Jump to content
VA Disability Community via Hadit.com

VA Disability Claims Articles

Ask Your VA Claims Question | Current Forum Posts Search | Rules | View All Forums
VA Disability Articles | Chats and Other Events | Donate | Blogs | New Users

Andyman73

Master Chief Petty Officer
  • Posts

    1,802
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    18

Everything posted by Andyman73

  1. @ArNG11, thanks I really appreciate it. Right now I am barely keeping my head above water on my tippy toes. I can't even think about any of my claims... seems those MST memories have expanded into something maybe Clive Barker could have written. But I did file for PTSD secondary to MST.
  2. Mike, First off...thank you for responding...crisis....that's putting it mildly.... VA...I've been in therapy there for almost 2 years. I have undiagnosed ptsd, called the hotline and been in therapy ever since. I filed a claim about 5 months after I started therapy, had a really bad C&P exam that just gutted me. That's why the VA...cuz my therapist is one of their top ptsd/mst specialists. I did file a ptsd secondary to mst. I have enough markers to validate this claim. I don't know what I'm doing anymore...my life I thought I lived was a sham. I have no actual support system. My life growing up kind of prevented that from taking place. What might I need an attorney for?? Can you PM me? Or even email? I have therapy again this afternoon. This is only my 3rd session since these memories came back. But will be the first one since memories of the 2 female sa. I do plan on talking about the two female assaults. I wish I had come here and saw your reply sooner. I've been spending all my time on a survivors online community. Maybe I'll pm you. Andy
  3. Mailed off my PTSD secondary to MST on Monday. I don't know where to go from here. My life is falling apart around me. My marriage is on the rocks, my work is suffering. I've been in therapy at my VAMC for 2 years now. I don't know if I will survive. I got a letter that the VA wants to reduce my back...I can't deal with that, and this...and I'm at my breaking point. On January 23rd my life changed forever. I had sexual assault reporting and prevention training at work a few days earlier, which triggered my memories. They had been blocked. I had always thought what happened was consensual gay sexual activity...at least that's what that predator had told me he would say if I talked. And that he would kill me and hide my body in the woods. I have been having memories drown me ever since that time....I have 37!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! years of sexual, child sexual assault, physical assault, domestic violence abuse.....how the crap am I even still alive??????? I know I can't talk about anything that didn't happen during my service years. So that limits me to 4 sexual assaults, 2 by females and 2 by same male predator. The last was a drunk female Sailor while I was on deployment. She tackled me then began assaulting me. She was drunk off her butt, and I was automatically the perpatrator...sober male Marine, versus a drunk female Sailor...who do you think is guilty??? I can't comprehend...37 years of garbage history in the last 10 weeks....I am utterly worthless
  4. Haven't been here much lately. All the bs with my MST memories being totally recalled have got me strung out.  It's all I can do to just live.  On the plus side, my therapist was very understanding, and said that this would explain all the issues we had been working with over the past 2 years.

    I joined an online survivors website...they have been an absolute dream!  At least somebody knows my pain, and feels it too.  I hate this so dog gone much!!!!!!!

  5. I do realize that. I also realize that they made choices based on their own opinions, not based on those very same laws you spoke of. Congress did not follow the 38 CFR to deny my claims. The VA's employees, choosing not to follow the laws set forth by Congress, did, in fact, choose not to follow those laws.The Laws may need to be changed because they are incredibly discriminatory, but more so, the VA employees need to actually follow the laws as they are already written. Just that alone would have prevented 90% of all denials.
  6. You may end up having to file for EED, earlier effective date, after your claim has played out, if and when you are granted the SCD you are applying for.
  7. flipper331, I just had a suppressed memory come exploding back to the forefront of my mind, Monday a week ago. It has rocked me like a hurricane and left me staggering at the brink of a mental breakdown. After talking with my VA MH therapist, yesterday, at a previously scheduled regular session, I feel a lot more mentally stable. He said it is more common that you would believe, how many Vets report MST years later...due to some of the reasons you mentioned. For me, it was before DADT, and I was much more afraid of being seen as gay(which I am not), possibly getting physically assaulted from other Marines, and getting drummed out of the Corps on top of that. Andyman
  8. On the flip side, I try to divulge all my symptoms, especially during C&Ps and then find that they didn't make the final cut and into official records. Recently found out that my PCP noted I was experiencing great relief and improvement from my bilateral carpal tunnel, due to the splints I wear at night. So next PCP visit, when he asked me about it, again. I corrected him. I told him specifically, that my hands are less numb than before, in the mornings. And I pointed out, that those splints do nothing to mitigate the numbness during the day, because the splints can't help with my C-spine issues. And the pain in my L fore arm particularly, starts at the neck and goes to my hand, not the other way round.
  9. Sure, it's the least I can do(or the best?). As for the bulging discs at your L4 and L5, I can't say may be caused by your feet, but no doubt are certainly aggravated by your pes planus. But with a higher degree of certainty, I say that your shin splints, hip and knee issues are at least as likely as not, caused by your feet. And as your feet get flatter(if that's really a thing? Like high arches getting higher, right?)your issues will worsen. I'm surprised you don't have ankle issues. I know, for me, when ever my feet act up, more than the usual, it sets off a chain reaction that goes all the way up my body. Do you have an account with va.gov? If not, create one now. From there you can go on to ebenefits and myhealtheVet. You will need premium access on myhealtheVet to access your VA health records and such. If you have it already, you're good to go. Check out your treatment records, for the things your PCP DXd you with, see if they noted whether or not your feet played any part in your other physical ailments. Oh, I re-read your last post and noticed that you filed an "intent to file" on ebenefits...guess that answers that question! Lol.
  10. TiredMarine0331, Lots o' humpin will destroy your feet after a while...no doubt. Marines and Army the worst for that, for sure. You can get your pes planus SC via aggravation of preexisting condition due to Military service. I have pes cavus w/plantar fasciitis bilaterally, at 30%. It was noted at MEPS in 02/92 that I had high arches. By 1997 the plantar fasciitis was already in progress on my L foot. And it aggravated my L ankle. At my EAS 11/98 I was SC for painful residual L ankle injury @ 10%. It wasn't until last year that I was finally SC for my feet. And that was based on STR from 1997 where the plantar fasciitis was first DXd. The Podiatrist doing my C&P exam noted that STR as the nexus, stating more likely than not due to Military Service affecting my foot type(high arches). But also by this time it had become the pes cavus(claw foot) and plantar fasciitis. Then I won an EED claim for my feet back dated to 03/06 when I originally filed for it, that claim was never adjudicated. As for getting all your above ground level ailments SC secondary to your feet, you will need IMO/IMEs from Orthopedic specialist stating so...unless you have it in your STR showing those issues being due to or aggravated by your pes planus. Like "Pinky and the Brain" mentioned, go on ebenefits and start those claims yesterday!
  11. Gastone,(French?)I started getting "corrected/re-educated" by my 2nd year in. At that point I was already breathing generous amounts of KC-130 exhaust and fuel fumes, on top of the daily stress of being a young Marine. I wasn't into gaming or partying, so staying up too late wasn't common for me. But none-the-less, my short term memory was starting to play tricks on me. I can't count how many times I was verbally "counseled" for forgetting something, and never having any excuse(like going out drinking or skirt chasing). Worse yet was having no alibi either, since my first several roommates had friends that didn't include me. So they were usually not there to corroborate my story of just hanging out in my room at the barracks. And it slowly got worse from there. I was tested by the neuro-psychological department at my VAMC, at the behest of my VA MH therapist, and was found to have significant short term memory loss. On one of the tests I scored a 4%. And when I had told the one dr that I had O2 levels in the mid 70s during an overnight sleep study, the expression on her face was pure shock/amazement. I just love being me. AFU and little hope of getting that reduced to partially FU! Semper Fi
  12. Ajones, That's awesome to hear!!! Andyman
  13. Gastone, according to the ENT, the VA does not do ct scans for sinus issues, he and his nurse were discussing that in the room as I sat in the chair. By the sound of the conversation, this was something they found out the hard way, because when the Dr. said to submit the request to the VA, his nurse said "don't you remember the last time we did that, the VA told us that this was something they don't do?" My insurance covers a good chunk of the cost, but my share would be over $400.00, which I just don't have. It's not that she is refusing me, just that we don't have the money for it. Maybe after tax time, in the next few months, could have the money for it then. No, not a combat Marine, or "a bunch of other things" either. And she does not support me in any of this, always bitchin at me when ever I have my papers laid out to try to connect some dots.. It's been real hard ever since our computer crashed....can't afford to replace that, either. The weight is more crushing than I can describe in mere words.
  14. Gastone, Okay, thanks. I was quite curious to know about secondary to secondary SC links and such. I am currently in the middle of a claim for my hip and SI joints where the hip ROM would be secondary to the SI joint/crest issues which may be secondary to low back, or primary due to same fall that caused the back problems. All depends on how the rater chooses to define the regs and my medical evidence. But with my SA, it may be secondary to sinus issues, and then possible hp secondary to the SA. Oh, Hey, how would short term memory loss play into SA? Semper Fi ps, USOCAZY, love your avatar choice!!!
  15. Well, that didn't work out as planned. Turns out my insurance only covers so much, and my share of the cost of the cat scan is way more than my wife would allow me to pay. Anyway, I got a text from the ENT's office linking to the notes from my visit. He noted several issues, deviated septum, granular pharyngitis and turbinate hypertrophy(turbinates are those outgrowths in our nasal passages that condition the air as is passes through.) So I looked up the second two issues, and found that both can be the result of long term exposure to pollutants. I think 5.5 yrs of breathing aircraft exhaust and fuel fumes certainly qualifies as long term pollutant exposure. I'm hoping the ENT will be willing to give his opinion in a Nexus letter for me. He was certainly in agreement about the aircraft exhaust and fuel fume exposure as a leading cause to my chronic sinus/nasal issues.
  16. LIke Buck said, at least as likely, more likely than not, is due to...are magic to the VA. Your doctor doesn't have to state fact and regs, just in their opinion they feel the Vet's medical issue is "at least as likely as not, due to or caused by".
  17. Gastone, You're chock full of helpful advise, especially in this particular arena. Is Pulmonary Hypertension same/same as high blood pressure? If you have SA secondary already, can you get the PH secondary to the secondary SA? Thanks. Semper Fi
  18. Hamslice, When I claimed my feet, I wrote foot pain to include plantar fasciitis, which then was granted as pes cavus(claw foot) w/plantar fasciitis, bilaterally, at 30%. I do agree with you about not guiding them too much towards whatever your claimed issues are. Andy
  19. EODCMC, Boy you ain't kidding, interesting times indeed, do lay ahead for us all. Just had my first appointment with my new ENT specialist. I think he is a Veteran, I made a comment about being in the Air Wing for my 6 years in the Marines, and that I spent too much time breathing aircraft exhaust and fuel fumes. He responded that he hated the smell of the helicopter exhaust in Vietnam. Anyway, he noticed heavy pitting(scars?) inside my nasal passages. Tomorrow I go for CT scan of my sinus cavity region...see what happens there. When I told him that I spent most of my enlistment breathing that crap, he said that I am definitely on to something there. So that is a bit of good news. Told him that I have SA, and he said most likely my sinus issues are a part of the problem there, too. So that is also sounding good. We'll see.
  20. AJones, Are any of those ratings for opposing body parts? Like arms, or legs, or any part thereof? If so, then the bilateral factor would also play a part.
  21. Hamslice, Reading your post got me wondering...I filed for hypertension back in '14, but was denied. Said due to being DX'd 11 years after EAS, no way to connect to service. And STRs show both high and normal readings. I guess that means the 3 day hypertension test, where the overall average bp reading was high, for a healthy 20-21 year old male, not enough evidence to link it. That 3 day test was done in 1994, 20 years before I filed the claim. Andy
  22. Well, there ya go! Hope that makes you feel a little better.
  23. pwrslm, I know that they wanted to find out what the root cause of my pain is, and such, and to see if it can be reduced, eased, etc;. Physical therapy didn't help. Pain injections in the SI joints, didn't help. 5 sessions at the Chiropractor, did not help. Acupuncture appointment coming up in the middle of February. But no amount of treatment, short of surgery, will undo the damage started by a fall down the stairs back in November 1992. And it certainly won't undo the transitional anatomy/partial lumbarization either. Or 24 years of limping due to knee problems from that fall. Or the foot issues that developed a few years after that. Would be nice to have something go my way, instead of not. My original SC date for my low back is 11/98, and L ankle and knees..as well. And my feet SC 03/06. Just gets old, to be told, that no matter what's in your SMR, if no DX, then no nexus, no deal. Just called the radiology department to see where my image and report info was. I was up there on Dec 14th, for bunion x-rays, filed ROI request for all my images and reports. Lady said she overnited them the same day. I said, well, 4 weeks later and I haven't received them yet. She took my info and said she will drop a new copy and send it out, again, in today's mail. Got some IMO appointments lined up and need those images and reports. Something's gotta give, just hope it's not me.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Guidelines and Terms of Use