321Iamdone

Hello to everyone, just an update on my husband's situation: My husband was supposed to have an hearing on October 20, 2015. That was quick, since when we submitted our request for a hearing back in September. We gather all the evidence we could gather, with the help from all of you, and also submitted a claim as well as our request for a hearing. The claim was for PTSD, Headaches,Vertigo. Well my husband got a call from the Dro and it was the rater, on the morning of the hearing, and he advised my husband that he did not need to go to the hearing, because the proposal to reduced his TDIU was a mistake. He said that his benefits will remain and will not be reduced.. That was such good news!! He also advised that the claim we put in will be processed later down the road. Well later in the evening on the same day of the phone call, we looked at ebenifits and we saw where the hearing claim was positioned at preparing for decision approval, that was great, but we also notice the claim we put in was at preparation for decision phase, that was a surprise when he told my husband they will work on the claim later on down the road. We uploaded all medical evidence from va doctors and personal doctors, we also uploaded police reports during his time when he was in the military to support his PTSD. We also submitted Service treatment records from the military with statements from me and his sister who helps take care of him. well the next day we checked ebenifits again and this time the claim was sitting at pending decision approval, this was on Wednesday and on Thursday (yesterday) the claim was at preparation for notification. So we checked his disability page and wow we was shocked, they gave him 80% Permanent and total disability with IU. The only disability they differed was headaches, I guess since he had no diagnose for it, it was hard to approve it. So After 5 years of fighting, we finally can breath a little and focus on getting my husband treatment. But my question is this, what should we do about the differed decision on headaches in anything? What does 80% permanent and total divisibility mean?, is that the same as 100% disable? I would like to thank everyone who help us with this difficult situation and if it was not for you guys, this would have been much more difficult and probably have a different outcome, so again thank you guys so much!! And just in case you are curious, my husband is 42 years old!!

Thank you soooo much for the info. We have request for a hearing and the VA has received our request, and on ebennies it states that the completion of the hearing request or claim will be estimated on 10/27/2016 until 07/18/2017. So it looks like it will take awhile. to answer your question about the VA knowing about his award for SSDI, they know about because we submitted that as evidence for is award for TDIU. They requested that info for his claim for TDIU. I agree I can't believe that they kept his MDD at 50%, but states he is unemployable and threatening to reduce him from 70% to 60%, because they say his skin condition has cleared. If there is a hearing, we will make sure we bring all our evidence, including his award from SSDI. Thank you everyone who has responded, and giving us a wealth of knowledge. I will keep everyone who is interested posted.

My husband has been receiving TDIU since March 2013, based on his MD at 50% rate!!

This is what we received first from the VA!!

I will try this again!!!

Here is the first page of their decision, sorry about that!!

Thank you all for your responses, I really appreciated. Here is a copy of what the V.A. has sent my husband. We also fed ex a request for a hearing next day delivery, with signature required, along with our evidence to support why they should not stop his TDIU. along with faxing it to them as well. Some of the evidence is their decision on his recent C&P on his Major Depressing Disorder, which last week the doctor added PTSD to his mental condition. The most important part on their decision about his mental condition, stating that my husband has difficulty in adapting to work, difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances, difficulty in adapting to a work like setting, in addition to, occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school family relations, judgment, thinking or mood. They assigned him a 50% rating, saying that the rating remain the same, since approving his TDIU on March 2013. His MD is the reason for TDIU, so since that did not change, I am totally confused on why they are proposing to stop hid TDIU. I hope and pray after sending all the medical evidence and letter explaining why they should not stop his TDIU, they will continue his TDIU. we have all his med records uptodate, and along with his new diagnose of PTSD, he also has an appointment for a hand surgeon about his cyst that wont go away. their is nothing in his records that suggest his is employable, in fact it says quite the opposite. My husband has not worked since leaving the army back in 2010, that was his last job!! I will keep you all posted on how this goes, and again thank you all for your input and wealth of knowledge!!

Thank you for your reply Buck! I checked his VAMC and for the versicolor, the doctor states that there was no sign of the skin disease, my husband said the C & P examiner just looked at his back for a few seconds, but he has it on his arms and lower back and waist. it comes and go, mostly when it's warm and humid and when he sweats. The time of the exam, it was not that bad, but we went to another doctor a week later and it was showing signs of an outbreak, so the doctor prescribed him anti fungal cream. I wrote a letter explaining that we wanted an hearing and explained in detail why they should not stop his TDIU. and attached a copy of the other doctor diagnose and opinion. I also attached a copy of their regulation explaining if a veteran does not meet the criteria, that they should consider extra scheduler based on him being unemployable, also that once a veteran has been receiving TDIU, that the V.A. has to find credible and strong evidence, that the veteran is employable. During the mental C&P, The C&P examiner made an appointment for my husband to see a physiologist,because she stated his Major Depressing Disorder is really bad, she felt bad for him. He had that appointment on the 6 of July and that doctor diagnosed him with PTSD. I have checked on my health vet and it had a disability questionnaire, very detailed and on it it states that his PTSD is service connected based on his military medical records. Should I include that in the request for hearing and evidence to stop them from stopping his TDIU, even though we have not filed a claim for PTSD as of yet? He also saw his primary Doctor first, before his metal appointment, and his primary doctor also advise that she could not see any versicolor on him, but advised he take the medication he received from the other doctor. All that information is on his VAMC. and my health vet.com. This is all overwhelming and I am trying to get the most information I can get to help my husband, while trying to keep our family living and surviving. I really appreciate this website soooo much with all the wealth of information and very knowledgeable people. Thank you all for your help!! and thank you Buck for your quick reply!! l

Hello my husband is rated 70% currently for major depressive disorder and panic disorder without agoraphobia (claimed as depression) 50% since 03/2010 tinea versicolor (claimed as skin condition) 30% since 03/2010, proposed to reduced to 0% residuals, left hand injury with degenerative arthritis of pinky finger metacarpocarpal joint 10% since 03/2010 intermittent vertigo 0% since 03/2010 ganglion cyst, dorsum of left wrist 10% since 03/2010 we received a letter from the VA saying they proposed to reduce his rating from 70% to 60%, because he had a C&P and the examiner just looked at his back for 2 seconds and said he is clear of his versicolor and the exam was over. Well we went to another doctor( outside the VA, and that doctor stated he still had it and prescribed medication for it. In the letter, the VA stated in order to get 10% for versiclor, my husband had to have been prescribed a steroid type medication not a topical anti fungal cream. Well he received an anti fungal cream, but they still said they will drop his percentage to 0% for his versicolor. Then a few weeks later we received another letter stating that they will stop his TDIU he have been receiving for 2 years, because the propose rating will make him not qualify for TDUI, because he will now be 60% instead of 70% . My questions is this, he had a C%P done a few weeks ago and it was for both the versicolor and his depression. They found him unemployable for his depression and kept him at 50%, and of course said he was clear of his versicolor and proposed to drop that from 30% to 0% How can we fight this? Can he still receive TDIU, even though he is 60% and still considered unemployable? Any help on this matter will be greatly appreciated. Also my husband receives SSD solely based on his service connected disability.