armorer

I used Dr. Bash with significant results. It took me going at it alone to get 10% after 30 years and turned down by every lawyer in the country. In a little less than one year after I started with Dr. Bash, I am now TDIU, TDP, SSDI, and 90% sc (with NO lawyers at all, except for SSDI and they did absolutely nothing.) Of course, I should be rated significantly higher, but it's a biased system we all know. So all the "that's too much for me" means years of struggle and the chance you may never get anything close to what you deserve. 
It was one of the hardest years of my life surviving that year, but others going it alone, often go at it for years. Every case is different, but there is no one more qualified as MD in the eyes of the VA from his education and experience. I could not imagine anyone ever going toe to toe with him on VA or any medical matters (He is a M.D. Professor!)
The greatest thing Dr. Bash gives you is in the first 2 weeks: he gives you a proper diagnosis to build your claims, if applicable. And understanding my 'root cause' was invaluable (not just several disjointed claims.) He has diagnosed a lot of scrambled up vets, and no one is better or more qualified, imo. If I ever have a partial chance to recover, it's my best bet to understand the Real 'root cause' of all my problems first and foremost. Over 3 years of near full-time testing by VA TBI department indicated his diagnosis was 100% correct in his first 2-week diagnoses!
Thanks Dr. Bash, M.D.!

SEH (10% rating +) Chapter 31 is school from 12 years of enlistment and/OR last disability claim rating OR anytime for ratings over about 40% OR TDIU. SEH is strong. Use it or you lose it: the brain. SEH and Chapter 31 is pretty much always there in most cases. Wish I could say the same thing for the brain and tbi vets.
You just need to live within a couple of hours of the State VA Benefits center because the vre counselors are recruiters exclusively and won't give you the time of day after you are in the program. You will be visiting the State VA Benefits center up to every other week. It's a part time job getting your payments, but it's worth it. Forget about any expenses (that's a pipe dream for the greedy), because you will be working hard to get tuition and board: the biggies. The whole State funnels down to a Vice Director, lol, working like hell with constant stacks of Vet's paper work flowing through his office, and he is only there about half the time at the very most.
That's ANY school pretty much if you got the drive. Good luck!

Absolutely armorer and congratulations on your 100% rating as well

Thanks for the "no future examinations required" checklist information. Mine was switched from 90 to 100% w/a phone call (not from me though!) since I wanted to defer my Sallie Mae WITHOUT interest charges: it's THE ONLY WAY w/ 100% VA disability. Everything else matches your description. My neurologist just wanted to keep tabs on me, but ALSO said to just leave or just say "bye" whenever I want. Now I will say "See Ya/" and get another cover letter too. That's a biggy to cut the ambilical cord from VA Healthcare :-o
Thanks again!

RAN,  when you are found to be p&t it will say no future examinations scheduled,  the award letter will also say dependents eligible for education benefits from date xxxx.  Also,  when you log onto ebenefits and go to manage,  then click on documents and records,  then select VA letters,  and click on benefit verification it will also tell you if you are considered p&t. Yes,  there is a specific form you need to submit for IU,  I called the 1-800-827-1000 number and asked for the IU package to be mailed to me to complete.  Make sure if your requesting IU that you also get the prior employers form completed as well,  it should be included in the packet mailed to you.  When my prior employer told me they were not allowed to complete the form,  I filled it out myself as accurately as possible,  and I also included my last pay stub showing all of the sick hours I had used,  as well I submitted a statement in support of claim explaining that I had to complete the form myself,  and I made sure to state"Under penalty of perjury I declare all information to be true and accurate to the best of my knowledge." It also helps tremendously if you are found to be unemployable by Vocational Rehab, as well I had statements from my VA doctors stating that I am totally disabled. Good luck to you. 

Never say never. it's a Republican controlled Congress. Mountain Haitian cannibals certainly like human meat  :-o

I hear it is good for TBI, demenita, and Parkinson's disease; and does what no kidney and liver killing drug can do. 

Proving an easily understood pathology like getting bashed in the back of the head is not that easy to prove medically, since there is no literature base of reference of soldiers getting bashed in the back of the head to use as medical evidence.
On our last week of training, I tried to help a druggy soldier since he was in the bunk bed over me, and he repaid my kindness by trying to shoot me in the back in live-round 2-person cover-and-move simulation. I just heard the drill sergeants and all the trainees yell behind me when i was tucked down and aiming forward (I felt uneasy about being the lead position in the exercise from the start, and not looking back!.) The soldier did pcp horse tranquilizer for kicks.
What do you do?
If I were you, I would try my best to use what Dr. Bash said, and research everything he said until you understand it fully. He is very brief in explanation, but very concise in diagnosis from his unique world-class expertise. I have learned how really smart M.D.'s are lately, and Dr. Bash may be the smartest of them all.
 

Was this a mild or Severe TBI. Were you knock out for days, hours, or at all. Was there a LOD done in service I know back then they didn't have the same wordings as they did with mine having gone to Afghanistan. But the words concussion I have spent days and hours reviewing past appeals before my TBI was granted try going on the BVA.VA.GOV site snd clicking on past decisions on the right where it says resources this is where it get tricky. Ive spent hours looking for correct combinations of words strung together to find what I am looking for. Just start by putting in "TBI" in the exact phrase then spacebar "TDIU". Make sure to click all the years you should get Page 1 of 1559 results. Have fun reading finding evidence if needed to help with your claim like I did.
.find these words              :
this exact word or phrase : any of these words           : none of these words

Dropped by SSA today and they said my case has already been approved.
Call your auditor or go to local SSA office: ONLY they would know. SSA has beat the VA using VA data, so they are quick. We are similar high priorities cases for SSA, so just take a deep breath. I just hope this will push the VA into action!

Good luck on the 28 day thing. I did my SSDI immediately after TDIU claim and filled up 400 pages of HealthEVet Blue Book notes in 2nd half of 2016. Needless to say, I was busy concentrating on my VA appts. I got a letter Saturday that said I was medically qualified for SSDI, if my non-medical factors are ok (?). So i have to find out what they are talking about exactly.
DE is the size of a county in California, so that is an advantageous logistical factor you have in your favor, among many (i.e - wife, life, family, 100% rating, ...) The VA is the long one to get, and SSDI is comparatively helpful (for Vets); so relax, you are not losing anything but the present value of money itself (interest.)
The SSDI medical insurance options for Disabled Vets is the best health care possible from what I understand: so the SSDI being first will make me a HeathEVet  :-)

So I've been racking up my headaches with my research has anyone actually use the Compassionate Allowance List to speed up their SSDI claim? On this lists on the SSA website lists quite.a few disabilities and after a hearing I read the whole 4 set transcript says is TBI's  with stroke are now additions to their list.
Compassionate allowances are a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. Compassionate Allowances (CAL) apply to both SSDI and SSI claims. Compassionate Allowances is not a separate program from the Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income programs. U.S. Department of Social Security has held seven Compassionate Allowances public outreach hearings. The hearings were on rare diseases, cancers, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke, early-onset Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease and multiple organ transplants and autoimmune diseases. If you have medical documentation to prove that you have one of the qualifying conditions, your initial claim will automatically be flagged by the SSA and processed much quicker. If your disabling condition is on the Social Security disability compassionate allowances list, you will want to make certain that your application for Social Security disability benefits clearly states this.

I can empathize with jfrei, in that someone may say one thing and the original post does not attract any other attention. So when you think of another angle or see something else posted, you see another opportunity to ask a slightly different question that may incite more informative responses.
When someone answers, I usually politely thank them; and then the thread dies. I have NEVER started a thread that lasted more than a couple of posts. So I either tag onto to someone else's post or just read. I thought his question was a good one, and I don't know where or what his original post was (and 99% of most (different) posters probably don't either). So now I don't even have a bucket to poot in, a link, or anything to guide me. I just read posts condemning jfrei, "Bad Jfrei, Bad Jfrei." With all the disjoint threads going on, I think most people read what interests them. And it's hard to find something I can understand and that is also pertinent to me. I can understand your situations though, but it was a complete waste of my time and limited attention. I'm sorry.

It's just a shame there is a profit motivation for the lawyers to dawdle for years just to make more money.
A clause for more money for quicker response time seems to be the only answer I can think of: 33%, 25%, 20%, you're fired, next?
Place the percentage grades where they don't make ANY more money the longer it takes and ultimately would lose Present Value of money today for the same amount of cash value in the future. A big change in Appeal times may happen rapidly then: money makes the world go around!

I was in voc. rehab and then found unable to complete because of my sc disabilities becoming worse thus making me unemployable and they set me up with a phone call from independent living, which was a huge joke.  Not sure honestly how it works when you go in to voc rehab and they find you unemployable immediately.  I am sure if you start a new thread asking those questions someone can help you.  Lots of folks here wiser than I ;)

VA IU is determined on a "Facts Found" basis. You say you are or think you are by filing the IU Claim, the VA says, prove it. The more Education and Employment experience you have, the more difficult it is to prove that your so disabled that you can't even do "Sedentary Work."
Just because you haven't worked since 06, isn't evidence for IU. The VA doesn't consider age, being retired, unemployed or under-employed, even receiving SSDI for non SC conditions, as evidence for IU. In your case, it's either the Hearing or PTSD that could be determined to be the IU causative factor.
That being said, you need proof that you can't do or be retrained to do a Sedentary job that would provide you with Earned Income above the VA SGI Threshold of $11,400 per year, $220.93 per week. YOU NEED EVIDENCE of UN-EMPLOYABILITY!
The best way to get that evidence, is from a Professional Employment Councilor. Just so happens, the VA Vocational Rehabilitation Dept (File for it on your E-Ben account) can review your File and make a Decision that would preclude you from retraining. The Voc Rehab Denial Letter would be the Evidence necessary to win your IU Claim. The possibility of Sedentary work would be off the table.
That VR Denial Letter has worked for myself and 3 other Vets that I steered towards it. Consider making that your next move, it works.
Semper Fi

The only 2 ($150K + calibration maintenance costs) devices used to verify Meniere's were a flop and the VA  (nor anyone else) does not use them anymore. 
Choice is good because you may get better specialized care, and as soon as the VA rep checks off on the report that the VA assigns for you, it is as good as VA approved (with a Nexus of course.)

That's interesting. I thought, despite Voc Rehab being for getting jobs, that no one, including tdiu's was refused for school who were disabled. Maybe I was mistaken, but my phcp also thought the same thing too. Felony convicts get unlimited education for life, presumably for snitching on citizen students to cancel their school benefit programs.
I was just refused flat for a Chapter 31 program I had a significant chance to successfully complete once I found out my root cause tbi analysis: after I got my TBI nexus and put in for a tdiu (all within the definition of the VA Chapter 31 providing the MAXIMUM opportunity for the disabled Veteran's career in a chosen field of their choice - I have been SEH, Significant Employment Handicapped since 2012 - he does not have a leg to stand on.) A new VRE counselor was just shooting it from both sides of his mouth looking above my head rolling his eyes in circles while talking to me (like an autistic person may do.) He left me high and dry 6 months now. Needless to say, I'd like to get him fired from his $85K/year job saying things that no knowledgeable VRE counselor would say. I do not see anyone jumping in to save him, including his boss who is his puppet master (and actually, his boss is a pretty nice guy - ?) 
Hippa is for care taker privacy of patient's personal information, and Chapter 31 regulations are for VRE's (or other applicable regulations and laws.) VRE counselors live in a bubble of regulations that make it difficult for them to do anything outside ethical procedures (well written regulations.) I know what I'm doing next week.
 

Since you have an attorney who is WAY, WAY more familiar with your case than I am, I suggest you ask your attorney these questions, which are good ones, by the way.  
Interestingly, I also have an attorney and asked her a similar question, which is should I persue other claims at the RO level, while Im in appeal at the CAVC.  She responded that, if I have the Caluza triangle, (current diagnosis, in service event and nexus), for me to "go for it".  
In reference to "secondary" conditions, remember you only need 2 of the Caluza triangle, not 3, because you already have documented an "in service event".  So, for secondaries you need a Current diagnosis, and a nexus statement where a doctor says, for example, your sleep apnea is at least as likely as not due to your service connected PTSD.  
Have you applied for social security disability (Im assuming you are eligble, based on your post, but, again, I have not seen your records)? 
Some Vets dont know they can get social security disability AND VA disability.  
Also, and importantly, you can/should apply for VA pension IF:
1.  You have low/no income.
2.  You have served "in wartime".  
    For me, I got VA pension during the long, long wait to get my va compensation, which took about 7 years, and is not still over after 14 years.  
    VA pension is only about 1000 per month, based on your number of dependents, but it could mean the difference between homelessness and being able to afford a very modest apartment.  
    You wont get VA compensation and VA pension at the same time, but apply for pension anyway, because its much much faster, AND it will save on attorney fees.  Here is why:
  Example:   YOu are 0 percent now and trying to get 50%, 70% or even 100%.  You apply for and get pension, sometimes in 3 months or less when you are homeless.  Lets use round numbers, here, and neglect dependents for an example. 
   So, you start getting pension, of 1000 per month.  You get it in 3 months with 2 months backpay so you can pay your first and last months rent and  a security deposit.  You get 3000 in retro, then 1000 a month for pension.  
    Three  years later, FINALLY, your attorney comes through and gets you 100%.  Well, you have already gotten 1000 per month, and you wont pay any attorney fees on that money, ever.  So, you will pay less to the attorney, because you will already be getting pension.  In this example, lets say your retro is 3 years times 3000 per month, or 108,000 dollars.  But you wont have to pay any attorney fees on 36,000 of that because you will have already received it.  
    In short, just file for pension, and social security disability now, if you have not already and if you are eligible.  
You wont get BOTH social security disability AND VEterans pension, as they tend to offset each other, but, depending on how much you get social security disability, you can still get some VA pension.  

Yeah, it looks like you've been around the block before. Hips are bad news and I would not let a VA surgeon near me. Right after injections, surgery is the following week! Take the claim and go to an acupuncturist first. The needle with electronic stimulation is stronger than morphine. Then verify with a couple of good surgeons and get some good radiological imaging done. Go with the Choice program: that would be my top choice! Worry about your health in your trunk area and don't get too distracted by the claims end for now. Safety first. They can mess you up for good!
It sounds like you may have RA, and that's tough in the longterm. I hope your  rheumatologist is good. But its not that bad, except you have got a lot going on now.
 

I stand corrected then. I thought 70% was 100% for tdiu. I did not consider continuous employment required for supporting a family. At least you had and still have a family though: you are lucky. I have made that mistake before, but I forget things easily. Please forgive me.
Good luck and I know you deserve it.

Every pathology document on the blue button is tainted with ALL incriminating statements sprinkled throughout (never in my case is it a positive deviation.) It is going to take a good weekend documenting and revising (at least one iteration) for every(!) pathology study document on-line. I don't know how I would do it without Blue Button though (so it could definitely be worse.)
I want every one of my responses on Blue Button for historical evidence. If I can figure out how to use the 3rd party system, they don't make mistakes, but everything is interpreted by a VA rep any way. It's a lifetime of work editing your c-files, and then people will reference the incorrect pages, not looking at the revisions. The c-file should be set up with fields of a relational database (including dated revisions) where all that information is automatic: no automation needed, an excel ss could do it really. No matter how many billions of dollars they throw at the system, you can't automate stupidity.
I guess I can ask to edit and remove the original document after the edit. It gets a little overwhelming with all these documents, so I need an excel db on revisions starting this weekend on my first revision. Maybe I can give some of my spreadsheets to the Honorable Bob McDonald for a half billion dollars for streamlining his 22 billion dollar project. Programmers will be taking $1000 coffee breaks!

I gratefully appreciate that. I didn't want to strangle an examiner, since that would not be good. It's hard to prepare for a QTC examiner whose job it is to just delay you for another year and they don't have any idea at all what the guidelines are that they are measuring to: they are just a cheap hourly substitute for a M.D.
When my C&P notices are delivered, it already has "QTC", address, date, and time on the notice. QTC is not going to give up an appointment commission without a fight. In fact, QTC's appointment commissions are probably the 'root cause' to continued incompetent rejections: a lose/lose proposition for QTC means more commissions down the road.
Whatever, I am going to raise hell from now on to get a VA doctor examiner. I'll go run this through my VSO and see the best practice way to get it done.
Thanks Again!

QTC is a waste of time. Due to Present Value of cash, Vet's should be able to sue QTC for incompetent and biased reporting on the federal records of a Vet. If they do provide a competent educated tester, they are right out of school and don't know their ass from their elbow. What the VA does not comprehend, their no interest rate decisions don't compensate the Vet for years of waiting on this stupid one year delay game of tag they play. "Oh, you switched your claim around. Start all over!"
The testing rules are plain to see, and yet we have to spend thousands of dollars getting an expert to say the same gd thing we said, and be delayed one year every step of the way. Good luck on getting a fair exam by QTC. It should be called the VA-QTC to be more representative. How people can get tested and NOT use QTC is what I want to learn how to do.

Thank you Lotza and Berta,

Had the exam today. I was in there the whole time. He really did not go over any of the PTSD info. because I brought him a copy of the initial DBQ and he said he would refer to that for his stressors. Then he did a few memory tests, and asked quite a few questions, only took one hour. I also brought information regarding cognitive impairment and Parkinson's. It was a QTC exam so it will take a little while before I can get a copy. Our VSO was able to get copies of the PTSD, Hearing and Tinnitus exams. I just call QTC and ask them when it was sent to the VARO. Then I ask the VSO to get a copy. At the end the examiner did state you can not work. Time will only tell how VA will rate this. Fortunately because of hadit members and their individual and combined knowledge, I have been able to better prepare his contentions and claims. I really did not trust our VSO to do such a thorough job, he had no clue about hadit.