john999

Did this vet go back to work? If he is IU then how did they propose to reduce him if he still can't work?

When you think how long some of us have been fighting with the VA there must be a thousand years of experience here at Hadit. You can get a feel for how they think at the VA, but they can still surprise you by doing something really dumb. The last decision I got could have been written in crayon.

Some people just throw it all at the wall and see what sticks. This could only be good if you are a Vietnam vet doing a carpet bombing of the VA to cover yourself for presumptive AO. However, for most purposes having just one or two really good claims that will put you at IU or 100% is better than a hundred 0% claims. I think some file because of frustration and think they are bound to win something, but that is not so. The VA denies really good claims every day, so why does one think 29 weak claims will get anywhere?

I live in Florida which has a very large vet population. My VARO is horrible. My congress person is useless.

You know it might be wise to file a claim for the birth defect even though it is not considered presumptive now. If it becomes presumptive you can recapture an earlier effective date. You have very little to lose in doing this. Somebody who filed for DMII due to AO exposure before the disease was added to the list can get a much earlier date on the disability. Berta knows just how this applies. It could be wise for RVN vets to file for any disease that might become presumptive one day. You hedge your bets. The VBM has lists of diseases that they believe will become presumptive for AO in the future. We are not getting any younger, but I bet they will still be adding AO presumptives when I am 80 years old, knock on wood.

As Carlie says if it is important evidence get date stamped copies. You will sleep better at night. If the VA can lose it they probably will lose it.

And it causes ED tah, dah!

I think it is even harder for spouses when the VA tells them they are not entitled to DIC. The spouse may believe what they are told because they don't believe the VA would lie or misinform them. Unless the spouse is like Berta the VA thinks they can roll them. With the elderly spouse the VA just tries to wait them out until they die.

Ever seen the movie from the 70's called Harlan County. Very good documentary about the union and the owners and violence on the picket line. Didn't they call it Bloody Harlan?

I find the main factor with VA pharmacy is cost. They always are looking for a cheap alternative to whatever your private doctor may prescribe. They would not prescribe celebrex for me because of cost, but would give me morphine because it is cheap. Does that make sense? It does if you are 100% cost driven and care only about the bottom line.

When you go for the exam be aware that the c&p doctor will be looking at things such as your clothing, your posture, if you combed your hair, if you shaved, if you smell bad, if you make and keep eye contact. The c&p doctor is going to see you for maybe 20 minutes. In that time all he has is you in front of him and some records he is not going to read. You want to make an impression that conveys your usual mental state. Some have suggested staying up the night before the exam and drinking about 20 cups of coffee. I would never suggest such a thing.

A good IMO is the key to winning most claims that are in dispute. In order to get my IU it took three IMO's, but the VA caved. Evidence is what wins claims. You have to bury them in it. If you have the evidence you can win the claim, but not without a fight if you are talking half a million in retro. It has been done here before.

Did you get Chapter 35 benefits. That would indicate P&T status even if they don't say it.

If you have CTS there is surgery that can fix it. If you have neuropathy nothing can fix it. You can only treat symptoms. I bet you do have CTS as PN usually shows up in the feet first. What was your MOS? That might explain the CTS. If you spent ten hours a day at a keyboard in your MOS that would be a cause of CTS, but you still have to connect it via medical records to your service. Since you had symptoms that might have been CTS in service I think you have a claim. It may be hard since 7 years have passed. You have a nerve problem, but you might want another opinion as to what it is.

If it happens in one office I bet it happens nationwide. My Fee Base Office is terrible and acutally threw my claim away and admitted it. The employee was mad because he thought my claim was too complicated. He was supposed to get in trouble but he probably got promoted.

The evidence you really need is a nexus between your service and your disabilites. The shrink can say you have depression and chronic pain, but you must prove that these are related to your service.

I remember just thinking about my first panic attack was enough to start the fear. If it is done in a safe and theraputic environment I can see it. I was experiencing it because some trigger would set me off. That was a horrible experience. I took drugs to calm me down. As a matter of fact to avoid that anxiety I took all the drugs I could stand without killing myself. If Panic is part of your PTSD then it is so bad that reliving it is just the pits. When the panic would start I would start drinking or drugging as fast as I could. I know a guy with severe panic/ptsd. You can see the fear in his eyes. You feel you are losing your mind because you can't identify where the fear is coming from but it is intense. Panic disorder and PTSD as so similar I can see why so many self-medicate. I self medicated every chance I got the feeling of creeping fear. I still do sometimes. I have ended up in the ER because of it. When you get a real shock you can have what they call a dissociative disorder reaction. This is where your emotions become blunted and sort of separated from your conscience mind. If it gets really bad you get the 1000 yard stare and that zombie look because your mind is trying to find a place to run and hide. That is what happens when the circut breaker trips inside your own head.

Just for emergency I think from the way I read it.

I don't think you will find many good pain doctors or shrinks who would not agree that mental and physhical problems interact with each other. If you have PTSD and chronic pain it is going to make both things worse.

I think the going rate is 20% of your retro. I would not want to be sitting in front of some BVA judge by myself. I think you get zero respect without good representation. 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing. Having a pair of impartial eyes looking at your claim for your benefit can make all the difference. When you get into the legalistic areas of the VA claims process I think having a lawyer beats the heck out of depending on some overworked VSO who does not even understand the issues. There are people here who can do it on their own dealing with CUE's and other complicated things, but they are exceptions. If it is just a matter of evidence then you may not need a lawyer, but if it involves legal arguments you do.

I bet the Marine or Army recruiter does not tell the young 18 year old that he will be spending the bulk of his time in the military doing back-to-back tours in a combata zone. I quess as long as their is a jobs depression, and no future for those with only a HS diploma the military will get the recruits they need. If we are going to load up a tiny percent of the population with the responsibility of fighting for the rest of us I think the politicians should have the guts to bring back the draft. Everyone should have the honor of dying for their country. Most Americans seem fine with letting someone else be a "hero" while they watch it all on their big screen TV. I can't imagine why anyone would join the NG or reserves in this day and age. That is a sure bet you will be deployed to a combat zone.

Bob I think you have done enough. You called her bluff. Avoid these people except as necessary. Their disrespect triggers you. John

Jerr Under what conditions did you re-herniate you disk in 2009? If it is a natural progression of having a weaken back from SC incident in the military that is different than having a re-herniation due to a traffic accident. You see what I mean? Almost 20 years elapsed between the operation to repair disk and the re-herniation in 2009. If there is some NSC reason for the re-herniation the VA will jump on that. It seems odd to me that that particular disk was re-herniated. It seems to me that would point to some service connected weakness in the disk, but the VA loves to find NSC reasons to deny or low ball claims. You don't want to leave strings for the VA to pull on in a medical report because pull they will. I know this from painful experince. One wrong phrase and the VA turns your IMO around to hurt you.

When you read you C-File you might find a few tens of thousands of dollars in there for you. If you have some really old rating decisions I would read the evidence very carefully. If there is a "reasons and basis" paragraph in there that is key.

I think I would strike "related to" and replace it with "caused by", as in "the veteran's depression is at least as likely caused by his military service".