john999

Congrats!

Pete You can bring all the records you have and then when you get the C&P exam copy if it looks good you don't have to do anything, but if it looks bad you can shop around for a doctor who will say these things are all related. You have nothing to lose. All the VA can do is deny the claims and then you can appeal. We have nothing but time.

Maybe you can get fee base psychiatric care for the PTSD. You want to start a papertrail of treatment.

It took me four medical opinions to get my P&T finally. I took every denial "reasons and basis" and took them back to a doctor and had them rebutt those findings. My biggest advantage was that I was already 30% so the doctors just needed to show that my condition had gotton worse. The VA did fight me every step of the way which took more appeals and more IMO's. First they granted a rating of 70% based on two medical opinions that shot down the C&P that continued the 30%. The VA denied TDIU saying my unemployability was due to NSC conditions. Another appeal and another IMO. I got the TDIU but was denied P&T. That took another appeal and another IMO. The VA seemed to look my evidence over with a microscope to find something to deny. The moral is that you want your claim to be water proof the first time around as best you can. The VA will often deny even good claims and force you into appeals. It is a game of persistence and finding evidence to continue the fight.

Retirement disability from the feds is pretty easy to get. The problem being that it is not enough to live on and is fully taxable. Workers compensation is enough to live on but it is hard to get for mental condition, but not impossible. You want to start working on such a claim before you get canned. If you are under FERS you have to apply for SSDI when you apply for disability retirement. It taks a few months to get the checks rolling. If it were me I would wait until they fired me and then get a lawyer via MSPB. Unless you commit a crime you can probably get your job back with backpay. How long have you been a federal employee? The main way the feds get rid of employees is by their use of sick leave. If you can manage to show up for work they will have a hard time firing a disabled vet. They may try and screw with you but to fire you I think you have the MSPB avenue. Do you have any kind of union?

The only way to find out is to file a claim. You want a statement from your chiropractor with a diagnosis and history of treatment. Get a copy of your service medical records. You may have to shop around for a orthopedic doctor to write you a report linking your SMR's to your current condition. What the VA might do is try and say your conditions are the result of age and natural degeneration. This is what you are going to have to beat.

You know what I did when the post office fired me was to claim workers compensation for aggravation of my service connected condition. I put in for disability retirement at the same time. I actually got workers compensation until I was approved for TDIU and SSD. If the actual working conditions of your federal job aggravate your SC condition you have a shot at either getting accomdation or collecting workers compensation. It is not easy, but I did it.

See if they will give you the hydrocodone without tylenol. I get oxycodone without tylenol, so I bet they could just give you the hydrococone without the tylenol. Both oxycodone and hydrocodone are more habit forming than the slower acting or time release type narcotics. The thing is if it works for you then that is good. I am 60 and I know my pain is probably going to get worse. I don't care if I am addicted. So what! I have oxycodone and the fentanyl patch. Me and you have been on narcotics for years. You are right that the tylenol is the biggest worry. The opiate is pretty safe if you don't OD. I am trying to get the right amount of fentanyl in patch form so I can cut back on the oxycodone. When you take the fast acting opiates you get the quick relief, but then in 4 hours you need more. It is a roller coaster. Of course, half the doctors who deal with patients in pain make moral judgements about us. I just want to live with as little pain as possible. In my state of Florida that is almost a crime. That is why you don't see the VA prescribing oxycontin often (plus it is more expensive than morphine) Some abuse it so we all must suffer. Funny thing is I can't stand hydrocodone. The VA's morphine is horrible stuff in pill form.

We don't know if this is just an isolated problem or something much more wide spread. If you use the VAMC at all you could be exposed to HIV or Hep C if they are doing things that are unsterile. We all get blood tests, flu shots, teeth cleaned, anything that breaks the skin. I go to get my teeth cleaned next week here in Tampa. I had blood work done last week. If they VA broke sterile procedures I probably got something bad by now. If any vet gets hep c or HIV from the criminals in St. Louis someone should go to jail. If they knowingly skipped safe guards and sterile procedures out of laziness or cheapness then some people should be in prison. I doubt the VA will give a vet fee base because of one situation in one VAMC unless you are at that VAMC in St. Louis. It does not hurt to ask for fee base on this account and report back on result.

Will VARO parse all the evidence submitted by the vet to get their desired outcome. You bet they will! Will they parse or ignore IMO or private doctors records. You bet they will! It is a battle. Will they search through your entire c-file to find one statement to contradict a claim. Yes, they will especially if it means big bucks for the vet. All these things have happened to me over the years.

I think stinking when you go for a MH exam is a big plus. It means you are so messed up you ignore your appearance. It can only do you good. If he said the vet is neatly dressed and smells like a rose it would hurt you. Too bad you can't give your impression of the C&P doctor which might be "dumb, arrogant, hates vets, only interested in his fee, ect"

One reason vets don't apply for IU is because they use VSO's who never tell them to file. On the other hand, the VA and VSO will tell a vet his % is not high enough even if he is on SSD for the SC condition. I never heard of TDIU until I got to Hadit.

The DRO and VARO tend to have no guts when a claim involves large retro payments. Even if they agree with your claim they may not want to take responsibility for a huge award, and will deny it and let you appeal to the BVA. Now you can add another two years. If it is really big retro the BVA may deny it and you end up at CAVA. This is how they kill you by playing "four corners" defense. I don't know where the buck stops at the VA. We just have to out last them.

The word maniac comes from people who were in severe manic states. These are the people they used to chain to the wall in mental institutions before the advent of drug therapy. Telling an anxious person to motivate themselves is like telling a severely depressed person to "cheer up". Emotional illness is still so misunderstood it ranks up there with the moral judgements even doctors make about people with chronic pain. People who suffer from certain groups of diseases are often blamed for their own illness. In years to come other generations will look back on us and think we were barbarians.

I think this rule makes PTSD almost presumptive for any vet who has been in a combat zone. If a soldier or vet has the symptoms and served in a combat zone it should be presumptive. The vet should get the benefit of doubt. There are combat infantry soldiers who don't have PTSD. There are truck drivers who do have it. How do you measure the fear factor? People are individuals. You can't use a cookie cutter to qualify PTSD sufferers.

Do you have a date stamped copy of your TDIU form? This would be your proof of the fact you filed and when. When you filed for TDIU did you give your form to the AL guy or did you file directly with the local VARO. For anything important you need to get date stamped copy.

Bi-polar people have a much greater chance of kiling themselves than non bi-polar people. They may run wild in the manic state and when they come down and see the carnage they may get very depressed and want to off themselves. They tend to go from manic to depressed states. It used to be before drug therapy that manic people would actually die from exhaustion.

I have had numerous DRO Reviews and Hearings. I would wait for a hearing by all means. It has taken me between 8 months and a year to get the hearing and then a few months to get a decision on paper after the hearing. I would always ask for a personal hearing. If you have a lawyer then the lawyer can clear up questions at a hearing that might drag on for years otherwise.

I got the diabetic shoes, socks, cane and orthotics due to my feet and DMII. That doctor is crazy. You want to avoid getting sores on your feet at all cost. The shoes are a preventive measure. If you get diabetic sores on your feet it means weeks if not months on antibiotics usually via infusions through a pick line, and maybe even surgery to clean up the sores or infection. I had three weeks of those IV infusions for staff infection in my feet. No fun at all. Feet heal very slowly even if you are not diabetic.

This person was inducted into the military without any sort of decent medical or psychological testing so what do they expect? I know back in the day if you had a pulse you were inducted. I agree with Larry that if the knee injury caused the vet depression she/he should re-open this claim with new evidence, but get a lawyer. The VA went on a wild goose chase with the sex change stuff. As soon as you are inducted you are government property and they have the responsibility if you get hurt.

Yes, your spouse has to sign up for medicare part B to be eligible for champva for life.

The New York Times says the new PTSD regs will apply to all war vets. I guess we will have to wait until we see the exact wording. If merely being in a combat zone and feeling acute anxiety or threat is the criteria that would apply to many vets. If you are getting combat pay there must be a reason for that. Granted, there is big difference between combat infantryman and cook, but both could get greased in a combat zone. People have died in the Green Zone in Iraq or making a run to the PX in Vietnam. In a war where there are no front lines the whole country is unsafe.

You could apply for voc rehab, but working is another thing. As it is you and your dependents get ChampVA, money and educational benefits from the VA plus you get SMC. If you had to pay for medical for your dependents and college costs for your kids you would really be broke. Does your wife work? She could run the business and you could help out, or you could send her to school so she can make more money. You are the one with the rock solide income and benefits. Taking care of four kids is a full time job. The biggest gift you could give your kids is an education and the VA will pay for it.

Can you post the regulation that says ChampVA runs out when the vet reaches 70? What if vet dies before 70? I want to see that regulation.

Like Bergie says you need an IMO and I would file a claim for TDIU now. The C&P doctor says you should not continue to work at your business. What are you supposed to do for money? You need your own doctor to tie all this stuff together and and paint a picture that represents your true level of disablility. How long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning? Just from the C&P exam you sound like you have severe disability, but a doctor has to say it is bad enough to keep you from doing any work that is above poverty level. I would see a psychiatrist as well because I bet all that pain and disability must be causing you major depression and chronic pain disorder.