stillhere

I hear you Larry I have been 80% for well over 5 years and got 90% back in Feb. 09 for PTSD. I wanted to work and actually enjoyed it and was making some good bucks + insurance and stuff and just did not feel I fit the model at the time. now I have been out of work for just over 3 months and will be filing very soon Monday probably. For myslef I wanted to give it one more shot but the PTSD really holds me back and I am going to pack it in. Think the govt will give me a bonus! Yeah right!

But Larry the VA already has it. Do I have to send in a note and tell the damn rater to read it?? When I first sent in my claim back in Oct. of 09 in my letter of support I noted all of the information to support my claim is in my file! Maybe i will sign this and fax it over with an explanation on a support form and see if they get it this time. If not is this CUE!?!!

This is really no big deal the way I see it. It just relieves us from having to write the stressors. I filed in Feb. 09 after 40 years of being whatever I was and controlled by the beast. I was not am still not much better if you ask me. I do get the treatment and that is showing promise but I will NEVER be the happy go lucky saleman I was before this kicked in 3-4 years ago. It is a itch and I am still playing along. Anyhow I filed in Feb. and sent in my stressors in Oct. yep took me a while to deal with them. So in that respect the new claims will not be as tough but vets are still going to have to do a C&P and talk to a shrink to get it SC. And then the shrink is going to have to give you a DX for it. Again it will help a few vets but I for one do not see hey whole bunch of fraud. My claim gave me 200 bucks more a month but my treatments help.

OK I filed in 2003 for DM2 and chest pains the VA granted DM2 and hypertension and denied the heart. I appealed in 2004 right before my year was up and They came back in June of 05 and said in a SOC that I had no heart disease and only had hyperlidemia. In Oct. 05 I had my heart attack and filed when I filed again when I felt better and told them I had just had a heart attack and sent all the papers in. In Feb. of 06 they granted heart disease bu only back to Oct.05 (they did give me 100% for 3 months and 60% ever since) When IHD came out I filed for an EED back to 03 because I felt I had it back then. That is still in the works. In the meantime while doing my SSDI app in going back through my records in the copy of the C-file that I have a found the report from my doctor that said the part about the EJ of 50%. Today from the VA I got the ususal note do you have anything to add and to sign and send in any info or say no and sign. What does everyone think. I have been SC for my heart since 05 sec to my diabetes.

In my copy of my c-file that I have had since oh almost my first claim back in 2003 for DM2, hypertension and chest pain. There is a heart write up from a place that did an evaluation on me and it states: Gated SPECT shows a calculated left ventricular ejection fraction of 50% with normal global and regional contracrility. Now in the VA rates for heart disease it states: More than one episode of acute congestive heart failure in the past year, or; workload of greater than 3 METs but not greater than 5 METs results in dyspnea, fatigue, angina, dizziness, or syncope, or; left ventricular dysfunction with an ejection fraction of 30 to 50 percent!! Now if I was having chest pain back then and my ejection fraction was 50% should I not have been granted 60%?? Please let me know what you all think on this. just to let you know I was granted 60% after a heart attack in 05.

Oldtimer, They give you a comment card when you go to one of these please make sure you send that in and tell them about your experience! Now did you file a claim for your heart disease? If you have your health records from back when you were treated you should be fine. good luck to you!

Based on the nehmer training letter you should be comped back to your date of denial. Take a read of my other post on nehmer and the sample scenarios they have for the raters. Your case fits right in there as a claim that was denied and should be retro ed back to your original date. Good Luck to you!

Berta that is true but what is also very interesting down a little further in the IHD part is that old MI's and old bypasses will also mean a rating of at least 60%. This is going to help a lot of vets with their claims. Go get it!

OK!! So I was already to start over from scratch and went to the site and click on start report and up poped a message you already have a report do you want to finish?? I could not believe it. I click yes and crossed my fingers put in my old number and BAM!! There it was! I was in shock finished it up and plan on taking it all down this afternoon! Man what a great day!!

As Nehmer comes in to play with many issues and not just Agent Orange issues I thought I would post this here also. This link below is to the training letter/guide that the VA just send out take look at page 13 for IHD http://www.nvlsp.org/Information/ArticleLibrary/AgentOrange/NehmerTrainingGuide.pdf This post has been edited by stillhere: Today, 09:51 AM

This link below is to the training letter/guide that the VA just put out on June 14,2010. Take a good read for IHD on page 13! http://www.nvlsp.org/Information/ArticleLibrary/AgentOrange/NehmerTrainingGuide.pdf

I would like to chime in here if it is OK. I was denied at first and denied on appeal for heart disease and did not get it connected until I had a heart attack. I had been DXed with HBP in my initial claim for DM2 which was rated at 0%. I wanted to mention that if you look at the regs for HBP there is no rating for pre-HBP because you either have it or you don't. You can continue down that road if you want but the cardio doc's is going to have to make that nexus and it is going to have to be good. His heart problem with the pacemaker and all sounds like he has a problem with his electrical system of his heart and if I am not mistaken that has nothing to do with hypertension. I met a gentleman on a golf trip a few years ago after I had my heart attack and damaged the heart muscle by not seeking help right away. Now I have always been told not to lift anything over 35lbs. since then and my stamina is nowhere near where it used to be. My enjection factor for my heart hovers between 46 and 50% because of the blockages and damage. Anyhow this guy with the pacemaker was playing rings around me and had all kinds of get up and go. My next meeting with my cardio doc I asked how come the guy wasn't taken it easy like me? My doc said he's heart is fine and has an electrical problem. Anyhow I guess I am trying to say have this guy get the real evaluation from his heart doc that is the ONLY thing that will help this. And remember in a Nexus he can not just say so and so has this because I say so. He has to back it up with medical rantionale. Good luck to him!

HA Ha! that is funny Larry!

well i will tell you joey I sent in my form 9 in June of 09 and it still has not been certified by the RO and sent to the BVA. Just want to warn you that you are in for a wait.

t-bird That really is a good bet everything will be fine. Wish they could have guaranteed the investment I made in the stock market. take care, stillhere

i also believe that any vet that has had an MI/heart attack due to a blockage would be granted under IHD.

Well I am actually handling this pretty good. With my PTSD and memory issues and all the physical junk it takes me a while to finish things. Seems I have more things half way done that anything! Anyhow this morning I finally bolted myself down to the computer and finished my application for SSDI. I have been out of work since April of this year so I have not prognosticated to much. Anyhow finished the damn thing and came to the page where they ask you to print this and print that to bring with you to the office or mail. I was so anxious and glad to be done with it I hit the close button instead of submit! Don't ask me how I get confused like this pretty regular anyhow I wanted to warn others because I called the SS and they said there was nothing to do except start over!! I hope it doesn't take me 3 weeks like the last time!! grrrrrrrr! Have a nice day!

john on this mix up on the knees shouldn't he ask for a reconsideration and point out the obvious mistake? That will happen quicker and I feel in his case his PTSD is going to run rampant, for as you and I know a NOD is taken well over a year now. Not sure if he has that patience in him right now.

Congrats! Thank you for your service and I hope this award helps you and the suffering you have gone through!

Your right Pete of course!! I think the poster had us all (or at least me confused). Any enjoy your award!

I see no difference in the (Heart)these and the ones that have been used since I had my heart attack in 05.

I have seen this before but do not have the ability to check on it right now. My personal view is you have been awarded based on your last award IU as you know. It is up to you how you want tp proceed if I remember correctly. If you enjoy your work and it is not hurting your disabilities then you need to call the 800# I listed and discuss this award with them. If you made more in the last year than allowed you might want to check on that also. Either way you have been awarded a great opportunity for your family and you to help prolong your life and hopefully pay the bills. If you do decide to leave work I would file for SSDI right away so you do not lose any of your benefits there. Again congratulations and take care yourself!

Take a long look at your award letter and see if it says anything about your total rating. As others have mentioned TDIU is a condition were the VA pays you at 100% but your total rating is below that and because you can not work it is granted. If you still have a problem or confused call the 800-827-1000 call center and ask for clarification from your RO. You may very well be 100% scheduler and the VA mistyped. if you don't mind list your %'s for all your disabilities. Good Luck to you!

This response from your doctors and the VA examniners make perfect sense! I am very glad you have your proper rating and what to personally thank you for sharing these results for other veterans like me that suffer from these type of conditions. The buttocks sharp intermitten pain has been a mystery to my doctors and myself after years of MRI's and cortizone shots I was told that it was more than likely stress or to put it mildly in my head!! I take perosecpt for pain everyday and if out of that 800mg ibuprophen. I wonder how many other vets have been denied for theses same issue and have not had the fortitude or the dr's help to fight this. I know every person is different but I have suffered with random pain and PTSD for years and almost all have never been clearly DXed! Wonder if my ankolizing spondilities is aggravated by my PTSD?

I have heard that Waco is a hit er miss varo must be the same with the VSO's there. I would then suggest you hang around here and ask your questions and go it alone. I would start with submitting the dd-214 changed or if you want to save your date for your claim sned in a claim for your mental condition and let the VA get started. They will start a claim and send you paper work and ask you for any other evidence you may have to support your claim. This will do two things it saves your date and gets your name back in front of them. This will take a few months with all the backlog so while you are waiting get as much evidence you can and we will try and guide you from there. IF anf that is a big if the VSO were right you will be denied but by being denied the VA also has an obligation to tell you WHY and also tell you what you will need to do to get it changed. That is the good part! From there you just work on getting evidence to proof that point. Simple right? It is if you have the paper work and with a guy with a IQ like yours you should have no problem! Me my PTSD/depression can hold me back from preparing any kind of records to support. I seem to always get confused and do it hodge podge and not always get the results I should. If you want to do the application online just go to the VA.gov website and fill in a application for benefits and you are on your way!