was a postal worker. SSA lawyers know the doctors who know how to write opinions. However, to get a doctor to show a nexus with military service the doctor probably has to review you service records and that is asking a lot. Now if your condition is already service connected then a SSA doctor can help if you can give him a hint about what is needed. Many doctors just won't listen if you try and tell them their business. They think we are all idiots. When I got my medical opinions I was in treatment with private doctors for years so getting them to write me a report was easy. Psychiatrists and psychologists write the best reports.

Fort Polk....garden spot of the nation! I spent a few months there in the 1960's. When I was there it was a slum. I hope they improved it.

When you go for your LHI exam it is a total crap shoot. Last time I went the so-called exam doctor added four conditions to what I was asking for which meant an extra 80%. I was shocked but at the same time the C&P doctor did not provide a rational for increasing my DMII rating. Instead she provided the VA with justification to raise secondary conditions. Goofy IMO. Even with claims I have won I don't understand the VA rational and neither do my doctors. It is like playing the lotto. You just keep buying your tickets (claims and exams) and maybe you win one day. Just appeal all decisions you don't agree with 100%.

My experience with DAV is that they just take what you give them and go with it. They don't have strategy to help you win your claim. They don't think outside the box. They just shuffle paper. They did not tell me to get IMO's. This was crucial for winning my original claim. Berta and others here can think rings around these VSO's. The DAV is so willing to just take the crumbs on a vet's claim. They are big on telling you not to push it if you get an award. They try and scare vets into just settling and forget the appeals. No nod and BVA appeals and most of the time you will lose. I have seen a DAV VSO reduce a women vet to tears. Just a repulsive display. Needless to say I got up and left after seeing this gorilla shame a vet.

Yes, Dustoff, many years ago I let a C&P doctor lead me down the primrose path and right into a DX of personality disorder. I was young and dumb and trusted the so-called doctor to do the right thing and I was so wrong. I got it fixed via an IMO, and I had been service connected for depression for ten years. If I had not been SC and protected I am sure the VA would have severed my SC. Those mothers will use anything you say about your childhood or family life against you.

If you did not appeal within one year of the decision you are probably screwed unless you feel the VA made an error as in a CUE. I filed a CUE on a 30 year old decision. To my mind there was a very obvious error in the original decision but I did not appeal it being a dumbass. I lost my fight after 6 years of going to the BVA and to the Court. I learned a lot but I still lost. Appeal any decision you are not sure is 100% correct.

There are vets here who lost everything they had worked for while waiting for the VA to grant compensation. They do not get compensated for that. If you can't pay your mortgage or car payment you lose it . No making the vet whole. You just get some retro if you are lucky and hope it will sustain you for the rest of your life. I was lucky since I only waited a year for TDIU. At that time I had filed my first claim 30 years prior. I must have filed a dozen requests for increases over the years. I remember going to C&P exams where the so-called doctor just asked me one question: "Are you working?" Increase denied!!!