john999

If he is being seen by a therapist who is familiar with PTSD I don't think the therapist will be shocked by what your husband says or does. Denial is a big part of PTSD.

The VA is so afraid someone is going to get a free ride even if it is the spouse of a disabled vet. There are many cases where a vet has a healthy spouse that can keep him/her out of a nursing home for years if they could get a little help and a little money. It is as if disabled vets only appeared during OIF/IEF. I do feel that Vietnam era and all the older vets are just forgotten. The Vietnam era vets are really going to need help in the next few years.

Why do they ignore vets from wars besides OIF/OEF? There are lots of Vietnam vets who need help and sit at home with a spouse who cares for them and both have to live off the vets disability. Maybe the VA could send these families a big soup bone once a month so they could make ten meals out of it and lose weight at the same time. In the future there will be fewer but much thinner vets as food prices rise. How do I get food stamps?

Do you want to try and keep working or are you looking for total disability? You are rated at 70% so you could file for TDIU, but you have to out of work while you wait for the VA to adjudicate your claim. As far as the back I would get another opinion from the best back doctor in the area. If you are on TDIU, or working, your back is going to hurt like hell. I know it is hard to decide these things. Even if the doctors operate on your back it may not cure the pain. It could make it worse. The same goes for the neck. I would get as many second opinions as I could get to feel comfortable about taking one course of action or another. Don't rush into any surgery.

ditto on that, Carlie! St Pete will cheat a vet out of ten cents if they can do it.

Getting to 100% schedular is very hard unless you have one disability rated at 100%. For TDIU you have to be out of work due solely to your SC conditions. Do you have a disability retirement option at your job. Here is the big problem you face: While you are unemployable due to your SC conditions waiting for TDIU you are not getting any money. Can you handle that? It can take months if not a couple of years to get TDIU sometimes. Can you survive without a paycheck that long? If you become totally disabled you have no choice, but it is an awful experience to be broke with a young daughter to support. If you have insurance you can shop around for a private doctor who might be better than the VA. Has the VA doctor considered surgery? If you have herniated disc that may be the only answer.

Has the VA conceded the link between your PTSD and your service? Are you sure you never had a C&P exam for PTSD? This psychiatrist who gave you a GAF what was that all about?

If you had your C&P in October of 2010 I think you should have a decision pretty soon. I think your decision is overdue. You can never tell about these things but the VA has everything they need to rate you.

I think they should have put him on dry ice so the world could get a look at this dead body.

Are the only disabilites in your SSD file SC disabilites?

What is vet's current rate of disability. The BVA says the vet is eligible under 4.16A for consideration of TDIU. What kind of work did the vet do before the injuries? What is his level of education. With leg problems and cervical spine problems what kind of work can he do? Probably not much.

You can also continue to go to Vet Centers if the VA starts funny business. Have you had your C&P exam yet? What was your MOS in Afghanistan? I think your claim will be decided probably by the end of the year. If not then it will happen in 2013. Find a way to stay in some kind of treatment even if you have a problem with the VA, God forbid. You need to show your symptoms are continuing and you are moving heaven and earth to get treatment.

After you get your rating don't stop going to therapy or taking meds. Many vets just get the rating and then stop going or taking meds. Big mistake. You want to stay in treatment either at VA or private for the rest of your days. This way you build mountain of documentation for those increases. Don't tell doctor you feel better either.

Waldo I know that being disabled is depressing, but at least you will be there to see your kids grow up. Your main job in life now is to raise those kids. You will be able to get help to send them to college because you are 100% P&T. Even your wife could go back to school and get the VA to pay. You have a lot wrong with you. I think most here would agree with Kelly on this. I started to become really disabled in my late 40's, so I know it is a bummer to look ahead and see no career or future job. However, that VA money will be a blessing in years to come.

I submit the employment questionaire every January. The VA does not send me one, but I bet if I did not send them one on my own I would be getting a letter saying they propose to reduce me because I did not respond to their request for information about my employment status. I want them to forget me, but every once in a while I discover another reason to file something.

Waldo How old are you if you don't mind telling? If I was over 40 I sure would not do anything to rattle the cage of the VA regarding my 100% status. Even if you go to some school that does not mean you get a job especially if you are disabled and over 40. If I was younger than 40 and had a physical disability only I think I would just get some kind of job with little stress and collect my 100%. If it is for mental condition you can't work and get 100% because if the VA finds out you will see your 100% reduced. If you are 100% for physical condition you can work all you want as much as you are able. I think if you completed some kind of vocational rehabilitation the VA might think you are no longer 100% and they might be right.

Why are you visiting voc rehab if you are 100% P&T? According to VA you are permanently disabled. Do you not believe you are permanently disabled any more? You do not have to use voc rehab if you are P&T except if you want that quality of life program. Why do you want to go back to work if you are 100%? What makes you think you are able? If you are P&T I don't think the VA is going to want to send you to school or train you. They don't want to spend money on someone who may never be able to work.

Maybe your spine is not so bad after all. Easier to fix a gall bladder than a spine. They even have a name for back surgeries that don't work "failed back surgery syndrome".

You know the only thing the USA really does well anymore is build weapons. We sell them to everyone. We sell to S. Arabia and we sell to Israel. We sell to India and to Pakistan. We need live fire exercises so we need these small wars in distant places to test weapons.

Polyneuropathy means you have it in more than one limb. I have it in all four. Just because it does not show on EMG does not mean you won't be service connected for it.

That was boiler plate stuff. The rules for PTSD now are that the VA must diagnose you with PTSD. Do you have medical records that indicate a PTSD diagnosis from a psychiatrist? I think you will get a C&P exam for PTSD. If you don't then I don't know how the VA will rate you for PTSD. Now days the VA has a checklist they use for PTSD when the C&P doctor examines you. Then he goes on to say if he believes in his medical opinion that you have PTSD and how severe it is by using a GAF score. You have not done anything wrong, nor have you dropped the ball. The VA is just doing something funny and I don't understand it.

How long did they tell you to take it easy? Did they go in through your belly buttom or did they make an incision? If they made an incision it is going to take a little time to be 100% again. What kind of pain meds did they give you? After they operated on you you may have been in position that aggravated your neck. How bad is your herniation? Do you have persistent numbness. I have this cramp in my upper back and at the base of my neck that travels down my arm a bit. I notice that typing bothers me but I type anyway.

Malaria is considered a chronic disease. I think you could re-open that claim if you have flare ups . I guess when they dropped your 50% claim you did not appeal it? You would want to provide evidence of flare ups. The VA screwed you I think. How could they conclude that a chronic disease was cured just because you did not have immediate flare up? I would like to see that regulation.

It seems most who post here have nothing good to say about their VARO. I thought St. Pete VARO was the darkest pit in hell. Maybe there are worse ones out there. St Pete would oppose me on any claim and try to cheat me on effective dates. A friend of mine moved from California to Idaho. I don't know why in the world he did that, but now he says that VA is the worst in the world. I think Sunbelt states are bad because they have lots of vets. The VA is only about 20 years behind on building projects and hiring.

It means the VA has not given you due process. It means any rating decision they make can be appealed based on the fact you did not get a proper VCAA notice. Let's hope the VA mentioned PTSD in the letter you got from them. Does it mention PTSD? Did you keep a copy of the letter you sent back to them? We are breaking it down for you because it could be important. If the VCAA notice does not mention PTSD the VA is probably not condsidering it in their rating. That is why you did not get C&P exam. That is what I suspect. The VCAA letter should have discussed your asthma increase and your PTSD claim and all the evidence you would need to make the claims be successful. This is what your VSO should find out for you "What disbilites is the VA rating you on?". You asked for an increase in 30% asthma and you asked for service connection for PTSD, correct?