john999

Beats me, but the VARO in my area is the St. Petersburg, Fl. office. It is so busy and vets have their claims sent here for some reason. I have always thought this is just a way for the VA to show they are doing something even if it just means they are moving chess pieces on the board. It got so bad with my local VARO that I would drive all the way from Tampa to the St. Pete office and hand the claims or evidence to them and get signed copies back to show they actually received the claim. The ST. Pete VARO would lose everything I sent them. The worst thing is when you move from one VARO to another geographically. Your claim file is supposed to follow you but if you relocate in the middle of a claim awaiting a decision then your file may end up in Greenland. Why does it take years to finish a claim and up to ten years to do a claim from beginning to the end of the appeals line? When a claim gets sent out of the original office to the BVA or CAVC you must be prepared to wait years. Sending a claim from one VARO to another is just a game.

I got TDIU and later I got SMC "S" because I added another 60% to the TDIU rating. The recent VA brain storm to make vets choose between getting SSA and TDIU bugged me. I know they went back on it but it shows what these people are capable of and how little they understand the situations of us vets who lost the best years of our earning lives due to SC disability.

If you are in severe chronic pain there is a large emotional component to it. You can file for depression/chronic pain disorder which could possibly help you get to 100%. I have 90% and I know I would need additional 50% to get to 95% and thus 100%. I may get there one day but not looking forward to it if I need to have another major disability. The only way for me to get there now would be for VA to accept OSA claim and I have little hope of that presently. I would got for the P&T and "S" as Buck talks about if you can get it.

When I got TDIU I was not awarded Chapter 35. I got an IMO and filed an appeal/NOD. Within one year I had P&T. I agree not to listen to dire warnings from VSO's . They will tell you to be satisfied with what you got etc. I have filed at least 6 claims since I got TDIU and I intend to file more.

You know when administration is trying to push through enormous tax cuts for 1% vets may come up short with presumptive for conditions like HBP or any common disease of older ages. It is just about the money. Who gets it and who pays it in taxes. If justice were involved all conditions caused by dioxins would be presumptive. Inject a rat with dioxin and see what happens. John

I had AO exam in 2000. The doctor identified three AO presumptive conditions but I had to file formal claims on each one. I don't think they noted HBP on my old exam, but did note glucose intolerance, but would not call it DMII.

I just had my private cardiologist bump up my HBP meds and the VA is saying I need to justify it. You know those jerks sit me down and take my BP until by chance they get a near normal reading. I hope HBP is on the AO list. Now if they just put OSA on there as well. Bladder cancer is a killer so it should be on there as well as all those other ugly cancers. The VA uses stats which just shows statistical findings. If the VA knows dioxin causes cancer and is one of the most potent poisons known to man why not make all cancers for boots on the ground vets presumptive. We will all be dead from "one day to be presumptive AO diseases" and won't get a dime.

One thing I can tell you is that if your vet was placed in a facility you must be able to visit every day or his health and life will be at risk unless he is constantly monitored . My mother was placed in a more distant nursing home due to a legal battle where a legal guardian was appointed by the court. Because we could not visit every day she died from neglect by the staff. I sued but my mother was still dead. So I guess my point if that if you want your brother to live no matter what happens you must have daily involvement in his care. If you see a bandage on his hand or foot you must demand that they remove so you can see for yourself. When I demanded that the staff of the nursing home remove a bandage on my mother's heel it turned out she had gangrene. It killed her eventually because the doctors had to amputate her leg and she was already very ill. Now if you are able to care for your brother you can get on top of those things. The home my mother was sent to by the court killed her within a few months. I could do nothing since my hands were tied in legal handcuffs. So it is well worth a lawyer to get the money to help you and it is well worth the IMO's to straighten out the VA since your brother's life may depend on it. You know the VA outsources its nursing home patients and some homes are OK and some are "God's Waiting Room" and not in a nice way. John

I would hire a lawyer because they don't get paid unless they win. Getting a claim out of the VARO can be good and it can be bad. When you go to the BVA you will probably wait two to three years. If you can get your SMC T from the VARO it could happen fast via a DRO Hearing. You or your attorney can ask for a personal hearing from the VARO at any time. Do you have an independent medical opinion that states your vet needs a 24/7 caretaker? I see the VA doctor says he does but new evidence would be IMO doctor saying the same thing only louder. If he is Pre 9/11 there is no provision for you to get paid as his caretaker. You would have to use the SMC T money to hire a caretaker, or I guess you could pay yourself since you are his fiduciary. Does SMC T actually pay enough to hire a live-in caretaker? I doubt it. So it would be you which he is lucky to have you. I would hire the lawyer. Would there be considerable retro pay if the lawyer won the case? This is where the 20% would come from and that money is already spent so to speak. What new evidence would be would be a medical opinion that your brother requires round the clock care, why, where, when etc. Don't try to get free stuff because it is worth what you pay for it. I got TDIU 16 years ago and I ended up having 4 medical opinions before I got my 70%, TDIU, P&T and an earlier effective date. It was money well spent. I have found almost all VA claims will benefit from IMO/IME. I would never have won TDIU or the secondary conditions that got me "S" without them.

I filed a CUE in or around 2006. From VARO to CAVC it took 6 years and then it went back to the BVA and back to CAVC for an additional 18 months. It can take an expected life time to get through these appeals and then you still may likely lose. This is why I always have tried to get a good decision at the lowest level being the VARO/DRO. I waited a couple of years for a BVA Hearing and it lasted 20 minutes and I had to wait six more months for a decision I then appealed to CAVC. Justice delayed is justice denied. John

Gastone I should have included Truman, Ike and Kennedy since they were all up to their necks in it. Truman and Ike preferred to finance the French and I think Kennedy sent the first advisors. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was what really got the war going thanks to LBJ. First the Marines came to guard Da Nang Airbase and then they started to patrol aggressively outside the wire and we were off to the races. We were neck deep in the Big Muddy by that time and the Big Fool said "Push On". LBJ believed all the protestors were communists. I think they just did not want to go to Vietnam, period. Everyone believed in the Domino Theory and that if we did not stop Uncle Ho the Red Chinese would be in California in a couple of years. Were they fools? In retrospect they were, but almost all were Cold Warriors and did not understand Nationalism as a guiding light for Ho and the people of former colonies. The worst colonial power was probably little Belgium. What they did to the Belgium Congo was appalling. Of course what we did to Spain and Mexico was pretty appalling as well. We just stole their land with no excuses except they had it and we wanted it. This is human nature and the power of the State. Even a state like Israel filled with escapees from death camps oppress their weaker neighbors. John

Buck What you said about missing information in a claim having to have outcome determining impact on a claim is really a kick in the yarbels for many a vet who has a CUE. That little phrase along with evidence being "debatable" has sunk many a CUE. The BVA and CAVC routinely rolls these phrases out to deny CUE's. Just about anything you maintain as a CUE beyond clerical error is "debatable" . The VA left out my IMO on an old claim. They claimed it was "debatable" if the evidence would be "outcome determinate" . My IMO that the VA failed to consider said I was 100% and CAVC said that was debatable and might not be outcome determinate since the VA awarded me just 10%. I lost it back in 1973. Then VA failed to send me appeal rights by sending it to wrong address (Return to sender, addressee unknown). I still lost and my lawyer threw in the towel when Fed. Circuit refused to hear my claim. I think the main reason I lost so big was I failed to send in a NOD since I did not even know I could at the time. Back in those days the VA did not even have to list all the evidence they used in a decision. The game was fixed. Any "Reasonable Mind" would have seen the VA did not consider my IMO, but the VA said that was "debatable". John

I got my Honorable Discharge in a safe deposit box along with my original DD-214. You know you can get those documents recorded at the court house. Stuff gets lost. I have my father's honorable discharge which lists his duty overseas and awards etc. I did not really know him but I read some of his letters and he hated the army. He was in the artillery and said he slept in bombed out basements for about 6 months and did not get a bath for months. All the guys in his unit hated the army which is what they had in common. His military records burned up in the 1973 fire in St. Louis so this is all I have of him. The WWII army was a civilian army. I don't know what the army of 2017 is today , but I think the Vietnam Era army was also a civilian army because of the draft. They were drafting 40,000 a month a the height of the war in RVN. It should be a civilian army because all should serve and not just the poor or disadvantaged. Some guys just like it. I liked some of it, but being permanent party at some of those big army bases stateside was hell.

You know I got reimbursed for dental work I got while waiting for TDIU. The VA tried to wiggle out of paying and gave my dentist a hard time, but in the end (6 months) they paid about 75% of what I got done. They are cheap *&&&^^'s. I had to file a claim with Fee Base for some sort of weird way of getting around a straight claim for reimbursement. Yes, it was a claim for unauthorized service but I got paid anyway. The VA first disputed my claim saying me and the dentist were just making it up to get money and split it. This is how they think over there at Fee Base. John

Buck The BCMR slammed my request to have my discharge changed to a medical (I was in hospital for 2 months) and showed utmost disrespect to me. I called a lawyer and he said only about 3% actually get significant upgrades that would cost the military a dime. Back in the day it was not so hard to get a General upgraded to Honorable right after Vietnam. I had a Hearing and my counselor had them crying and wiping their eyes, except for the military guy in the room who was looking daggers at me. I got the upgrade, but years later I tried with BCMR and they laughed at me. I had 11B MOS in Vietnam and they said my records showed I only worked that MOS for five months and the rest as a clerk, so I was trying to get something I was not entitled to get.

Do you have any combat related awards like a CIB, CAB, PH or Bronze Star with V ? This would make your stressor a slam/dunk. The VA won't accept a private doctor's DX of PTSD. The VA Gods have designated themselves only to DX PTSD. This is to control the money going out the door and nothing to do with medical reality.

Like I say you will probably need a lawyer if you have to deal with Board of Corrections of Military Records. They are mean and nasty and don't give a rat's ass about you, MF6. I experienced it with them. They lied and screwed me over in every way possible. If you had appealed your discharge within I think it is three years it would have probably been easier. You must prove your discharge was in error. You probably signed something saying you agreed to take the General under Honorable and they will use that like a confession to a murder. I am sure you were F'ed over but you must prove it.

There is a way to appeal your discharge character but you must go before the BCMR. They are not appellant friendly. You probably need a lawyer. I tried it within one year after discharge and went to Discharge Review Board and got my general changed to Honorable. When you deal with BCMR it is a different world. The assumption is you got exactly what you deserved. No benefit of doubt or duty to assist that I know of in those cases. They were arrogant, high handed ands nasty to me. My service connection was effective one day after discharge, but I lost at BCMR. What would honorable get you besides General Under Honorable? You will need to prove a mistake was made when you got discharged. Did you get general under honorable conditions.? There was a vet here who got their honorable changed to medical with pension. He is the only one I know that ever did it. John

If I were you I would check in with AA. People with PTSD/MST and all sorts of other mental health issues self-medicate with alcohol. This is such a common and well known symptom, but the VA loves to slam vets with drug or alcohol issues and not look beyond the symptoms. After you get a roof over your head or even before go to AA. The VA can help you dry out but that is where it usually ends.

I see two civilian doctors because worker's compensation pays for it. I had to choose between getting OWC benefits (cash) and VA compensation. The OWCP still provides medical care since the USPS did aggravate my depression and anxiety. This did cause problems for me since to some extent the USPS and my pre-existing VA disability were intertwined. Getting them separate was a chore. I advise all workers to keep worker's compensation cases and VA completely separate. I was just trying to keep my job so I ****&^ up and it did cost me. I got it street legal and no problems now. My clinical psychologist had to retire and that hurt me since he had helped me since 1972 believe or not. When I got out in 1971 I was a mess, unemployable and ready for the nuthouse as permanent party. John

I have been seeing a VA shrink for at least 20 years. Every time I go I let them know I am still having symptoms. I walk a fine line between getting locked up and describing my symptoms. I accept all the pills they give me. Until the day you have 100% for 20 years I would keep going. This may be my paranoia but there it is. I see a shrink about once every few months just for med check and to let them know I am not "better". If you are younger this is important. I never mention the word "Work". If you do it may get twisted around to bite you in the ass. I am almost 68, so no one expects me to "get a job" but it was different after I was fired from my 20 year job at the USPS for being too disabled to work. John

Buck That's right! I just need pulmonologist or sleep doctor to say the OSA is likely as not a result of DMII. The thing is so far the sleep doctors have been shy of making that nexus. The VA gave me a CPAP and a doctor who does work at the VA actually did an operation on me to try and fix my OSA. It is still not fixed and I take pills to overcome narcolepsy that is a result or maybe cause of my OSA. This thing with my sleep is so screwed up and mixed in with other conditions. I remember going berserk after I did not sleep for about a week in Nam. That is in my SMR's. If I got 50% for OSA that would make me scheduler 100% since I am 90% now. After the TDIU reduction proposal I am more concerned with getting 100% and not just TDIU. If I got 100% scheduler would that reset the 10 year period for DIC?

I have the opposite of flat feet......Pes Cavus which means my arches are too high. The VA says it is a congenital deformity. Yes, but my feet and arches hurt so bad I cannot stand for more that a few minutes. I already have 10% on each foot for PN due to DMII. The fix for Pes Cavus is more horrible than the constant pain when walking. Orthotics don't work. I always wondered why when we had forced marches in basic I would walk slower and slower even though I was not tired. My feet just gave out and would actually start to curl in a spasm and then I walked like someone walking on a very wet floor. I went to the Medic and he called me a liar. So much for military medical. When my ankles started to swell the doctors and medics also called me a liar. Hey I was headed for Vietnam and that bus would not stop except for POTUS. Plus I could not see the Big "E" on the eyechart and was color blind." No problem, boy, you is going to Vietnam so get yo' bus ticket at the station and yo' plane ride out of Ft. Lewis in January 1970." During selective service call-up the government boys did not care if you had flat feet, bad heart, high blood as long as you had all four limbs and did not have a tumor growing out of your rectum. John

Allan All my SMR's from basic and AIT are lost. I have a few records Vietnam mostly the usual of vomiting and the runs from contaminated food and water. I swear I was at the medic's once a week getting something for to stop puking and crap running down my leg. I think I was sick the whole year. Records from my 12 months at US permanent party are missing including two weeks in hospital for some kind of lung disease. How can a Vietnam vet with half-ass records put together enough to pull an OSA claim. I got out in 1971. Pretty soon that will be fifty years ago. The timeline for DMII etc. is that first I was DX'ed with DMII in around 2004 and PN. Then a year later High Blood pressure. Then about 3 years later CAD. Sometime in 2012 I had a sleep study done and the study and pulmonologist said I had severe mixed sleep apnea. Between the time I was DX'ed with DMII I probably gained 30 lbs. I notice I have a hankering after surgery things that I did not have before. I take Metformin and get 20% for DMII.

As soon as you go beyond the "Benefit of doubt" and get into "reasonable minds and the concept of your evidence being "debatable" you are in "Plan Nine from Outer Space" . The BVA and CAVC can twist a case that is obvious to a high grade moron into a denial. I often think that if you cannot get your claims done at the VARO level you are in serious trouble because it just gets worse. The opposition gets more fierce and your representation gets more impatient for a pay day. If you can't win at VARO level good luck spinning your wheels between BVA and CAVC. I spent years on the "Forbidden Planet" of the space between the BVA, CAVC and Federal Circuit. Evidence is all and a NOD is second. I lost a strong, strong claim because I did not file a NOD in 1973. I regret being so crazy I did not somehow track down the appeal rules for my original claim even though the VA did not supply me with them at the time.