john999

It should be your VARO unless you had it on appeal to BVA. Even if you did have it on appeal they would refer it back to the VARO. Who is the Director of Compensation? Did you get a decision from the VA saying you had been approved or denied TDIU? Did you fill out the form to request TDIU? The VA usually goes by the date you actually claimed TDIU or sometimes the date you were granted SSDI or if you were hospitalized for your condition.

At my VA hospital it is almost impossible to see a specialist. They see patients once a week between the hours of 7am and 7:30 am.

My honorable discharge is in a deposit box. I dust if off once every ten years. No one ever asked to see it. No employer ever asked to see it. I have my DD214 in the same box. I was originally given an general under honorable conditions, but that made me mad so I appealed and got the upgrade. Years later I tried to get it changed to a medical discharge since I spent two months in a military hospital. No go since the Army thought they might have to pay me and include a pension. They are the worst scumbags in the world IMO.

My IMO doctor said in very clear language that it was his medical opinion that I was permanently unemployable due only to my service connected disability. That is the kind of language you usually need. I also had SSDI and had been rejected by Voc Rehab due to severity of my disability. I also had been to a vet center where the director said I had chronic severe PTSD. I had years of VA medical records to back my claim. Still, I got denied the first time because the VA found some bogus flaw in one of my IMO's. I had two IMO's. However, don't give up. I got my TDIU with p%t. My wife got ChampVA and I did get retro payment to the day I lost my job.

I do hope you are successful with your CUE. I won a CUE about ten years ago. My CUE was so obvious you could have seen it from Pike's Peak. When I think of a CUE this is what I think of because if they is even a dash of judgement or thought required your CUE will probably get denied. With a CUE you don't get "Benefit of Doubt" or Duty to Assist as far as I know. Before that I filed CUE on a 1973 decision due to fact VA did not consider all the crucial evidence in my original claim. They simply did not include my private doctors full report in their decision. In those days the VA did not have to list the evidence they used, but it was obvious to a blind man that they did not read or consider my doctor's report. Never the less, I lost because I could not prove a negative. I could not prove that the VA did not consider my doctor's report. The judges at Court of Vet Appeals knew I was getting a raw deal but they would not use any judgement besides strict abidance to regulations. So me and my lawyer spent years for nothing. To some extent CUE claims are a fantasy. Few besides experts like Berta, Alex and others ever win these things because the regulations IMO are anti-vet. I know some smart vets here have won CUE's but it is a hard road to follow and you get zero help from VA because you are pointing the finger at the VA and saying they F'..ked up.

I had my discharge upgraded to honorable in 1973 I think. I went in-person before a board with representation from the Red Cross. The old guy who represented me was great. He had the civilian members of the board crying. I felt so sorry for myself after listening to him I was crying as well. The only one no crying was the military member of the board. Anyway why worry about something like getting some sort of credit for service after Vietnam. Nobody cares but us. Any one under the age of 60 does not even remember Vietnam. It is as remote to them as the Civil War is to us.

I had an exam from LHI recently. That was the best exam I ever had. The nurse/doctor's exam led to my getting an extra 120% in regular math. I was shocked. It took that much to get me from TDIU to schedular 100%. If you are sitting at 90% it will take you at least 50% extra to get to 100%. VA math is a scandal.

My long time psychologist died recently from prostate cancer. His prostate was removed ten years ago. Somehow the cancer had spread even though he was told his prostate cancer was cured. It finally killed him. I really don't understand it. I think if you have one living cancer cell after removal of prostate you are not cured. He was cancer free for ten years and then on routine exam it had come back and it killed him.

Did you file an appeal on the 2011 decision? My CUE was denied many years later because I did not file an appeal back in 1973.

I have no records for my basic training or AIT. I have Vietnam records, but no records from next two duty stations after I got back from Vietnam. I was actually seeing a psychiatrist at my last duty station. I have none of those records and have been unable to ever get them. I was a victim of the "personality disorder" discharge. I was having severe symptoms but this was way before PTSD diagnosis. I spent two months in a military psychiatric hospital. Those records disappeared and I was discharged as being unable to adjust to a military environment. I had been in for almost three years when the army did this to me. I was very bitter but I did get a disability from the VA one day after my discharge. It then took me 30 years to get TDIU. I worked but was eventually fired from my job due to my disabilities. I did get worker's compensation and SSD. It took two years to get TDIU from the VA. I had gone from a 10% rating to 30% and then 70% TDIU. I feel like I have seen it all regarding the VA's underhand way of dealing with vet claims. They denied me so many times I was on appeal for decades.

You know the Apostle Peter asked to be crucified up-side-down because he did not think he was worthy of dying like Jesus. That is faith and courage that I find incredible.

MS Berta has always got the right answer! She is a giant in the claims business. She has forgotten more than I will ever know about VA claims.

Rather than file a CUE you might just file an appeal and get more evidence. Evidence can come in the form of another IMO/IME. At some point the quantity of evidence will weigh in your favor. CUE's are really hard and may get kicked upstairs for never ending series of appeals and denials. My CUE I filed some time ago took seven years to finally be denied.

I filed a CUE claim for being denied a higher level of disability way back in 1972. I did not file an appeal back then and that was the tool they used to deny my claim for TDIU or 100%. I had a lawyer and we went to Vet Court of Appeals. I thought I had a slam/dunk but because I did not file the appeal back in 1973 I lost. File an NOD and an appeal every time you get denied.

I was in the VA hospital due to my diabetes for one week back in October of last year. The conditions I experienced were awful. I was stuck in a room with six other very sick vets who coughed, farted, groaned and retched all night and day. I started losing weight not by choice, but due to food being so bad. I did not sleep for days. I was begging them to discharge me. I told doctors that if I stayed much longer they would be burying me. Finally, they rolled me out to the curb and left me. It took an hour for my wife to come and get me. I would never go back except maybe to die on clean sheets. I am lucky enough to have health insurance from my old job. The VA does some good, but they do bad as well. My VA hospital is dirty.

"Let he who is without sin caste the first stone".......Jesus. Jesus came to redeem sinners and not just to award the angels. Hey I said that and I am not religious but I used to know my bible a little bit.

I found the BCMR to be most arrogant. They ignored any testimony I made and just laughed at my efforts. I had plenty good documentation on my DD214 and in my Vietnam personnel and medical records to support my claims, but the did not approve any of my claims. The BCMR did help me get my father's WW11 awards and decorations. The BCMR does not have a duty to assist that I know of. They jut tell you to prove it. I was awarded a disability rating that started the day after I was discharged. I was not given a medical discharge which I don't understand. Did my disability happen in the 24 hours from the day I was discharged until the day I got my VA rating?

Many of my medical records from my last duty station were missing from my records. I wrote to the commanding officer and asked if he had my records. Of course, he said it was all sent to St. Louis. I was filing a petition to have my discharge changed from honorable to medical . It did not take all that much time to get the records they had in St. Louis, but getting records from various duty stations that were complete was impossible for me. My father was a WW11 vet and his records were burned up in the fire. They did send me a little bit of data but no medical or personnel.

When you go for these C&P exams you are rolling the dice. I have had such incompetent exams done at the VA by some nurse/doctor. I had a great exam done recently by a contract doctor. If pays your money and you takes your chances. Just be a persistent bastard and you win in the end if you call being disabled winning. I do if I get compensated for it.

You don't have to take the drugs. Just accept them and then flush them. You are trying to get extra compensation for a mental health condition as secondary to a physical injury.

Your lawyer or rep is only so good as your evidence. You really need someone who will guide you to get the evidence you need and will game plan your attack on the VA claims system. It is adversarial all the way.

Why are not our VSO's doing something about these awful C&P exams done by the VA. I had mental health VA exams done for years where exam doctor only asked one question: "Are you working?" I got denied an increase all though the 70's and 80's because VA simply ignored all my evidence and relied on the C&P exam. We vets need organizations that really represent us.

I would keep seeing the VA shrink if I were you. I have been seeing one for 25 years. This produces a mountain of documentation and evidence. Very hard to cut a rating for a vet who is in constant long term care from a VA shrink.

I filed a claim for caregiver on behalf of my wife. I am a 100% vet. I am claiming need help with daily chores of life including monitoring my medications and making sure I take my insulin etc. I need help and my spouse has been helping me. It has only been about a month or so since I filed the claim. VA got back to me recently. I think it will be a process. Not a slam dunk but it should be. If I were a 100% vet I would ask that I have caretaker.

Ham Yes, I had been unsure of LHI being as good as halfass exams I got from VA over the years. I should have known they could not be worse. I think you have nothing to fear from LHI.