john999

Larry, I see your point. Since he is already SC he can just file for PTSD as an increase. He just has to send a letter to the VA saying he wants to claim PTSD. As soon as you get even 10% everything else is an increase. He does not even have to bring the VSO into it. He needs to be sure to get a VCAA letter on all these claims. No VCAA letter that mentions a claim and I would worry.

Here is a trick the VA pulls where you have a continuously prosecuted claim via appeals and nod's and when you submit a new bit of evidence they use that evidence to establish the effective date. So your claim is five years old given appeals and remands and you then send in one more report and get an award, but it is from the date of the last medical report. Is this potential CUE since you are being ripped off for five previous years via a much later ED?

File the claim to preserve your effective date. You can get the evidence later. It would help to have a DX of PTSD, but if you have proof of stressors then you should be able to get a PTSD DX while you wait for the VA's wheels to turn. If you VSO has too much on his plate use another organization. It is your claim and you are the one that has to prove it. Do you have combat awards or medals? If so then your stressors are conceded.

In days gone by those who were deemed unable to work because of a SC condition were rated 100% schedular. That was changed some years ago. It is pretty obvious to me that if you can't work then you are 100% disabled. That is the criteria that SSA uses and almost every other benefit organization uses to determine 100% disability.

If I was able I would get into treatment with a private psychiatrist so that when time comes for your rating battle you will have your own treating doctor available to write a report for you. I would never want to depend only on the C&P exam.

A high dose of Ibuprophen can hurt more than narcotics. Except for being high and getting addicted naroctics won't kill you, but the Ibuprophen use over long period can burn holes in your guts.

I have a BVA Hearing with a Board member at the ST. Pete VARO on January 27, 2010 on my CUE claim. My lawyer will be there (if he wants to get paid). I am surprised it is happening so fast. I asked for it about a year ago. It is in regard my CUE going back to my original rating in 1973. I don't know what will happen, but I am hoping to win. If not I will go to the veteran's court with this lawyer or someone else. I am talking about potential of 30 years of retro if I win it. I will be up early that day since it is at 8:30 AM. I have never been to a BVA Hearing before so can anyone tell me what to expect. Is it just a high class DRO Hearing or much more formal? My gut tells me not to expect anything since I know how slippery the VA can be with retro and CUE claims.

The VA has many reasons to deny IU besides age. If you have any NSC conditions they will often declare that these are the reasons you can't work even if you have a 90% rating. As others have said what you need is a doctor to say that the reason you can't work is due solely to your SC conditions. If you are 75 years old, and want to work, but are unable to work due to your SC conditions you should get IU until the day you die. I see guys at my grocery store every day who are pushing 80 and probably get three pensions, but they work. I wish I could work.

The VA is probably talking about a waiver of premiums since you are IU. I did it and it was easy. Once you get the insurance you just apply for the waiver. They are separate from the guys who rate you. As long as you are IU then that is all that matters. They will check your status before they grant the waiver.

Berta said you could sue the VSO in state court. I guess you sue them for malpractice. Berta Simmons debated suing her VSO. I know she did not due to some factors. If anyone was going to do it successfully it would be her.

IRIS says a letter on your appeal has been sent, but they did not say a decision. You can't believe a word they say until you have a decision letter in your hand.

Are they talking about a tax waiver refund? I would want to know exactly what is being refunded? I remember some people I worked with at the Post Office who swore that the constitution declared that they did not have to pay income tax. I used to hand out the checks sometimes and I noticed everyone of them had a levy on their income from the IRS. They did not have to pay, because Uncle just took it right out of their paychecks anyway. Yes, if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't.

How many here have low back pain? It will dog you regardless of the pills you take and the PT or the operations. It is one of the hardest things to deal with because it is always present to a degree. Mine has gotten worse, but no shooting pains down the leg yet. That is the bad sign. PN goes from outward to inward. If it starts in your feet it goes to your legs and towards the center of the body. That is if it is getting worse.

It is a let down because permanent is permanent. Hope of rehabilitation is gone. I think Larry is right that if you can find something to do where you can keep trucking you will be better off. Remember, that this is the Christmas blues time of the year. I did not like my job, but I liked working. It gave me structure. Now I have to invent my own structure. I will be 60 years old in a few weeks. The VA compensation plus SSD is more than I made when working and much more than my retirement would have been if I had kept working. Still, I would rather have been able to keep working. It does not always work that way.

They never miss an opportunity to kick a Vietnam vet in the teeth. First we were psychotic, baby killers. Then we were pathetic losers. Now we are greedy white trash. Maybe the Vietnam war never even happened. The only two Vietnam vets who ever made a serious run for the President's job lost. We are never forgiven for being part of a losing war.

I bet denying a 40% rating for a single disability is their logic. Without a single disability rated 100% you never get to 100% schedular. I would take a bead on one disability that I could get over 30% for and work on that to get it up higher. Once that is done then the IU is very doable. It seems to stick in the VA's throat to award a vet IU if he does not have a rating of at least 60% overall and 40% for a single disability even though the regs state that the policy of the VA is to grant IU to any vet who cannot work due to a service connected disability. In reality, if they are going to grant IU they will bump you up to at least the right percentage to get you there. I think that is so that is so that they can continue to deny many vets who have been low balled the benefits of IU. My cynical opinion. I mean if you have five disabilities rated at 30% each you probably can't work, but you won't get IU.

Mentally I am organized about how to fight the VA, but in the physical world I am just a mess. I do have all my decisions and a file cabinet for VA matters. I envy organized people. I stay mentally organized by posting on Hadit and reading other posters.

You have to consider that the C&P doctor is paid piece rate so he/she wants to get to the next case. Don't expect them to waste time looking for other SC conditions. That you need to do on your own.

If you have a VSO they will tell them and they should tell you. If you keep asking them they probably will tell you. The VA is not supposed to tell you except by letter.

Another kick aimed at Vietnam vets basically saying that they are just after the money. The idea that by compensating Vietnam vets we are not going to have money left for future vets. We get zero respect from the nation. Always have and always will. This report does not mention that it took many RVN vets 40 years to get compensation. These intellectuals believe that most Vietnam vets were dumb asses who think losing a leg or arm was a good deal for the money. We all live in Stump County, Florida. Will it ever end? We will be fighting for our compensation to the day we die. Then they try and screw our DIC dependent out of their tiny annuity. Not many can live on 1100 bucks a month DIC.

Just remember not to do work that you are claiming you can't do as part of your claim. If you say you can't concentrate due to depression then you don't want to be working doing things that require you to be sharp mentally. Or if you are saying you can't lift and load because of your back then you don't want to be doing physical work that requires lifting and doing things you claim you can't do. The VA is not a a bloodhound like the worker's compensation system, but if jealous employees know you are getting VA compensation they might make trouble for you if they see you working. I think volunteering is good as long as you stay under the radar.

Baby Ray Have you applied for SSD? If you get SSD that helps with TDIU. If you get TDIU that helps with SSD. The IMO from Dr. Bash sounds good. I know you paid a pretty price for it. I would just wait and see what the VA says on this. If what Dr. Bash says about you is verfied then that is a good IU claim in my opinion. I know what Brocovet is saying, but often Doctors just won't cooperate with each other. When they write an opinion they hedge and don't want to make really concrete statements, but Bash will do that. A medical opinion that leaves room for doubt can hurt more than help. A really good IMO or IME can just blow the VA out of the water. I got such a good IME that the VA just incorporated it into the decision. I sent in the IME SC'ed for one condition and the decision came back SCing me for five conditions, heh, heh.

The issues with the M4 sound like the M-16 in Vietnam all over again. Have you ever flashed on the rucksacks the grunts carried in Vietnam. They tended to walk hunched over due to the sheer weight. Also uniforms rotted off and boots rotted in tropical climate. The troops in the field are at the end of the line and receive what everyone else does not want. The supplies come into the large base camps. The good stuff gets taken there and the rest is shipped out to remote areas. Not much changes. I bet the insurgents in Afghanistan don't carry 100 pounds of gear on their backs. They scurry around into the rocks and caves and disappear like rats. Our guys trudge after them and when in doubt call in the heavy artillery on rocks and and sand.

Mags You don't want to mention anything about a disability that occurred before your military service. If you had severe economic inadapability before the military that will explode in your face in you mention that fact to the VA. What you are going to claim is that your migranes are so bad they cause severe economic inadaptability. You are claiming the military caused the migranes, right? Remember that before the military you were in perfect health and afterwards you are so ill you cannot work and now due to migranges are incapacitated.

As far as VA stonewalling they will do that to anyone as long as possible even a lawyer. I think claims that mean lots of retro are more attractive to lawyers than more simple claims. Even so I had a hard time getting one to take my CUE claim even though it involved about 35 years of retro. Due to my medical condition I don't think I have the ability to do the research and write legal briefs necessary for my claim, so I opted for a lawyer. I may try the housebound SMC thing for TDIU vets if anyone ever wins another one of those.