SLEDGE

I always believe it after I receive it. Putting your faith in any government entity is not a good idea. sledge

To me, this was a waste of time. Not being political. Economics are not a consideration when veterans are evaluated? Huh? Why do we constantly here about the budget if economics have no business in veterans health and medical concerns? Signing off. sledge

I could write a book. One dude kept giving me work because I'm fast with my hands. By training and degrees I'm a mechanical engineer. There's always one or two jerks working for places that build stuff. They get a kick out of watching me jump. After a while I was paying too much attention to where the jerks were and what they were doing. Then I was fired. I'm not physically employable anymore and the monthly with counseling would be a problem. The jerks are still there and they are still jerks. sledge

"The Houston Regional Office, which serves almost 760,000 veterans and their dependents in 90 Texas counties, is dedicated to the timely and accurate processing of disability claims, VA spokeswoman Jennifer Heim said in a written statement." Is that the same as endeavor to persevere? sledge

Always expect the worst (least) from the VA and cover your ass from that assumption. sledge

Mike, Never miss an appointment. Don't worry about duplication or scheduling mistakes, just go. sledge

Tomahawk, I believe you will find that trying to force anything out of a VA employee will cause mayhem as if you were stealing candy from a 5 year old. They don't know us or the crap that we have been through. Therefore, all of their experience is related to the crap that they get from their insecure, upwardly mobile, immature boss. Put yourself in their shoes and act accordingly and something might happen. Compared to years of extra BS and nothing forward on you issues. sledge

In the case of my kids, they already know pretty much all about it. sledge

I don't know anything about retro ch 35 but my kids will be looking into it after my effective date is corrected. My corrected effective date will precede the dates that they started college. One is a school teacher and one is almost an RN. They had no reason to wait to start their higher education because I was rated at 20 percent at that time. The third hit it right and she collected all through her college. Now she's a banking systems annalist. My corrected effective date will be a correction of an administrative error. The corrected effective date is the last error that I have left to bitch about. My kids are smart enough to have kept all of their education records. The VA owes them a chunk. sledge

You can find any answer to any question in Washington. And flipping is a popular hobby. Personally, I believe the Simpson character has a powerful group behind him and his disregard for Veteran's health care. All politicians have an obligation to whoever financed their election campaigns. Even the un-elected ones will usually have enough residual influence to be noticed when make-work political jobs are up for grabs. After serving one term in office, everybody in both houses have their pensions set-up for life. While serving, the elected all have to turn over their business interests to somebody else while the elected person serves. That makes the politician a silent partner in their own business interest. An easy way to boost their bottom line is to leave the business set-up alone after becoming un-elected and go out among'm to find something else to do. LOBBYING. Use their 'gift of the gab' to influence to disrespect the disabled, after they became disabled while in service to their country, is a favorite way of getting noticed by the lobbyists who are always looking for a new and better mouthpiece. One of the more popular arguments against disabled veterans is telling how badly those lazy veterans are getting money that they don't deserve, keeping other more deserving vets from getting their own legitimately earned benefits. Even if fraud were actually a real problem caused by faking disabled veterans, which it's not, thousands of fraudulent claimants, which have never been identified, would not and could not effect the earned benefits of 'one' other veteran. The 'veteran's fraud issue' simply does not exist. The Department of Veterans Affairs 'employees fraud' has been shown to exist in many different cases. The system is being worked by it's own employees, not the veterans that the system is supposed to be caring for. Benefits FRAUD does not effect the availability of VA benefits to anybody. But, by making this non-issue something to cause the population to worry about, politicians working for their own individual concerns are reporting a highly exaggerated problem and strongly insinuating the wrong group as the only possible, responsible party. There ain't no priority list that describes the order in which individual veterans get their benefits. However, there is an almost 'religious observation' of the 'BUDGET' as the politicians lie to explain why veterans are not being medically treated and generally deprived of their earned benefits. By law, the so-called budget is only a rough guideline and is subject to modification at the whim of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Veterans are obviously not milking the system with any kind of fraud and the VA employee fraud is a negligible influence upon the total amount of funds available to the VA system for medical treatment and 'wages lost' compensation. Simpson is paid to make us look bad and we do not deserve that kind of description from anyone, particularly from someone associated with the government. Simpson is a talented liar who has no respect for anyone other than himself. Dangle a check in front of him and he will inadvertently blurt out, "Who do I have to kill". Pictures of money probably cause him to break out in a sweat. Simpson is not identifying a problem or offering a solution to a problem. He is the problem. sledge

Statistically speaking in percentage terms, how much of the Federal budget is actually spent on veteran's medical needs? Not the Grand-Total amount supposedly allocated to all things in the Department of Veterans Affairs. I'm curious if our stats hungry government even knows how much is health care and how much is spent on window dressing? Parade grounds, staff cars, wasted space, extra employees and shrubs don't count as health care. After they almost killed me cleaning out an artery I was sent home a bleeding, dripping, bloody mess because they couldn't afford a new bandage to cover up the worst suturing job I have ever seen. Not enough money in the budget of intensive care. Intensive care was in the process of an expansion while I was there. Adding 4 new beds in a totally, newly constructed area that was being added on. (That's what they told me and my wife, I ain't making this up.) I had to leave the medical facility grounds and go to the nearest grocery store for bandaging materials so my wife could replace the dripping stuff with new materials. I had bled through the hospital bandaging stuff onto my clothing before they released me to go home and dripping blood onto the carseat was not a good idea. sledge

" They don't want any more claims than they already have " I don't believe they really care one way or the other. What they are doing is building a case for future use. (Such as, look folks, we had a glut of over a million new claims backlogged, now that number has risen by 2 hundred thousand due to the three new presumptive illnesses attached to agent orange. We need more people to write fast letters and we will reassign a few hundred seasoned claims raters to study the problem.) I keep thinking of the guy that was rubbing out heel marks with a tennis ball on a stick, in front of the elevators. That is a perfect example of the mindset of the VA, hang up all of those lovely and expensive posters eluding to the fraud committed by veterans through excess travel pay claims and throw money out the window by hiring a bunch of yuks to do make-work jobs. If they need to pad the payroll I might be able to show up and just occupy some space. As long as any veteran's needs are not met I can't get my head wrapped around all of the non-medical bs that the VA just has to have. New furniture in a new waiting room may look good to the public on TV but, several veterans missed-out on medical care to allow that furniture to be bought. Stuff that does nothing to help a veteran in a medical way is waste. We can't be the problem while we are the ones getting screwed. Until the claims are better served and our medical needs are better met we can do without groundskeepers, floor polishers, thousands of new flags and parking spaces reserved for 'visiting doctors'. Just think how much better the VA could operate and how much better the VA could meet their budget if those pesky veterans would just stop showing up expecting to receive free stuff like medical care. sledge

Fayetteville in what state? I tried to get my records from the 70's and they told me that they only keep records for 12 years, then they are destroyed. After 4 or 5 attempts I figured they just didn't want to give me my records. My lawyer was successful in his efforts to get my service records and I believe everything since then. Destroying our records is illegal. sledge

Well dandy. I find it almost humorous that so few places have been identified as agent orange exposure sites. I'm talking about places outside of Nam. Virtually every US military installation used herbicides to keep problem areas knocked-back or just plain devoid of vegetation. Including all of the stateside facilities. In the interests of National Security we don't identify any contamination problem areas until several ex-soldiers or sailors spend lots of money and years in litigation proving what is already known by the DOD. The VA is overwhelmed already, what's wrong these days with a few hundred thousand more claims? Even though the VA has the ability to modify their supposed budget just by asking congress for more bucks, the VA constantly leans on that magic 'budget' figure that restricts how much the VA can and will do. I'm wondering how long it will take the politicians, rulers of the VA and DOD, to set-up another study group or schedule more congressional hearings to identify the problem and who caused it? Lessee, over 40 years after the fact and over 15 years of totally needless study time and they are proud to announce their accomplishment? Several years ago a farmer built a machine that killed off his unwanted vegetation with 115 degree heated water vapor. He hooked it up to his tractor and it worked at about an acre an hour. The heat killed the bugs too. I'm not suggesting that we start using cheap and non-polluting water vapor when those huge chemical contracts are already in place. That would put people out of work and eliminate some Federal jobs, like EPA inspectors. And we would have to negotiate labor contracts for the tractor drivers. Before the government could authorize the use of 'water' to kill weeds a time study of the effects on the availability of fluid in the water table would have to be accomplished. That would keep six guys busy for ten years. And what would the effects be on global warming? Another time study and five different universities to compile the results. They could hire me to manage the new Federal Agency of Hot Water Usage. What's a cabinet level job going for these days? How much does the job pay? Can I hire my unemployed relatives? Killing weeds can sure get complicated. sledge

" will seek to improve programs and services for military families. " Pure BS. This is so blatantly smoke and mirrors it jumps off the page. In over 200 years they have not been able to figure out the needs of military families and address those needs? The government should realize just how stupid their rhetoric is these days. (Let's get together and try to make it look like we actually have a job!!!) 'will seek to improve' carries as much clout as 'The Secretary May'. sledge

I just love it when some 10th grade dropout tells me it's all in my head and all I need is a better attitude. Just before he asks me if he can borrow some drinking money. sledge

" yeah i am still working I dont know for how much longer though I have missed alot of work these last 3 years " I was still trying to work when my TDIU award came in the mail. Part-time at McD's. My boss there wrote an 'honest assessment' of my mental problems from the viewpoint of an employer, not a doctor. I had several other opinions from counselors, shrinks, MD's, eye-witness accounts, official, government, historical documents and family. TDIU came in 2003 with a effective date in late 2002 and the VA has not mentioned several of my separate pieces of evidence in their various lowball awards. If I could work at all I would do so. Being totally retired, at least in my case, sucks. In your case 'I' would have been pushing a TDIU claim ever sense the total combined rating got to 40 percent. Whether or not you expect to win the award any time soon you need to protect the effective date for the eventual retroactive award money. The RO and BVA together shorted my protected, award, effective date by 9 years and I'm not stopping until they give it up. sledge

Even if you did state that you had the personality disorder prior to service, that means nothing without the pre-service treatment records. If your personality disorder was known before you enlisted, the service would not have accepted you. Almost every time, the claimant is not recognized as being capable of making a medical, mental or fundamental personality disorder diagnosis. We are not trained for, and therefore not qualified to make any medical determinations about our own medical or mental conditions. Legally, by VA law we are all medical idiots unless proven otherwise. Everything has to have a basis in fact and that normally means medical records to back up the facts. The rating jerks will make you into a Greek God or lazy bum depending on what is required to deny your claim. Facts and common sense don't matter much. sledge

You are assumed to be fit for duty and 'free of defects' when you enter the service. UNLESS on the entrance physical exam a condition is noted. They put personality disorder on everybody because they don't want personality disorders running loose in the military. From what we have seen, somebody hasn't got a clue. This personality disorder crap is not something that develops overnight. It's a fundamental defect that would have kept you from being in the military, like a club foot or a missing thumb. If they are just looking for bodies to fill uniforms they will accept almost anyone. Cannon fodder requires a lower standard of smarts and health. But, they have to declare you as being free of defects before you enlist. Anything that shows up after you are accepted into the service is SERVICE CONNECTED. There is a certain time period that you have to complete before becoming officially accepted. I'm no longer sure of that time period, it used to be 180 days. Pass the initial healthy time period, get whatever it is into your records, have it diagnosed after you get out and get one specialist to connect the dots so you can file the claim. You can't be found to be fit for duty and then, a couple of years later, be found to have a fundamental disorder. It's apples and oranges, water and oil. Hell, they didn't come up with the personality disorder thing on me until I had been out for ten years. I got the PTSD DX at 16 years out from a private shrink. The VA changed my DX from personality disorder to PTSD after 28 years out. While I was following orders and fighting a war they called my medical condition 'Nerves'. Treated with barbiturates. sledge

"rules that don't apply to non-professionals." That's where Freedom looms. I believe we have not been afforded enough information about this particular veteran's representation and we may never know anything about who he was talking to when BIG BROTHER stepped in. Unless the 2 vets were talking about race, religion, politics or telling off-color jokes very loudly and refused to pipe down when asked to by a third party, what is the point of law that gives the VA dude the authority to tell a vet to shut up? Being listed as a member of a veteran's organization does not give that veteran's organization 'power of attorney' over the listed veteran. The VA hasn't made the veteran's advocacy list yet that I know off. They always sit on the other side. The VA guy was only representing the VA and himself, not a veteran. I'm listed as a member of several veteran's organizations and none of them have any legal standing to speak on my behalf. The power of attorney can only be enjoyed by one representative at a time. Did the VA dude have enough information to justify his authoritative and instructional statements? What did he 'think' he heard? What's the VA dudes pay grade? He may not have enough horsepower to open his mouth in the first place. 2 veterans having a conversation is not breaking any law or VA rule. The VA dude was eavesdropping in the first place. Invasion of privacy. In the circumstances as LarryJ posted here, the VA person would be guilty of denying somebody's civil rights. sledge

This would bring out the devil in me. Does anyone has access to a short-range audio transmitter? HEH-HEH I would find a media person who wants to break a National Story. Allow the media person to know, through a third party, when you are scheduled to return for your next appointment. He can record everything that transpires between you and anyone else while you are calmly awaiting your turn to see the doctor. It's called Freedom Of Speech and Freedom of the Press. As long as you have not been arrested and confined you have the right to talk with anyone you want to. If a media person manages to quietly sit close to you and record something, that's between the VA and the National News because you were not knowingly involved in whatever the media girl happened to be doing. Of course he, the media person, might want to follow several different veterans as they go through their VA appointment schedules on several different days. Nobody, not you or any other veteran has to know who the media person is or what that person observes and records. Whatever the media person does in their pursuit of truth and justice is not something that you 'have to/need to' know about. You can't be held accountable for something that you have no knowledge of. After all, the VA has nothing to hide and should welcome the attention. Lots of veterans wear hats that denote one thing or another about their service to their VA appointments. Talk about a good place to hide a 'cell phone' recording/transmitting device. On that same note, many of the cell phones today have the capability to record audio and visual that can be downloaded later. sledge

Eat a candy bar 5 or 10 minutes before the blood test. sledge

No more shredding. Just hit DELETE. sledge

The fractured area is in the thoracic and the shots were lumbar. Fracture covers more conditions than just snapping. I have had several broken bones and none looked broken except as a thin line on an x-ray. None of mine ever broke into 2 separate pieces that had to be brought back together. My fractures are undergoing the normal osteoarthritis degeneration associated with abuse during the healing process. In other words, going to work with a broken back in your 20's is not good for you later in life. I don't know the names of the stuff that he injected. 3 different things. One was steroids, one was painkiller and I don't know the third. He said to give it 2 weeks and the next step will be an MRI. I have never been encouraged to have lower back surgery by any doctor. The odds of improvement are lower than 50-50 no matter what the condition started out as. If you are not on morphine and confined to a wheelchair, your surgical outcome may not be an improvement. sledge

Well, all together this month my meds cost me almost 2000 dollars, not counting what the doctors charge for each of 2 appointments, x-rays and physical therapy. They, the medications, usually don't all hit me like that. Normally I get stuck with about one third to half but, this month the VA pharmacy was slow enough to force me into buying all of it during one calendar month from the private sector. I can't go cold turkey from my stuff. One look at my medical bills, the stuff that the VA refuses to cover, is enough to shut up any of the lazy bastards that think I'm living high on the hog with those unearned free medical benefits and ridiculous monthly compensation payments. I figure I'm clearing at least 600 bucks a month for groceries, house payment, utilities, insurance and computer time. Yesterday I got more shots in my lower back. That 'back strain', which was actually a compression fracture from running off an AC-130 wing in 1972, is going downhill again. I'll be getting another of those 'free' MRIs in 2 weeks. Probably followed by another 'free' spinal surgery. I haven't felt good enough to work on my hobby-car for months. Something is wrong with this picture but danged if I can tell what that is. sledge