john999

When I asked for my c-file I got it within a few months, but not all of it. I found out I was missing about half of it at my BVA hearing.

If a large award looms you are going to get kicked all over the place. I have been kicked to the BVA twice and back to the Court twice not to mention two trips to the DRO.

Yes, you want a copy of your C-File so your IMO can at least say that he reviewed it. The VA has gone to the limits of denying a IMO where a vet's IMO claim he reviewed the vet's file because the vet had never gotten a copy of his entire file. No IMO is actually going to read your whole file but he/she has to have the opportunity to lie like a VA doctor.

Yulooking They just don't want to pay 100% benefits from 1993 so they seek to impeach their own doctor's opinion.

If you have evidence you can't work due solely to SC condition it does not matter about your percentage. I am in sort of the same boat percentage wise with a CUE on a 10% award that is headed back to the Court of Vet Appeals after second trip to the BVA. My CUE is 9 years old at least. The BVA said I was not totally disabled because I was not on SSD prior to 2001. I was 100% in 1971. This is what they choak on therefore the grant of 10%. To my mind the BVA can be just as bad as the VARO when they don't want to pay out a large sum of retro. I do think they are just trying to run out the clock on me. John

I take opiates and clonazepam both of which make my sleep apnea worse. I take the opiates and clonazepam for SC conditions. Could I SC it that way as secondary. My apnea is obstructive only. I am obese but not in the morbid category just in the "fat ass" category.

Carlie, a 30 percent error rate would not be acceptable for the post office. I worked for the post office and when we got a case check we had to have a 95% accuracy rate. We did not even have to have a HS diploma. These VA employees could not even make it on the graveyard shift at the post office. John

The VA also provides a place for old doctors to go to die. It is like the elephant's graveyard for M.D.'s. The head of the mental health dept. at Tampa VAMC is about 80 or maybe older. He still believes mental illness is caused by demons and witchcraft.

What is that...about 16 years of retro? They should have to pay interest when they put you through that kind of wait. Have you been unemployed all this time? Have you been on SSD? John

I would stay put until I get my ratings if possible. When you move in the middle of the rating process you will probably go to the back of the line for sure. It seems to me that it adds another layer of complications to a claim. If you need the money from the VA I would stay put until I had the money hitting the bank. You may end up in appeals anyway but at least you initial claims will be done in one place. Of course, you run the risk of the VA losing your file when they move it. It is on paper. Do you have a complete copy of your C-File? John

For those with AO cancers consider the DOD knowingly sent you into harm's way and poisoned you. The VA owes you the best care available. The bastards will try and weasal out of it I am sure and write you off as an "oops". Make a fuss if they don't give you best available care. You guys sacrificed a great deal while many sitting on piles of money today hid from the draft or avoided serving in Vietnam. If they feel no shame you should feel no fear about acting up to get best care. John

I think it is important to at least try and show the VA you are trying to get treatment for your PTSD even if it does not good. It can't really hurt and it might help. You don't have to tell them if you are concerned about compensation. If PTSD has done long term damage to your working life just getting better to the extent you don't get worse is progress. People with untreated PTSD often drive other people away and abuse drugs and alcohol. This can be fatal and therapy can help with this. It does not mean you are cured. John

I was told they were going to build one in South Tampa at the old Ft Homer Hesterly. Then I was told there was no money in the budget by out great Senator Bill Nelson. We are very much underserved in my part of town since we cannot use MacDill AFB. John

If your VA doctor would say that is is medically Zytiga I think the VA would pay for it. I have had the VA pay for drugs that are not on the list for me more than once. The VA will pay for expensive drugs if your doctors can show it is necessary. If you get denied I would go see the medical director and just pull every fire alarm there is to make a fuss until I caused so much trouble that paid just to shut me up. You are 100% AO vet with potentially fatal disease. If you don't deserve the best the government can afford then who does? John

I agree about the writ and I remember long discussions about the VA not being allowed to rate a vet 100% schedular just to avoid a TDIU rating that would include SMC "S". This is where some lawyering might be handy.

If you have the evidence using the DRO has worked for me. I learned to always get more evidence when I was denied at the VARO. I have not had great luck at the BVA, but I think you can win both places. Evidence is what wins claims.

Even people who get the best of care for their mood disorder have to deal with life events that make normal people depressed. Also, drugs stop working sometimes and they interact with other drugs. Mood disorders are co-morbid with lots of physical illnesses. If you are already prone to being depressed having some new disorder like cancer is really going to bring you down most likely. These emotional disorders bleed into each other because depression and anxiety often go together along with substance abuse. Life is not simple.

Do you still suffer severe symptoms of Bipolar disorder such as hallucinations? Did you get any treatment between the times you were discharged and the time you were DX'ed with bipolar? If you were having hallucinations and your commanders knew it they sure should have sent you for a medical exam just for safety reasons.

I would like to find a DRO that would grant a CUE even if it cost the VA 40 years of retro at the 100% rate. John

I associate my time in Vietnam with the sound of helicopters. When I hear a helicopter overhead I get nervous. Sometimes they will switch on the search lights. I know they are not looking for me but they are looking for someone. I wait in some part of my mind for the sound of gunfire.

If they keep adding conditions this could be good for you in the end. Trying to rush the VA usually does not work. Your claim is not even a year old. I think I would try and relax and give it some time. Even in the old days it took 18 months to two years to get a rating.

Yep, the only way to find out is to take it to court. If you win or lose on the "combined ratings " issue for SMC that will clarify it for other vets.

I get some of my care at the VA. It makes sense to get seen for SC conditions. However, since I have pretty good insurance I will go to the best doctors I can afford or access. I got hurt by a private doctor so the VA does not have a lock on questionable care. I find that getting fast and quality care just does not go together at the VA. I was out there today to get some dental and see my shrink. I was supposed to drop by x-ray to get a picture of my hip since it was hurting. When I finished up all my other stuff it was about 3pm and I went to x-ray. They had a 2 hour wait to get an x-ray. That pissed me off since I can go to a local private clinic and get it done in 15 minutes from the time I sign in until I leave the building. I have a big problem with parking at my VAMC. Dental did not want to do a crown or an implant for two teeth. This pissed me off since I believe they are just avoiding treatment to save a buck. I paid myself but it cost me a couple of grand. When I think they are avoiding treatment just to save money at the veteran's expense I find that repulsive. So the VA is a mixed bag. If you are 70% to 100% vet they must provide nursing home care. However, they choose the nursing home and it could be 100 miles from your loved ones. It is all about money with the VA. It is take it or leave it and in many cases I leave it even if it costs me. The private doctors and hospitals can kill you as well, but if I am going to have triple by-pass heart surgery I am not going to the VA to get it. My prejudice. John

The VA gives your c&p exam a lot of weight if that is the only medical exam evidence you have. Usually, a " at least as likely as not" statement in favor of SC is good to go, but not always. I hate the idea of vets depending on C&P exams to win claims unless the fix is in such as presumptives. Even then you may have debate about effective dates.

When you give a government institution answers to some evaluation questionaire the organization can take one answer out of a hundred to prove that vets are happy with the how their claims were worked. You may cuss them with the other 99 answers but the VA will only present the one where you are happy to congress to justify cutting this or that or not increasing this or that. When I worked for the post office around contract time the USPS would hand out surveys and use the one question where employees said they were happy with the amout of leave time they got or their extra pay for working Sunday and they would use that to show how happy and/or overpaid we were. The many other answers that pointed out the awful relationship between management and labor were just put in the toilet. If you really want your survey to mean something say you are praying for war because that is the only way for you to get an increase in benefits. John