john999

Chuck75 You are right about north Florida. I was thinking about what it was like when I was much younger. Houses were cheap and cost of living was cheap. No services to think of for the poor. I do think North Central Florida is very good. I live in Tampa. I think a person could get a good deal on a house if you stay away from big cities and stay north of Tampa and away from the coasts. They are building a VAMC in Orlando and there is one in Gainesville.

When you finally get the help you need and deserve it is a relief. You have to figure out what you will do with the rest of your life. The VA is saying you are unemployable and will never be able to work again. This has to sink in for a while. If you are 65 years old it is one thing, but if you are younger it is somewhat final.

Look at your rating decision letter. It it says you have Chapter 35 benefits you are permanent and total. How old are you? That is usually a factor in the VA sending you for exams in the future. Age is not supposed to matter, but if you are under 55 if is more likely you will be sent for future exams unless they say you are permanent and total.

No particular form. You are asking for an increase. You need a medical opinion to say your conditions is secondary to a SC condition.

The only thing you get from the VA is treatment and compensation. They can't fix you up like you used to be.

Hey if you get SSD and 100% from the VA that is usually over $4000 a month. You can use VA loan to buy a house. The more rural the area the cheaper the house. The deep south and midwest are probably the cheapest places to live. Florida used to be cheap but no longer.

I believe there are at least three eye conditions due to DMII including cataracts. A fasting full panel of blood work should show if you glucose levels are in the DMII range. If you have had any blood work done it would show glucose levels.

For disabled people doing some kind of small business can be the perfect thing. However, it is stressful and you have to deal with people. You work twice as hard as someone just doing a job. You are responsible for lots of details. You have to be very flexible and you can't blow your stack. You often have to arrange financing and talk to lawyers and accountants. Half of people who start small businesses fail in good times.

You would not want to be nursing and on morphine at the same time. You could make a fatal mistake. I think you should go for TDIU. You need a doctor to say you can't work due to your SC conditions. I think the medications to add into the IU claim. Chronic pain disorder is also a factor. I would file out the IU paperwork as soon as I could do it and send it in with a statement from the doctor that you can't work.

My wife wants to go to a vocational school. I have Chapter 35 benefits for her. How do I crank them up? We have about six months before the program starts. It lasts 11 months. It would be great for her since she is not disabled and needs some activity to make some money and stay busy. It would be a blessing for me too. I can't keep up with her. She needs employment. I wish I could also but I just pay the bills. John

Even if we get COLA it is not really a good sign because it means inflation is going up and COLA's lag behind real inflation. If Uncle Same devalues the dollar to pay the debt that will set off inflation and we will get bigger COLA, but we will lose in the end.

Any evidence you submit to the VA for IU that includes NSC disabilites is lethal to your claim. I know this from experience. I was at 70% and on SSD for SC condition. I asked for IU and somewhere in my three IMO's a doctor mentioned a NSC problem I had. This was the basis for a denial by the VA. I had to spend more money to get a new IMO to explain that the reason I was unable to work was solely due to the SC condition. Time and money wasted. I got IU, but it took an extra year to get there. If you SSD is partly due to NSC condition I would not submit that as evidence.

The guy doing the exam notes things like eye contact, the way you are dressed, you affect, etc. Don't go to the exam as if you were going for a job interview. Dress down if you know what I mean. If the doctor wants to talk about your childhood or anything before the service tell him everything was fine. Normal family life and no problems with school or the law.

Berta is right. Get a lawyer to see if the VA can bar you from contact. Don't threaten or abuse the VA. Get the legal eagle to do your work for you. If you ever plan on using the VA again it would be worth it. Just remember anything you say to the VA can and will be used against you.

If the VA mistreats their own workers to such an extent you know that they probably are mistreating veterans who have to deal with discontented employees.

What the C&P doctor is going to decide is "do you have PTSD and to what extent". You just tell him about your symptoms and how you got the CAR. The main thing he will be interested in is your symptoms. Utlimately, you need to write a stressor letter, but since you combat action ribbon they should accept it without having to verify the stressor through other records.

Do you have your own doctor to explain what you are like when you are not on the drugs as opposed to when you are? If you just go to the C&P exam and you seem to be doing well then the C&P doctor just takes a snapshot of you at your best. You just can't depend on C&P exams. I never got more than 30% via a C&P. It was not until I got my own IMO's that I got a decent rating.

You need to see a psychiatrist who knows what he is doing. Drugs interact with each other and good shrinks know how this happens and what to avoid. I would not want a PCP handing out prozac.

Good to have you back on Hadit to help us push the VA millstone.

Somebodies must have done been slipping it into mies drinks cause I can't spell ether nor neitehr.

I have a Master's degree and I was 30% for a MH claim for years. It is worth it because if it gets worse you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You can ask for an increase which is easier than starting from scratch. With PTSD even if you get 50% that would be great if you are able to work because if you have to retire on disability the next step would be to file for IU. It usually goes 30%, 50%, 70%-100%/IU. If you do have PTSD then it is worth it to file. Psychiatric care in the private sector is expensive.

It is quality and not quantity when you have terminal condition I think. Three good weeks is worth six months of misery and pain.

If you were on the DMZ in Korea during the Cold War that would be somewhat stressful I think. Same being on the border of East and West Germany knowing you would be the first to die.

Berta I am surprised the VA has not offered you a job to get you on their team in hopes of shutting you up, heh,heh. If you can't beat them get them to join you.

I hope it is faster than agent orange compensation. 40 years later they are still discovering illnesses related to AO exposure.