john999

Hamslice It really is a learning curve. I started out at 10% and then 30%, 70%, TDIU, P&T and finally "S". I am not done with these lying and cheap jerks yet. The army and the VA made evidence disappear from the very beginning. I only found this out as I dug deeper on advice from other vets. Many of the older decisions both by military and VA are biased, put up jobs that should make the average felon hang his head in shame. Instead these military and VA adjudicators actually got paid and promoted on the bones and blood of their fellow vets. You ever heard of the UCMJ? It is a punch line for many jokes.

Do your IMO's say that even though some of your SSD items are NSC that the SC issues would make you 100% disabled anyway?

You are the meat in the meatgrinder in your claim for TDIU. There is no way to tell how long these things will take. It depends how many mistakes they make and how long it takes to catch them. I had a claim get all the way to the Court of Veteran Appeals and a very basic mistake in the rating schedule was discovered. This took 6 years to get to that point. You just have to be all over your claim. John

The wars in the middle east are winding down rapidly. I think the VA wants to avoid the liability of a ten year war. They do see a tidal wave of PTSD claims coming at them and who knows what else. It took years for Agent Orange to really start to make its mark. I mistrust anything the VA and/or military comes up with to re-evaluate how they determine disability if it is going to cost them money. John

I found the name of the psychiatrist that was treating me in 1971. He was different that the one who supposedly did an independent exam of me for the courts martial. I don't remember him at all. I talked to St. Louis just now and explained that I wanted my mental health records from the time between July 1971 and December 1971. These are the records my treating shrink would not turn over to the courts martial. The Army's IMO did a job on my medical history and dropped all mention of depression and anxiety and focused on drug abuse and article 15's. I don't know if it matters now, but I was like a puppy left on the interstate highway. I was on anti-psychotic meds. The Army rolled over me like a tank. Five months of psychiatric records vanished and were never seen by the VA or anyone else. My JAG lawyer told me '"sign or go to jail" so I sighed everything he put in front of me. I was drived to the gate with a week's supply of psychiatric meds and told to get the hell out. I spent the next 40 years in treatment at my own expense mostly. I wonder if I found those "lost" medical records and they DX'ed me with a mental condition besides a PD would I have a new CUE claim. The VA excluded my private treating doctor's report from my original SC decision in 1973 for which I do have a CUE at the Court. I really, really hate these people who mind^%$#@! a sick 20 year old. I would spend 10,000 bucks to make them eat &^%$.

If the IMO's are done according to the rules they should help you get TDIU. Have you applied for SSD? Did your IMO's review your SMR's and mention that in their reports? I used 3 different private medical reports and it got me TDIU and then P&T.

I requested psychiatric records from my military file and I found out the shrink had refused to turn the records over to a courts martial. He said he was protecting me. I think he was protecting himself due to lack of care and treatment. He filled me up with anti-psychotic drugs and returned me to duty. When I got into trouble he started "protecting me". He sat there while the army kicked me out as a PD. Some protection!

So good that you may not even need a C&P exam. If you have documented evidence in your record and your IMO is a real winner you can win a claim based on the IMO. I have done it in the past. I have also had the VA exclude a IMO they did not like for no good reason. When that happens....appeal!! The VA cannot just include or exclude an IMO at their whim if it is based on your SMR's.

You might try self-employment. You have not worked in 20 years. The job market is horrible. What kind of degree do you have? I think voc rehab will not want to work with you. Self-employment is one of the best things for those with disabilites.

If you needed permission from the VA to get an IMO that they are not paying for then there would be no IMO's. As long as you are paying for it you can get 100 IMO's/IME's. If you want a second opinion and you want the VA to pay for it you probably need their OK on it.

You might want to get a lawyer and sue your VSO. Never simply drop off evidence at the VSO and forget it. It is your claim. If due to your VSO's negligence you lose a year's worth of retro I believe you can sue them, but not the VA. If the VA never got the claim until a year after you filed it with your VSO they will point the finger at your incompetent VSO.

Flip You mean if I am 91 year old widower I can't marry 18 year old to pass on my DIC to a new generation? You know many Civil War vets did this and had surviving wives that lived well into the 1950's and beyond.

I would also make appointments with the pain clinic at the VA and mental health. Chronic pain usually ends in depression and if you can show that any of your physical injuries are SC then emotional secondary damage is also SC. Sucking it up is a big mistake!

You know I was discharged from the army after 28 months for having a PD and the VA granted me SC for schizophrenia within one day of discharge. I guess I got lucky except I should have gotten 100% instead of just 10% and I should have gotten medical retirement from the army.

Who are your lawyers?

You know the date I was fired at work I checked myself into the VA hospital. Eventually, that date became the date for my P&T. The VA gave me a GAF of 40 because I told them I planned to kill myself and I was not going to be homeless and broke. I would not make a contract for not bumping myself off. If you really feel suicidal go check yourself into the VA hospital. That was almost 11 years ago and I regret I got fired but I could not do the work anymore, and it just drove me wild the way they treated me knowing I was being treated for depression. If you get ready to snap just go admit yourself to the hospital. You have to be firm about it. You have to have a plan. There are 12 vets a day killing themselves and the VA hasn't a clue. They want to talk to you on the phone about it when you have the gun up to your head. Forget it! Go check yourself in!!!!!! John

The VA guards their dental program like Ft Knox! There are guys with Silver Stars for valor who can't get a tooth filed at the VA.

Keeping a log is a damn good idea for any condition. When I filed EEOC complaints these logs were used as evidence in courts of law. You want to bury the VA in documentation even if it is your own. If your doctor tells you to keep a log keep it and use different ink and different pens.

My aunt was a surviving spouse of a WWII vet who died in the line of duty. She got A&A plus his survivor pension. When she started to lose her mind it was a shock to me. Her personality really changed. We could not take care of her at home. She was at an assisted living facility. She really just withdrew into herself. Then she broke her hip and it was not long before she was in a nursing home and became very psychotic. We could not reach her anymore. We would visit to see she was being fed etc. If you are to the point where they need to be committed it is heartbreaking because they think you are tying to get rid of them. You have to do what is right to protect them. Not fun. If this is how it is going to end I hope I just get hit by a beer truck. John

Eventually, AO is going to kill every Vietnam vet if we live long enough!

If you want to win your claim you need to go to the VA and see a psychiatrist and tell him/her everything. Leave out things about your childhood except to say it was great. This is not a run of the mill PTSD claim but I think with new rules you can win it. It is not so much what happened to you, but how you felt about it. If you thought you were going to die then that puts you in the ballpark for PTSD.

I think the VA will give you some static about the oxy but you may be able to buy it in other countries much easier than here. I have to order my oxy every month which I get by certified mail. How badly do you need the oxy? You need to consider each country you visit about their rules for having narcotics. You don't want to be on "Locked up Abroad" episode 10.

I really hate driving all the way to my VAMC and having to wait etc. However, I usually don't refuse treatment unless it means multiple trips to the VAMC and long delays. I get treatment from outside and inside the VA. The VA does my blood work and some other things. I get pills with no co-pays. This is for the good. I would not let the VA do open heart surgery on me. JMHO. I went to their podiatrist and got shots in both heals the same day. In two hours I could not walk. This was done by a resident I think. There are bad and incompetent on the outside as well. I sued one and I lost. I could not get one of the good old boys to say anything bad about another good old boy. My VAMC reminds me of a charity hospital so I consider that. John

Captain You are the man!

If you don't take part B right away it will cost you more later. I would do just whatever I had to do to get part B. Do you really want the VA cutting you open doing surgery on your colon or heart? I talked to a guy yesterday who almost died at the VA when he was having nasal sinus surgery. He is 72 and said he would never let them cut him again for anything. John