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Burt

Third Class Petty Officers
  • Posts

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About Burt

  • Birthday 04/20/1969

Profile Information

  • Location
    Pennsylvania
  • Interests
    left knee 30% right hip 10% lower back and nerve root issues 30% hearing 10% ptsd 70%

Previous Fields

  • Service Connected Disability
    90%
  • Branch of Service
    Army

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Burt's Achievements

  1. Thank you all for the help and encouragement this has been a rough road as im sure many of you too have traveled as well! His left knee is rated twice one is for 20% and one is for 10% the 20 is for surgery that was botched by the army and the 10 is for limited motion. his good leg (lol) has a 10% rating for hip, his back is rated 20% for the actual damage and another 10% for the nerve damage to his sciatica which is caused by the bones rubbing the nerve root. hearing is 10% that all in VA math comes to 60% add in the ptsd at 70% and its his final rating of 90%. He fought to stay in and fought hard... he won at a medical review board even though he had a permanent profile. when Clinton was elected he was barred for re enlisting BECAUSE of the injuries and the profile and was forced out quietly that was in 1994. He moved back home and lived with his mother he never really was able to find decent work all these years. he tells how he would fill out an application and get an interview but when he went limping in he could see on the interviewers face his application was already in the trash. he even tried loading up on pain meds putting on really baggy clothes that hid the braces and would go for an interview and a few times actually got a job but within the first month or so he would be let go because he couldn't keep up... he never applied for social security because (his words not mine) he doesn't take hand outs. i had to fight tooth and nail to get him to go to the VA when his 20 year old brace broke and he couldn't fix it anymore... and a new one was 3 grand. After he went and got in the system his new orthopedics doctor there was a no nonsense retired Col. he sent him to the American legion outpost at the hospital... i begged for years for him to go to the VA and get help... nope but a retired officer tells him you go to room 187 and give them these papers you should have been compensated for this from day one... he goes and its fine (go figure). so no his only real income in the last 20 plus years has been what the VA has given him and that has only been the last year or so.
  2. Thank you :) that was much easier to understand! we are closing in on the IU claim i will check back in when that's complete!
  3. this is my husbands account my name is Julia nice to meet you all :) He was wounded during desert storm 91 he is currently at 90% 70 for ptsd, 10 hearing, 30 (L)knee, 10 (R) hip, 20 back and 10 for nerve damage in his back. He is waiting on an IU claim now. He cannot dress himself, between the hip on the right and the knee on the left he cant get his legs up to his hands... with his back issues he cant bend there to reach his legs either. every morning i have to get his leg brace and back brace on for him then i put on his pants and socks and he puts on his own shirt. his memory is awful so i make sure he gets all his daily pills and eye drops (glaucoma) his bathroom visits are also a challenge he can go number 1 by himself no problem number 2 he used to get on the toilet himself basically by turning backwards and falling against the wall and the toilet tank and then sliding down and when he was done he would call and i would help him get up and redressed. A few months ago he did this and the toilet tank cracked from being leaned on too much and we had to buy a new toilet so now i do both (i didn't have a problem doing it HE doesn't like having to be helped!) at night i get him in the tub and remove his leg brace and back brace then fill the tub up i help him wash his lower half and he washes the top half... we drain the water and dry him off still in the tub and i put the leg brace back on and help him to bed then once again remove the brace (i know that sounds redundant but he literally cannot walk even with help without it and as he puts it the thing cost more than his first car and should be taken care of) then i get him his sleeping meds and his anti nightmare meds and we watch tv until he falls asleep or the baby calls me away. are these the sorts of things that are considered SMC criteria? i know because he was wounded pre 911 i cannot get any help through the care taker program but when i ran across this i thought maybe this would be worth a look! I started to read all the stuff and to be honest its quite confusing!
  4. so yesterday it bounced back up to prep for decision and now its back at gathering of evidence! its like watching a tennis match on there!
  5. mine was in gathering of evidence for about 3 months while it was waiting on "VA medical facility" (the comp and pen) the day the comp and pen notes hit myhelathyvet i checked and it had moved to prep for decision... then it moved back to gathering of evidence and now it moved back again to under review and sprouted the new (to me) increase for ptsd lol
  6. ok so i had my comp and pen for ptsd a few months ago and was granted 70% for that. I already was at 60% from body damage knee hip back etc. so that brought my total to 90%. I got a call from the young lady that helped me with the paperwork (i thinnk you call them vso's at anyrate she is the one from the state i get care in NY) and she said she had forgotten to include a claim for IU and wanted me to come in and fill out another form. i did that and resubmitted it as a new claim. i had just had the c and p for the mental health like 2 months before that. i was called a few weeks ago to come to another comp and pen for ptsd and i attended... it went well and pretty much from looking at her notes and the notes from the original one they seemed to be pretty much the same thing. so today i noticed a change in my claim status in EB it went from gathering of evidence to under review which i am quite familiar with being i have been here before i know it is moving forward. but what i DONT understand is now in addition to it saying IU(new) under the disabilities claimed it ALSO says PTSD(increase) **I** did not claim for an increase for PTSD what do you guys suppose is happening here?
  7. yes i understand that :) like i said a year ago i filed it was rejected i called a disability attourney faxed them everything they called me back and said it was a lost cause.
  8. i contacted a lawyer about the ssdi thing and they told me it was a lost cause... i had started a claim back in december on ebenefits and then decided to shelve it and go to a service officer and get it done. i still have that application i could change it up and submit it just for iu it would be dated december. i think ill wait and see what the packet says for sure.
  9. i wish i could get the entire thing posted at once but i wont stay highlighted to copy lol this is also in there... AR-15 due to DWI and suffered a loss of one grade in rank and 30 daysrestriction to base, extra duty and forfeiture of pay as well aspayingthe civilian fines and jail time.Since his release from active duty the veteran attended college butdidnot complete a degree study. He is currently unemployed. His mosttypical job title since the service has been that of laborer andofficemanager. The last he worked was in 1997 and the longest he has held ajob is six months; the veteran has difficulty with irritability andconcentrating and is usually terminated from his jobs and still has difficulties with these symptoms
  10. ummmm does this help? a. Does the Veteran have more than one mental disorder diagnosed?[X] Yes [ ] Nob. Is it possible to differentiate what symptom(s) is/are attributable toeach diagnosis?[X] Yes [ ] No [ ] Not applicable (N/A)If yes, list which symptoms are attributable to each diagnosis anddiscuss whether there is any clinical association between thesediagnoses:PTSD - Recurrent, intrusive, distressing recollections of trauma,recurrent distressing dreams, intense reactivity upon exposure tocues associated with the trauma, efforts to avoid thinking aboutthe trauma, avoiding experiences that would arouse recollections ofthe trauma, hypervigilance, and an exaggerated startle response.Depression - low mood, guilt, hopelessness, low self-esteem,diminished sense of pleasurePTSD and Depression overlap (determining proportions would requireresorting to speculation) - markedly diminished interest insignificant activities, feeling detached or estranged from others,restricted range of affect, difficulty sleeping, irritability, anddifficulty concentrating.Alcohol - temptation and use of alcohol beyond two servings in asitting.c. Does the Veteran have a diagnosed traumatic brain injury (TBI)?[ ] Yes [X] No [ ] Not shown in records reviewed4. Occupational and social impairment-------------------------------------a. Which of the following best summarizes the Veteran's level ofoccupationaland social impairment with regards to all mental diagnoses? (Check onlyone)[X] Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas,such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking and/ormoodb. For the indicated level of occupational and social impairment, is itpossible to differentiate what portion of the occupational and socialimpairment indicated above is caused by each mental disorder?[X] Yes [ ] No [ ] No other mental disorder has been diagnosedIf yes, list which portion of the indicated level of occupational andsocial impairment is attributable to each diagnosis:PTSD - serious impairment in social and occupational functioningDepression - moderate difficulty in social and occupationalfunctioningAlcohol - abstained
  11. i have not worked since 1997... because of these issues. i worked a few jobs for short periods of time but couldnt hold it together and got fired from most of them. i cant get ssdi because i didnt file way back then and its been to long i tried that last winter, at the time i views filing for shit like that (or the VA for that matter) as taking handouts and i did what i could to get by without them.
  12. UPDATE** i just checked ebenfits and was awarded 70 percent for the ptsd/depression and alchohol abuse remission. so i am at 90% now but it does not say anything about individual unemployability though... how do i apply for that?
  13. i didnt know how it all worked he listed my ptsd as severe and my depression as moderate and said the depression was secondary to the ptsd. this is exactly what my shrink and social worker say too... according to the stuff i read on the net his entry "Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas,such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking and/or mood is listed as 70% do they then ad the depression too? even if not 70% plus my current 60% put me to 90 and when the state service rep did my paperwork she applied for unemployable too so its hard to say how that will all work out but ill let yall know!
  14. i am currently at 60 percent for all of my physical issues... knee, hip, back, hearing and nerve damage. i just had my first comp and pen for ptsd and the results are in myhealthyvet i wont post the whole thing i cant seem to get it to copy and paste :( here is the portion where he lists the severity of the issues: Does the Veteran have a diagnosis of PTSD that conforms to DSM-5 criteriabased on today's evaluation?[X] Yes [ ] NoICD code: F43.102. Current Diagnoses--------------------a. Mental Disorder Diagnosis #1: PTSDICD code: F43.10mental Disorder Diagnosis #2: Unspecified Depressive DisorderICD code: F32.9Mental Disorder Diagnosis #3: Alcohol Use Disorder in sustained remissionICD code: F10.10b. Medical diagnoses relevant to the understanding or management of theMental Health Disorder (to include TBI): SC knee condition3. Differentiation of symptoms------------------------------a. Does the Veteran have more than one mental disorder diagnosed?[X] Yes [ ] Nob. Is it possible to differentiate what symptom(s) is/are attributable toeach diagnosis?[X] Yes [ ] No [ ] Not applicable (N/A)If yes, list which symptoms are attributable to each diagnosis anddiscuss whether there is any clinical association between thesediagnoses:PTSD - Recurrent, intrusive, distressing recollections of trauma,recurrent distressing dreams, intense reactivity upon exposure tocues associated with the trauma, efforts to avoid thinking aboutthe trauma, avoiding experiences that would arouse recollectionsofthe trauma, hypervigilance, and an exaggerated startle response.Depression - low mood, guilt, hopelessness, low self-esteem,diminished sense of pleasurePTSD and Depression overlap (determining proportions would requireresorting to speculation) - markedly diminished interest insignificant activities, feeling detached or estranged from others,restricted range of affect, difficulty sleeping, irritability, anddifficulty concentrating.Alcohol - temptation and use of alcohol beyond two servings in asitting.c. Does the Veteran have a diagnosed traumatic brain injury (TBI)?[ ] Yes [X] No [ ] Not shown in records reviewed4. Occupational and social impairment-------------------------------------a. Which of the following best summarizes the Veteran's level ofoccupationaland social impairment with regards to all mental diagnoses? (Check onlyone)[X] Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas,such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking and/ormoodb. For the indicated level of occupational and social impairment, is itpossible to differentiate what portion of the occupational and socialimpairment indicated above is caused by each mental disorder?[X] Yes [ ] No [ ] No other mental disorder has been diagnosedIf yes, list which portion of the indicated level of occupational andsocial impairment is attributable to each diagnosis:PTSD - serious impairment in social and occupational functioningDepression - moderate difficulty in social and occupationalfunctioningAlcohol - absent And here is the section i ****THINK**** is the nexus i needed it is in the remarks section 9. Remarks, (including any testing results) if any--------------------------------------------------Based upon the training and experience of this examiner, the availableliterature on this topic, and the examination of this veteran today, itisthe opinion of this examiner, per DSM-5 diagnostic guidelines, that thisveteran does suffer from a PTSD and that is at least as likely as notcaused by the veteran's service as it is consistent with thecircumstances, conditions, and hardships of that service and theveteran'sclaimed stressor involves a significant emotional response (such as fear,helplessness, or horror) to exposure to hostile military or terroristactivity. His Unspecified Depressive Disorder more likely that notshares its etiology with his PTSD and is at this time, more likely than not,aggravated by the impact of the PTSD on the veteran's lifestyle.HisAlcohol Use Disorder has more likely than not been secondary to his PTSDat times as a form of self-medication.NOTE: VA may request additional medical information, including additional
  15. I also take ibu 600 mg 2x a day. this stuff made my BP and pulse drop to nothing, irregular heart beat thought i was going to die! my VA shrink says it was just a panic attack but i dont think it was a panic attack!
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