john999

I have been on it for about 6 months. I am disappointed with it. I get all the benefit the first day and after that nothing. They cut my oxycodone in half when the did the patch and I am worse off now I think. 4000 years and medical science can't come up with something that reduces pain without addicting you.

dsgsr Right now I don't think you have a claim for housebound unless you are housebound. That's is a good possibility. There are other vets here who are actually housebound and they got "S". To speak to VAF's point if a vet is schedular 100% plus 60% they are entitled to "S". That is the law. If they overlook it it is a CUE.

I think you need to sit down with your lawyer and get a plan. He is your representative. If your claim is just going to spin at the DRO then something needs to happen. Two years at the DRO is to long IMO. The DRO is supposed to divert BVA claims. If you have to wait years then the system has failed and you might as well go to the BVA but that means another two years probably.

You need to have TDIU plus 60% or 100% plus 60%. At some point you may have qualified for "S". What is your actual percentage rating now?

Berta That's right. I download a copy of the form in December and take it over to the VARO and get it stamped. They have not sent me a form in three years. It is a scandal that they would propose to reduce someone over this since they send it (when they send it) via regular mail. They don't ever write you to confirm you got it. You have to bend up like a figure 8 to protect yourself from their negligence. Twice they have failed to send me notification of C&P exams and denied claims due to that. I get it corrected, but it pisses me off. They treat us with such disrespect and most accept because what can they do? If not for Hadit and the internet where would we be?

With oxycodone as with any narcotic after a few months you body adapts to the dose. I take four to five a day plus the fentanyl patch. I think if I took twice as much in a few months I would hurt just as bad as I do now. If somehow I could take 2 oxycodone a day I would hurt just as much. The problem is that my pain level does not stay the same. One day I am not too bad and the next day no matter what I take I still hurt. If I detoxed I would still hurt except I might have a clear head. I am not going to detox at some VA hospital I know that. I met a RVN vet out at my local VAMC who had detoxed on his own off of methadone after 6 years. He said he did not sleep for 11 days. After 4000 years narcotics are still the main way to deal with severe pain. I don't think it works well for chronic pain, but nothing else works either. If you have DDD you are going to hurt probably for the rest of your life.

I know people with DMII are more likely to get cataracts. I don't know if is just statistical or cause and effect.

If you drop your NOD you lose your effective date. You can get new evidence and ask for reconsideration. You want to keep your earliest effective date. You have one year to file your NOD regardless of anything else you do. I think your VSO was not telling you about losing the earlier date because he knows you will lose it if you do as he says. I don't understand your DAV guy's logic.

In Florida where I live oxycodone is considered the drug of Satan. These drug addicts get it and OD and the media goes wild. Every day there is a story in the news about some drug addict who dies in a bathtub from xanax and oxy. The real chronic pain and anxiety patients are just collateral damage. The media has demonized these useful drugs.

I have problems with Big Brother as well. The VA does as they please but it is not personal. The rules and regulations are the only friends we have. Mostly what goes on at the VA is a massive Chinese fire drill. Berta has said that anything is possible with the VA. That means good and bad. I think you have been pro-active so I think it will work out for you.

If you send in your claim mention Bradley V Peake when you request "S". IU plus 60% is the law now. It is not a debate or argument. Mine was granted as a CUE since I became eligible in 2008 and did not get "S" on schedule. I would say I am claiming SMC "S" based on the fact that as of such and such a date I became entitled due to being IU and being granted 60% as a separated rating. I would give the date I got IU and then give the date I got the 60%. You can do all this on one Support of Claim form. The VA should grant you "S" if you are entitled without you having to claim it. Your dumb VSO probably does not even know about it. Show him the Fast Letter so he does not continue to screw people due to his ignorance and the DAV's negligence.

Looking from the outside the VA has not actually taken any adverse action against you yet. I know they are bothering you to death. In my experience the VA is a big, impersonal machine. They have driven me crazy at times with getting my scripts filled, but it always boils down to them doing CYA. It is not personal because they don't care about us vets. I have never gotten anything from the VA I did not claim. I don't think they are on a mission to take your benefits away. All they care about is work product. With VA it is usually dumbness and not evil.

How long ago were you discharged? If it has been less than three years you can appeal your discharge yourself with a veterans service rep. Unless you ask for a medical discharge with a pension you should be able to get this thing upgraded to honorable. If you are not working then you should have gotten a higher disability rating. I would appeal that 50% if I were you. I got that kind of discharge after Vietnam and I got it upgraded pretty soon via a hearing with Discharge Review Board. They are pretty sympathetic to guys with PTSD since the military has a very old and bad habit of kicking out its members who have emotional problems. In future if any doctor at the VA asks you about your life before the military just say everything was great and after your experience in Iraq it sucked. Stick around this website!

Matt Once you get out of the cast swimming would be the best thing. If you have chronic PF and can lose weight it also usually helps. You can't walk and it is hard to lose weight. I am in the same boat. You know I just thought everyone's feet hurt all the time. It was not until it got so bad I could not do my job that I went to a podiatrist. The orthotics worked for a while. Probably the worst thing you can do is to let a podiatrist cut on your feet. I almost lost my foot that way via a severe staff infection. The feet are a highway for staff infections.

The VA says you are entitled to a personal hearing at any time in the process. Sometimes they read the file before hand and sometimes I think they don't. They don't make a decision at the hearing usually, but may give you a strong hint. You have to get the decision in black and white to be sure.

Phil You know the VBM mentions what you are talking about regarding odor from a skin disease as being an inferred claim for IU since a social worker noted it in some vets record. The Social Worker noted the vet had a bad odor and that was a bar to employment.

PF is one of the most underestimated problems. The radical treatments that involve cutting the PF are the things that probably result in higher ratings. I think you would have to have such a serious foot deformity to get more than 30% for PF that you don't even want to think about it. I had a treatment for my PF and got an infection and almost lost my foot. Actually, the rupture of your PF is the goal of the surgery the podiatrists do which is to cut the PF. I guess if you are in a wheelchair you get 30% plus.

Stay in treatment!

If the VA had me up for new disabilites via a C&P exam I would go to the exam. I would get SC'ed for everything I could even if it is 0%. 0% can become 100%.

I am pretty sure the VA is not supposed to send you back to the same doctor for a new C&P exam. I would complain to patient advocate. If that does not work I think it sets you up for an appeal. I appealed one of my exams as being biased and the BVA agreed. I got a new exam which was just as bad since they had put the word out on me at my local VAMC. That is why I got the IMO's. Best money I ever spent.

I used BC/BS for some of my SC problems. I think there is no chance that BC/BS will not pay valid claims on SC conditions. You don't have to use the VA for treatment of SC conditions. I use both my insurance for some things and the VA for others. You can get an MRI at the VA and what happens is the VA will try and bill your insurance if the condition is not service connected. Hell, they will bill your insurance for SC conditions if they can get away with it.

Everything you have been told is untrue. You can get file with the VA and get all your treatment via your insurance if you want. Do you have medicare? You can use the VA and use your medical insurance for private doctors. File the claim! I am retired federal worker. I have 100% SC for some AO stuff as well. I use my insurance and the VA. I have BC/BS and medicare and I use the VA as well. Your insurance is yours and you can use it for anything you want that is covered. Go where you get the best treatment. I can't believe the bad information you have gotten.

The main thing you need is the DX of PTSD from the VA nowdays. Do you have any documentation about non combat stressors or PTSD DX?

The agreement I signed says I am hiring Karl K. to represent me before the Veteran Court of Appeals. It is dated Septemeber 2010. My entitlement to the S award arose in 2008. The agreement also says that he has the right to retain 20% of my retro from a court decision. It also says he will get paid by EAJA.

If you are not working due to PTSD you should file for TDIU.