john999

If you spend your valuable time trying to show the world that the VA system is corrupt it will take years and will amount to nothing but a new C&P exam by one of the old doctor's buddies. If it was me I would concentrate on getting a better rating via IMO. Just think about winning "your" claim and don't worry about fixing a system that has been corrupt for 50 years. I don't think it will change but you will get older and eventually die and this corrupt system will keep going because it serves those who don't want to spend a dime compensating vets who are no longer of use to the Green Machine. I had a VA C&P exam doctor not only torpedo my request for an increase but question my service connection because I had a college degree in psychology. In his warped mind that indicated I was faking it with my "vast" knowledge of abnormal psychology. I filed an appeal using the grossly inadequate and biased exam as the main feature. It took a couple of years and I won a new exam. The guy who did the exam was a buddy of the original doctor. He made it worse for me. Then I went out and got my own doctors and I began to win my claims. All that time at the BVA to get a new exam and I still lost my appeal for a higher rating because I did not have my team of doctors I paid for to help me. I went from 30% to 70% to TDIU P&T within 18 months based entirely on my IME/IMO doctors. It cost me maybe $250 since two of the doctors were being paid by insurance and only one doctor was paid partially out of my pocket. I used a former VA psychiatrist to write my main IME and she just aced it. The VA incorporated her IME/IMO into my rating decision. This is the sort of help you need to get this claim home.

I would disclose that the reason my wife can only work part time is due to the fact she must assist you taking care of your basic needs to include cooking, making sure you take your meds, making sure you bath and feed yourself etc. To get the higher levels of SMC you usually require help doing basic self-care. With 100% PTSD you might be able to get it. You must convince them you need a "keeper". That is a brutal way of saying it but pretty true. If you are not in a wheelchair or bedridden and have all your limbs you need to show them that you just can't be on your own all day. You might look into hiring a helper so that if VA comes out to take a look they see you being cared for by someone while you wife has to toil just to make ends meet. The best thing would be for your wife to become official and paid caregiver for you.

I think you will probably get 30% SC for your ptsd claim. Now your job is to gather and produce medical evidence to show you deserve 50% or even 70%. You do this with IMO/IME. Don't let your deadlines for filing NOD and other appeals pass you by. You have you foot in the door and now you have to kick it down. This is typical VA mode of doing business. They low ball you knowing it will take some time to get a proper rating and during that time many vets will give up, miss deadlines or die.

The thing with mental health ratings is that if you are able to work you will always get a low ball rating. One thing I suggest you never do is to talk about your childhood or anything that happened to you before the military. If you had childhood ADHD you don't want to talk about that with some C&P doctor or with any VA official or doctor. You want to be able to say you were fine before you military experience and now you are disabled solely due to the PTSD etc. No talk of past drug use! Now what you need is an IMO that meets the criteria for 50% or possible 70%. Then when you are no longer able to work TDIU or 100% is not a big jump. I went from 10%, 30%, 70% and then TDIU. Without IME/IMO's I never would have gotten 70% or TDIU. I got SSDI before I got TDIU.

It usually takes a doctor to refute a doctor. This is the newer and kinder VA we have been hearing about I guess. I would just get more medical evidence to overtop this liar c&p doctor. You could spend years trying to correct your record.

Every c&p exam could start a process of getting a decrease in a rating , but no one exam is supposed to be enough to reduce you. The VA has to show you have become significantly better to reduce you. I would not worry about being reduced and go for that good IMO that more or less parrots what the DBQ says to get you a higher rating. Which exact symptoms will get you to the highest level of back disability? You should also consider filing a claim for depression because they go hand in hand with back issues/chronic pain. Many ways to skin the cat. People with disabilities can be depressed and not even recognize it. You behavior will show it especially to those close to you. Depression/anxiety would be secondary to the back injury.

Are you considered competent to make financial decisions? I know where you are coming from being housebound. Do you get SSDI? You need to show the VA that you need aide and attendance so that your wife can work full time if it is necessary. Can you dress, bath and feed yourself without assistance? These are the sorts of things VA considers for higher levels of SMC. Is your wife eligible for caregiver benefit? My wife worked for a few years after I became disabled, but I was 54 years old and no kids. She retired but we could not get caregiver benefits since it is just for post 9/11 vets.

You should not "reopen" your claim since you just got a decision. You should NOD it and appeal to DRO/BVA to include an IMO that directly takes into account the VA's medical evidence and C&P exam and refutes them with good rational. If the VA uses one shrink to beat you then you get two on your side as IME/IMO types. Many civilian shrinks will do this for a pretty small fee. You just have to find the ones in your community that will do it. You should not have to pay $2000 for a one or two page letter based on a live exam. I had four IME's to go from 30% to 70& to TDIU to P&T in the space of about 18 months. The VA C&P doctor was a resident and my IMO's were board certified specialists. You just have to stack the evidence higher than them and better quality. I read where C&P doctor says your depression is "very mild". What does he base this on and what evidence. Were you examined by a psychiatrist or a psychologist since they mention MMPI. Shrinks don't even use it anymore only clinical psychologist these days.

What about additional rating when you have both limbs or all limbs with a disability. So if you have PN at 20% in both feet you add those rates together and take 10% of that and add it into the overall rating on the limbs. I never could figure out if VA did that for me because I am just short of 100% due to ratings for PN on all four limbs.

I got CAD connected as secondary to DMII (AO) based on a CT scan of my left leg. I am still not sure how I ended up with that DX and 60% rating for CAD, but I don't look the gift horse in the mouth. DMII has so many secondary conditions that can be connected. You need a doctor to make the connection and then file the claim.

Do you have loss of use of arms or legs? When you get to higher levels of SMC above "S" you usually have to be pretty well disabled with a capital "D". This I don't know so much about but I tried to get some help with making my house safer for me and was denied because I had all my limbs.

If you have proof that you filed the NOD in 1990 and your claim was never denied and became a final decision then the VA dropped the ball and your effective date on the injury could be 1990. The VA is going to go the limit to wriggle out of paying you 27 years of retro. This is where you might need a lawyer and not depend on VFW. I know about claiming decades of retro and VA will spend a million dollars to deny you because your case might eventually set some precedent. During the 1990's did you move and is there possibility that the VA sent you some notice that you needed to appeal your claim to BVA? With me the VA sent some sort of letter back in 1973 and it was returned to sender address unknown but VA said it was all my fault for not pursuing my appeal.

If this BS continues maybe you should consider getting a real lawyer to represent you. According to what you said you made a claim for lower back injury back in 1990 but you were denied then. Now it appears the BVA grants SC for that injury. Did you file an appeal on the original back injury denial? I am just wondering what your effective date on the back should be and of course your rating percentage itself. You said you filed within a year of discharge. It seems to me that if there was evidence at the time that you had a back injury then you should have been service connected then. Now 27 years later the BVA finally SC's you for the very injury you claimed in 1990. This kind of thing happens all the time especially when you go back in time before internet and before some changes in VA law. You know before 1990's the VA did not even have to list the evidence they used to decide your claim, so it was impossible to know if the VA considered or did not consider all your evidence such as IMO's, buddy statements or even your complete SMR's. I think you are fortunate to even get them to grant SC now, but you should fight for earliest effective date possible since that means money. Since you have had extensive back surgeries the level of your disability should not be left up entirely to VA quacks. I would hire my own doctor to write a report to indicate the actual level of your current disability. Also, since severe back injuries are often association with secondary depression I would see a VA shrink and consider another secondary claim. My back hurts and it depresses the hell out of me and mine in nowhere as bad as yours. I had TMJ during my Army time and was examined for it during active duty. The army doctor faked the reason for the exam and this is why years later when I got all my medical records and filed a claim I lost. You must have all your SMR's.

I filed many claims after I was P&T just because I was looking down the road and DIC for my wife and worried about possible trouble with my feet and DMII. I never had any trouble with the VA reviewing my TDIU. If you have a good claim file it. That is how I got "S" by just following VA logic about DMII complications. The VA are the ones that took the ball and ran with it after doing a CT scan on my leg. I don't know if I have CAD or not but the VA says I do and awarded me 60% and "S" for it. Since that award the VA has never sent me to a cardiologist to check so I see my own.

I read two books about Vietnam I recommend. They are "The Things They Carried" and " Matterhorn" . Both the authors are featured on the PBS documentary. I read another good one "Chickenhawk" about the chopper pilots in Nam. American military in Vietnam were exposed to AO and to drugs at a very young age. I remember in mid 1970 very cheap heroin began flooding into military bases. The word was that it was cocaine and it would help you stay awake on guard duty etc. It turned out to be heroine and if you just snorted it for ten days you would be physically addicted. The lies about the "Light at the end of the tunnel" are what gripe me. Westmoreland was a liar as was LBJ and Nixon. They got the same deal in 1973 they could have gotten in 1966 without 40,000 more KIA.

Berta I am watching it every night and sort of surprised at how most knew this war was probably unwinnable so early, but we poured 500,000 men into the meat grinder and dropped millions of tons of bombs on open jungle. I was in 111 Corp and we had the arc light raids in what I believed were pretty populated regions. After the War in Iraq and Afghanistan I wonder if the military and government learned a thing from Vietnam. I doubt it. When we were in Vietnam we were completely cut off from the "world" and got our unbiased news from Stars and Stripes. I blame most LBJ and Nixon for prolonging that war when they knew it was a loser. Land war in Asia was something even McArthur knew was a bad idea. Ike knew it but they all continued it via lack of guts to just say "we can't win this". The USA believed in the Domino Theory and many still do as if we own the world and have to defend our empire.

They are using the fact that you continue to work against you. Also you should be seeing a VA shrink on a regular basis. You also need an IMO to refute what that C&P doctor says or you will probably lose your claim for an increase. You need an IMO/IME saying you are a basket case more or less. I never got more than 30% until I stopped working and got SSDI. The VA says not working is bad for disabled vets and yet the only way to get 70% or better is not to be employable. Get the IMO and get a private shrink you can work with for the long run. These VA cretins will never grant you more than 50% if you work. If you see a VA shrink you need to complain your head off and never crack a smile. They write down everything and always try to minimize symptoms in my experience. This is war. You can also get statements from wife and friends saying you are in bad shape. Doctor's evidence is really what is needed. Do you have ability to take disability pension from your job? John

I know you want to keep busy, but pushing against TDIU and bring you a world of hurt. I have SMC "S" which is housebound. Since you are 80% TDIU if you get another 60% somehow you can get "S" which is another $300 a month. If you are over 40 and have TDIU volunteer, but don't work or you may have big problems since VA checks with SSA regarding work done or SSA taxes paid. The VA makes these rules hard to live with on purpose. Your TDIU is for life and when you are 70 years old and your buddies are scraping by on tiny pensions and SSA you will be getting tax free dollars. IRS taxes both me and my wife's SSA and my federal pension. Soon I will start to take RMD's from our IRA's and that will be taxed, so the VA money will help pay all those taxes. I have looked for every loophole there is to find some dignity in forced retirement, but money is the best reward.

Berta Have you been watching the PBS series about Vietnam. It is depressing knowing the war could have been ended in 1966 and the outcome would have been the same as 1975. Our government are such liars. I always thought the Vietnamese were laughing at us and now I know it. They always knew we were coming even when they chose to die in place. John

If he was at "Frozen Chosin" that would be almost enough but that was in 1950-51. Do you have the Marine's SMR's. St. Louis told me all my father's medical records burned at the big fire but he was in the Army.

I remember pointing gross errors of judgement in a C&P exam some 18 years ago. It went to the BVA and years later I got an even worse exam. You need the IMO that is tailored to fit the problems with your C&P exam. It is good to have a long term working relationship with a doctor who will write reports for you and is not just it in for money.

I have a rating of 70% TDIU in 2001, and 60% was added in 2008 along with a 20%, 10%, 10%, 10% and 10% ratings for PN in all four limbs. I am still rated at 90% TDIU P&T and I get S. How can I still be at 90%? I don't care that much as long as I get my money.

Of course , VA will ask if your husband was a smoker or chewed or dipped snuff? If DMII contributed to his death then you should get DIC. Berta......are you still recommending all Vietnam vets get autopsy. I understand those autopsies are expensive and not routine even if you are an organ donor. I have found that doctors are apt to just quote most likely cause of death on death certificates because no autopsy was done.

Hey, all your information gets hacked anyway as in Equifax hack. I checked and, of course, was hacked once again. I think these jerks should be sued under class action law. I know Office of Personnel has been hacked, Target was hacked and about a dozen other big corporations and government agencies have been hacked. Just assume you been hacked.