john999

If USA wanted to heal wounds of war in Vietnam they would compensate Vietnamese sprayed with AO. With this congress that would never happen. We admit that AO is killing our soldiers but say we have no responsibility to the people of an. Vietnam. We did not spray N. Vietnam . We sprayed the S. Vietnamese who were our allies. I can't see S. Korea ever paying US soldiers for AO. You can sue another country in some court but you never get the money.

If you get so bad off that you get an extra 60% you will get housebound, maybe. Maybe if they have to cut your leg off due to DMII you can get some extra money.

If you depend on the VA to get your private medical records you may be waiting forever. I would bite the bullet and get the records and submit them myself. The VA has to make a good faith effort to get your private records, but if they don't get them you lose. Is there no way to get a break since you are asking the private hospital to send your records directly to the VA?

I had Ken Carpenter at CAVC and I still lost. You never know. They enjoy hanging vets on details of law which is all vet law is just technicalities and loopholes. The whole system sucks.

We need to sound off to our congress critters as well. I was watching a news show this morning. Some guest was saying the VA backlog was greatly improved, but the medical was not quite right....Duh. The backlog is not fixed and the VA is acting like a criminal organization. I am so fortunate that I have medicare and insurance. I won't even let the VA fix my ingrown toenail. I am paying for dental work because they could not fix a small cavity in between my front teeth. They tried twice and the filing fell out. I went to a private dentist...fixed. They refused to do an implant on me. I am glad I paid for it because an expert did it. If it is not done right the implant will be loose and fall out in time. So I pay for what the VA should be doing but since I don't trust them not to kill me I pay. I think if you can via DAV you can call free to your congress or senator's office and sound off. The entire scandal is about budget cutting. The patriots who sit in congress don't want to pay for our injuries and illness. As soon as the spot light is off they are back to their old tricks of making their buddies rich so they have a job when they get thrown out of office. John

The Wounded Warrior Project is making some guys rich. The fact that such an organization exists is a shame and a direct slap in the face of vets. Why should disabled vets be getting charity when they have a claim on the USA treasury. Everything the WWP is doing should be done by the VA. I think the public really wants to show appreciation to vets, but they don't know how. They believe the VA is taking care of us. They don't know or believe their own government systematically lies to them about almost everything. This is not Dem v Republican. This is both parties that are controlled by money. You either have to flood Washington with a few million vets, or flood Washington with money like the .01%. This is how it works in Amerika. John

Wow, I hope you can get your rating before this shrink falls apart. He is obviously unfit to be doing exams because he should never bring his personal situation into an exam. He is probably telling the truth about his situation, but he is a broken man. It is too bad one of the good guys is cracking up in front of your eyes. If the VA finds out this happened in an exam he will be brought up on some kind of charges according to VA rules, and probably suspended from his job prior to being medically retired. I don't think I would mention this event to a soul or your exam will be thrown out and next time you will probably get some hard ass who thinks every vet is a scam artist. They exist believe me. I worked for the Feds and when they fired me I hired a lawyer and filed for worker's compensation. They threw me right into the briar patch. Maybe this poor shrink can do this before his obvious nervous breakdown gives the VA a chance to fire him for cause. If they knew what he said to you he would be gone. I took the MMPI a couple of times in the past. Every time I took it I got a new DX, every thing from soup to nuts. "Do you like to hurt fuzzy little animals?" A lot of that exam the way the VA uses it is to prove you are exaggerating your symptoms. The way the exam works is that they compare the way you answer the questions to the way depressed, PTSD, schizophrenic or sociopaths answer the questions. If you get the 9-4 profile that is antisocial personality disorder. The VA likes that one. John

If you get severance the VA stops paying you until the severance is worked off so to speak. I don't see how they can take away Tricare. Tricare is supposed to be used in civilian settings I thought. The reason they are sending you to Florida is to get the exact response from you that you are telling us. They want you to not show up.

As I got older and could not exercise due to foot problems and neck and shoulder pain I put on weight. That is a big issue in Apnea. I am signing on at a weight loss clinic to lose as much weight as I can because I did not always have OSA until the last 5 years as I got fatter. I don't use the word "heavy" or "big" because it is fat. I am fat and I have never been fat before. I was a skinny adult until I hit 50 and started to have physical SC problems due to AO. Pain meds and antidepressants can really put the pounds on you. I may just call Dr. Bash and see what he can do. My OSA is bad and I don't do really well with the cpap. I try let me tell you. I have not had surgery but that is next. If I sleep three hours straight it is like the Rapture. John

Yes, I have heard DAV talk about it, but I would not hold my breath. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over pretty much now. Unless we go to war over Ukraine the military budget is going to shrink and I think vets will be forgotten about again until next time.

I have read that the DX of low T as being a disease is a scam. T levels drop as men age. I guess if you are 20 years old and have T levels of an 80 year old you have a disease of some sort.

My VA hospital got into trouble for doing too many open heart surgeries on very elderly and sick vets. They were using these sick old guys to train heart surgeons from the medical school next door. This was a few years ago before they did the stents. They would just cut these old alcoholic vets who smoked two packs a day for 50 years from their groin to their necks. I worked at the local VA hospital at the time.

Vets from periods before 9/11 don't get this benefit at least not yet. My wife quit her job to stay home with me. We lost $20,000 in income. Due to lucky investments we were able to afford it. I never had a dime growing up and when I finally get some money I become disabled. Wow, my golden years what a gas.

They will find some ward clerk to blame for the whole thing. The higher ups who knew and approved of this will probably get off scot free. I believe what happens is that top management makes demands on these hospitals to keep budget down, and yet do more medical procedures. Managers and doctors at the hospital are afraid of losing their jobs so they cheat. The problem is not isolated. I think it is a systemic problem with the VA.

The VA just excluded my doctor's statement completely. What is sad is that the young, hurting vet who still believes in the system often gets screwed to the wall. The VA has tried everything in the book to deny or low ball my claims in the past. It is only since the internet that most vets could get any information except from half-ass VSO or the VA itself. When you realize that the VA's real mission is to deny claims and protect the treasury from disabled vets you probably have lost thousands of bucks in potential retro. My original claim I don't even remember filing it. I never spoke to a VSO that I am aware of or remember. I was nuts. That cut no ice with the VA at the time.

I remember being admitted to a VA hospital back in 2001. They discontinued all my medications. I did not sleep a wink for days until I got my wife to get me out of that joint. I was on pain meds and that stopped suddenly, of course. I made the mistake of being admitted on a Friday. I did not see a doctor until Monday. For hospitals to take a patient off their current medications is so common. They all think they know best and never listen to the patient. I know the VA wanted me to go into an in-patient pain program. No way after my experiences with other admissions.

The USPS stops forwarding mail after one year. That means your mail gets sent back as "Moved forwarding order expired". Maybe you could go to your old delivery post office and beg the carrier to hold that check if he gets it. However, the rules are that the carrier is not supposed to deliver mail over the counter. If the postmaster of that station is a veteran he may help you. I would ask to see the postmaster in private. Get ready to beg. Many of these guys are disabled vets and have a shred of humanity. I worked for the USPS. They are not big on humanity, and also they get many people who move often and come into the office on the first of the month to pick up welfare checks, SSI checks, SSA checks. I know my original rating decision letter was returned to sender because I moved often in the two years it took to get the decision. John

That is a good point! In Babyray's first post I just assumed he was 100% for at least ten years since he was 160%. It usually takes a while to get to that rating. It took me about 8 years. Vet's should consider the impact on spouses of their claims.

I did get some action when I went to view my C-File. I did make an appointment to see the file. However, when I discovered that they were not going to give me the DRO Hearing I requested the VA man was helpful to me. He wrote up something for me to stop my claim from being shipped to the BVA and got my DRO back on track. These guys at the VA are just civil servants. If you piss them off I am sure they have ways too deep six your claim for a few years. If you treat them like human beings you get the best result.

The USA can afford to compensate vets. They, the ruling class, that controls the economy, politics, media and everything else just does not want to pay. The fact that there is the WWP should make the 1% die from shame, but they feel no shame. During WWII even the sons of the ruling elite believed they had a duty to protect and serve the nation. Now only chumps do that. Not many Harvard Business or Law school grads anxious to get to Afghanistan before it is too late. You notice the rulers always have a few wounded warriors to pat on the head at functions. It is cool to have a crippled vet around just as long as they don't marry into the family.

I am currently on the VARO wheel just waiting 10 months for a decision on my claim for an increase for DMII. I was on the wheel for 7 years for my CUE.

Jon I can't believe the military still does these things. I know Vietnam vets who don't have service in Vietnam in their records. I was lucky since my DD214 states overseas service as Vietnam. I also have the standard Vietnam medals. However, my DD214 does not mention I went places in Nam that make me believe my command was trying to kill me.

I went through this situation with my grandmother, aunt and my mother. It was hard every time because they all swore they would never live in a nursing home but the time comes when that is beyond their control and our control. Unless you can stay at home with them 24/7 and care for them in every way a nursing home comes into the picture. Since nobody wants to think about being in a nursing home they don't prepare their finances. The elder care lawyers can help figure out how to arrange things in advance. If you wait until the time when the person must go to a home there is only so much that can be done to avoid the penalties. Myself, I bought long term care insurance for my wife and myself. I did this because of my experience with my relatives being in different homes. What I think is most important is that you keep your loved ones near to you. You need to check on them frequently. If you go to visit one day and you see a bandage on their foot make the nurse remove the bandage so you can look at it. I did this and discovered that my mother's foot had gangrene. I went directly to my lawyer. Later I sued the nursing home for 1 million dollars. They knew she had gangrene and tried to hide it from me. The gangrene led directly to her death. I also would try and get all the relatives on board with what you are trying to do. If are the health care POA and have a DNR on your slowly dying parent try and get all the other siblings to understand. Even with a POA and a living will one family member can throw a monkey wrench into what is really best for the aging parent. It happened to me. Some people cannot face reality. They will do anything to sooth their guilt even if the aged parent has to suffer for it. All a relative has to do is start threatening the hospital or nursing home with a lawsuit and the shit will hit the fan. Courts do not want to make life and death decisions even when the law is clear. They will fool around and allow delays in hopes the aged one will die before they have to decide on a DNR or living will for instance. As a POA you have to make the medical decisions for the loved one, but an angry sibling can and will challenge every decision you make or don't make. This is no fun. If this were 1800 we would be taking care of our aged parents on the family farm. The first time they got the flu they would die. Now medical science can keep them alive for years in a vegetative state. This is not progress IMO.

The VA tried to use a C&P exam done in 1989 against me. They went through my entire file and picked one exam out of ten to try and win a claim that went to a hearing in 2014. If the VA wants you to go for a C&P exam then go. If you refuse or don't go for any reason your claim will be denied with about 100% certainty.

I think asking for a DRO Hearing is the way to go. I have won at these hearings most of the time. I have also lost. I think talking to a human at the VA is the key as Pete says. Putting yourself into the VA system as a person just throws a monkey wrench into their denial assembly line. The VA claims system is a machine. To them you are just a number unless you can interject your humanity into their process. They happily rejects claims from dying vets in nursing homes, and grant claims to guys with more minor problems because one vet can make it to a hearing and the other can't. I have PN in my hands and feet. The VA granted SC for PN in my feet and rejected it for my hands. They had the same evidence from their own neurologist who said I had PN in hands and feet. I asked for a DRO Hearing. Right at the hearing the DRO granted SC for PN for the hands. If I had gone to the BVA I would still be appealing and this was years ago. john