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SLEDGE
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Posts posted by SLEDGE
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In 1994 I asked for a pain clinic consult. I showed up. A shrink
showed up and tried to put me into the lock-down ward for detox.
The shrink also stated that my obstructive apnea did not exist.
That was 5 years before I had any sleep studies done.
Where the hell did my pain clinic consult go?
No travel pay.
I requested a Regional Office, PTSD related hearing back in 1996.
They did not schedule a hearing but, used the fact that I did not
show up for a hearing to put me on hold for several more years.
The Tiger Team caught that one in 2002.
They scheduled an appointment for a diagnosis of fibromyalgia but,
they forgot to check on the day of the week that the clinic saw
patients.
I showed up. The doctor, of course, did not.
No travel pay.
They used that MISSED appointment to deny my claim without any
consideration.
It took 12 years to clear that up.
They made me an appointment to see an orthopedic specialist.
I showed up.
The doctor showed up. The doc ordered an x-ray.
I hand carried the order for the x-ray to nuclear medicine.
The clerk looked at it, tore it up, and then dropped it straight
into the trash.
No x-rays without a doctors order. The doctor got tired of waiting
on the x-ray and went home.
They claimed that I did not show up for the exam.
No travel pay.
I pitched a bitch and they made another appointment.
I was x-rayed.
No travel pay after 4:30.
The x-ray went to yet another orthopedic doctor or radiologist.
6 weeks later they said that the results showed that my left knee
was completely shot to hell.
The PA asked me why I had waited so long to have it examined?
My records show that I started asking for an examination in 1979.
No travel pay after 4:30.
It was after 5 before they saw me.
23 years, after asking for it at least 96 times, I finally got that
ortho consult examination accomplished.
But, my knee is not really shot, it's loose. They had the wrong x-rays.
No travel pay after 4:30.
They told some other veteran that his knee is fine, don't pass GO
or collect 200 dollars.
Now I'm still waiting on another consult.
They scheduled my PTSD C&P. As always, I showed up at 3:45, 15
minutes early.
The address they gave me for the private sector examiner IS a vacant
parking lot.
No travel pay after 4:30.
The RO used that missed appointment to deny without consideration.
The PTSD claim lasted another 4 years before being resolved BY the
Tiger Team.
In 2006 I had x-rays done of my neck.
She sent me straight to an MRI a few days later.
No travel pay outside the VA.
The MRI results showed that I should be dead.
The ortho specialist sent me to the BIG hospital for surgery.
5 hour drive.
The BIG hospital said that all I needed was some therapy.
In the meantime don't drive that 220 miles to get home again!!
Come back in 2 months and therapy will get set-up.
Travel pay claimed that I lived to close to be eligible for travel pay.
Within the next week I had 3 more 'outside' consults.
The ortho-spinal doctor was worried that I might not survive the 8-hour,
60,000 dollar surgery.
I never went back to the BIG VA hospital for the therapy.
200,000 bucks and 7 surgeries later, Heeeere's Johnny.
Would somebody please tell me where I have not correctly played the VA game.
sledge
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I looked up my current and best tolerated pain killer.
They appear to be validating their own lack of desire to prescribe.
I've been trying to use less costly pain killers for many years.
Because I pay the whole price outa my own pocket because the VA will not.
Nobody at the VA has the stones to prescribe anything for pain for more
than one month anyway.
When they do 'give' me a pain killer it's never been oxycodone, always
one of the cheaper ones that my system will not tolerate.
The main reason for not prescribing oxycodone is the cost to the VA.
Except for addicts, I don't know anybody who likes pain 'or the pills'
that give some relief.
Would I be buying most of my medications and all of the
over-the-counter stuff that is prescribed if I did not have to?
NO.
The VA has the best health care!
Compared to Ethiopia or Somalia.
The private sector is using the VA model of delivering health care to
model their own.
That's why private sector health care has gone down the tubes.
Copying something that the VA does to veterans is not something that
I would be proud of.
sledge
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Anything that the VA wants to do is legal.
Just ask them.
31 years on appeal.
I don't fit into their cookie-cutter medical scheme of things and
it costs me about 600 bucks a month.
Except for last year when I fell into the donut-hole.
That cost me an extra 45 hundred bucks over 3 months.
I'm glad I finally got to 100 percent so I can afford VA care.
And their travel pay games.
And the VA dart-board system of assigning doctors to patients.
(4 in the last 6 months and they are still telling me that I belong
in another facility.)
"The "Patients Rights"they have hanging up all around the VAMC's
state the patient has a right to have their pain controlled."
Good luck with that one.
sledge
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I saw people smoking stuff that did the same thing.
I wish I had.
sledge
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I keep running off at the mouth about how the percentages are not the only determining factor in a TDIU award.
When reading 416b we discover the percentages are really just a scapegoat, an excuse, not a reason.
My lawyer successfully argued this point in my case.
In the decision on my case the RO had expounded upon 416a and failed to mention 416b.
I received TDIU in the decision but, they used the wrong standard by failing to mention 416b, which overrules the (a) part.
416b trumps 416a and therefore controls.
Check it out below.
sledge
§4.16 Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individual.
(a) Total disability ratings for compensation may be assigned, where the schedular rating is less than total, when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities: Provided, That, if there is only one such disability, this disability shall be ratable at 60 percent or more, and that, if there are two or more disabilities, there shall be at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more, and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more. For the above purpose of one 60 percent disability, or one 40 percent disability in combination, the following will be considered as one disability:
(1) Disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including the bilateral factor, if applicable,
(2) Disabilities resulting from common etiology or a single accident,
(3) Disabilities affecting a single body system, e.g. orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal, neuropsychiatric,
(4) Multiple injuries incurred in action, or
(5) Multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war.
It is provided further that the existence or degree of nonservice-connected disabilities or previous unemployability status will be disregarded where the percentages referred to in this paragraph for the service-connected disability or disabilities are met and in the judgment of the rating agency such service-connected disabilities render the veteran unemployable. Marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment. For purposes of this section, marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veteran’s earned annual income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as the poverty threshold for one person. Marginal employment may also be held to exist, on a facts found basis (includes but is not limited to employment in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop), when earned annual income exceeds the poverty threshold. Consideration shall be given in all claims to the nature of the employment and the reason for termination. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a))
(B) It is the established policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled. Therefore, rating boards should submit to the Director, Compensation and Pension Service, for extra-schedular consideration all cases of veterans who are unemployable by reason of service-connected disabilities, but who fail to meet the percentage standards set forth in paragraph (a) of this section. The rating board will include a full statement as to the veteran’s service-connected disabilities, employment history, educational and vocational attainment and all other factors having a bearing on the issue.
[40 FR 42535, Sept. 15, 1975, as amended at 54 FR 4281, Jan. 30, 1989; 55 FR 31580, Aug. 3, 1990; 58 FR 39664, July 26, 1993; 61 FR 52700, Oct. 8, 1996]
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Brain fart.
I wrote it down wrong and have since corrected the mistake.
Phone sex? They have to be kidding.
sledge
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I dialed 18008278387 and was connected to a phone sex business.
Anyone else have this problem?
sledge
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I went from 20 percent to 70 percent TDIU with P&T in one step.
P&T can be awarded with any percentage.
The RO will ALWAYS tell you that a 60 percent on one disability is required.
According to the rules and regulations, that's pure BS.
The only reason to lie to us is to screw us.
Nothing more than a confirmed disability is required to award TDIU with P&T.
sledge
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Well, they are telling me that I was never billed for any co-pays prior to 1997.
That's why I'm curious about the starting date of co-pays in general.
AND, they tell me that the records do not go back beyond 1988.
Could that mean 1988 was the first year they charged us?
Personally, I believe they are just trying to get out of giving my money back.
And that's exactly what I have come to expect from the VA.
sledge
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Well folks,
It seems that agent orange that was used in Nam was also used by every US installation
in Thailand.
However, we have to prove actual contact with the stuff by virtue of having guarded the wire area, base perimeter.
When a guard was assigned to us we were within 100 feet of the wire.
The guard qualifys to have been exposed but, we do not.
I could throw rocks over the wire from my ready area (Duty Station) for several months straight.
I can prove it, but I was not in the presumptive MOS.
Nobody had to mow the grass where we were.
sledge
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I'm working on getting my co-pays refunded.
I need to know, in what YEAR did the VA begin collecting co-pays from veterans.
The VA computer says it was in 1997.
That does not seem right to me.
Maybe I'm having a memory fart.
sledge
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This time I found some of the stuff that I hid 2 months ago.
sledge
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It finally happened, I'm sleep walking.
What else is out there that will not screw-up my whole day?
Insomnia sucks.
sledge
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Zero percent because you already have 100 percent????
Apples and oranges!
If it should be service connected, then it should be service connected.
Previous ratings on other conditions have nothing to do with the percentage of disability on your latest win.
It's not bad enough that the jerks already use their own opinions instead of medical evidence to deny claims.
There is no justification for using previous ratings, in their opinions, as an excuse to lowball a new claim.
Nothing in the rules, regs or statutes allow for that crap.
sledge
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What you are experiencing is perfectly normal.
She is aware and stated that you are next.
Anything can cause a delay at this stage but, this one won't be very long.
Be cool and give her some time.
Her boss is probably pushing something in front of you.
sledge
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Depending on what the VA regulations stated when the VA gave you your first denial, not telling you WHY they denied could be a CUE.
How could you have filed a substantive 'notice of disagreement' (NOD) when nobody told you what you should disagree with?
Again, depending on the VA regulations and court precedent, that lack of information might have left your claim OPEN.
If not still open, the denial was never explained to you,
so you could not properly or timely NOD the darn thing.
(A typical VA ploy to encourage a veteran to just drop the whole thing.)
"was to scared of what was in pill,i declined so it was easy for the board at the time to give me general discharge with non compensatable disorder.BIG MISTAKE I MADE.Hopefully before i die i will get this thing.Thanks Hoppy."
The refusal to take medication might be listed as a major symptom of schizoaffective disorder in your case.
(I feel fine, therefore, I must be fine.)
That will involve an 'outside the VA' doctor.
On the other hand, simply telling you of the denial could be cause to initiate the NOD without any explanations at all.
That would kill your earlier effective date.
Hopfully, one of our better researchers can clear this up.
I'm leaning toward still open.
sledge
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rosy,
I think you are inviting trouble by making any more than the poverty level outside of your disability benefits.
You seem to be bound and determined to create a problem that you know some VA jerk will not like.
The law be hanged dude.
The VA jerks will do anything to anybody for their own reasons and you could lose your income for 10 or 12 years fighting to get it back.
I'm curious,
why are you doing this under your own name?
Unless they put cameras in your house, how do the powers know who is making the money?
sledge.
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What's the dosage of the Ambian?
Mine is 10MG.
I know they have larger doses and even slower release versions.
There are several go-to-sleep medications that do not carry over into the next morning.
It's been several years since I tried any though.
Anyone else have more recent info?
sledge
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In a case like this you need to play it safe.
Compose a nice letter to the people that are making the appointment.
Send it through the VA mail system and get something that says you did.
Like through the place where the appointment is likely to take place.
I believe this is a recognized ploy to stretch out the time that it takes to process your issues.
I requested a C&P.
They sent me an appointment through the US mail.
Shortly after receiving the appointment the VA cancelled it with a letter sent through the US mail.
They used the missed appointment to deny my claim.
I have proof.
They honored my request for a RO hearing and cancelled it a few days later, well before the hearing date.
They used the failure to attend my hearing as evidence that I had abandoned my claim.
Claim denied.
I have proof.
These guys will do anything to anybody if it makes their processing stats look better.
Keep up with them.
If they act like you are bothering them, bother them somemore.
Keep after them.
Cleaning up their BS can take years.
sledge
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The VARO dudes are always talking about the controlling percentages of TDIU.
There are, in fact, no actual percentages of disability to focus on according to VA law.
The percentages are mentioned first in part A, then shot down in part B.
The VA jerks only use part A except in very rare occasions.
If TDIU has been 'mentioned' by a claimant they are supposed to elude to both A and B with rationale for the grant or denial.
If the RO jerk only mentions part A, and only uses part A to kill the consideration of TDIU or the granting of TDIU, you know where you stand with the VARO.
It's time to find a lawyer.
sledge
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Comrades,
I would love to expound upon my war stories in Social Chat.
sledge
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They won't even prescribe any painkillers for me.
Fortunately, my private sector surgeon is also a disabled veteran.
Back in 1994 the VA shrink called my private insurance provider and talked them outa paying for MENTAL.
The old fart wanted to put me in his lock-down ward and my response put Federal Marshals in my private residence.
My next door neighbor told them that I was building a bomb.
sledge
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Stretch,
My granddaughter downloaded itunes, the free edition.
I guess all of them are too complicated for old farts.
After 3 hours of 'school' I can make my own music for the car.
I also started looking into the microsoft mediacenter stuff.
Between the medical conditions and the drugs that I take for them, this could take a while if it's possible at all.
I'm always jealous of you guys who don't need drugs.
sledge
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Stretch,
I find that almost ALL of the 'personal use' stuff is touted to be the easiest and most user friendly.
Hype is just hype.
I'm looking for stuff that is aimed at the 'older' 'new' users of computers.
This involves a different way of looking at who software is created for.
I'm of the old school.
I need diagrams and tree-like explanations of what is downstream from what.
What can be accessed by what.
At the moment all I want to do is write a few personally compiled music CD's that will play in my 2002 Blazer.
After I 'burn' a cd it will play-back in my computer cd drive but, not in my car.
To me, this does not conform to the rules and regulations of COMMON SENSE.
I don't mix 'the meaning of life' with firefighting or ice cream.
I don't know how to morph anything and I would hire somebody else to do that.
In my world, there is such a thing as TOO COMPLICATED to be of any practical use.
Check this out,
What do you want to do?
Record music.
Where will the music come from?
Other CD's.
Where will you play these music recordings?
My car.
Insert all of the music that will be used into the cd drive.
These files will be compiled together under today's date.
Display the music files by name and composer.
Select the music.
Burn the selected music onto the cd in drive D.
Repeat the recording 10 times.
Common sense tells me to use a blank cd.
Common sense tells me that my recordings will play in my car.
Common sense tells me that I don't have to worry about volume control.
Or labeling the disc with a lazer,
or starting over from square one each time I repeat my work,
or some butt-head's idea of advertising on my screen.
I'm not above paying a buck or two for software that is sledge friendly.
Free is better but not really expected.
Geeks like complicated because they want to show off to the jocks, or their just wired wrong.
I don't want to impress anybody with my computer skills or hide from society while I write programs that will screw-up other computers, just because I can.
I use those Ten-Most-Used-Passwords because a password is required, not because I'm trying to keep the FBI out of my life.
I believe that if you use the internet, the government will know everything that's in your computer.
You can't hide it or encript it in such a way that only you can view it.
Trying to is an exercise in stupid.
Copying cassetts cost me 30 bucks for the machine that would do it.
My 91 Ford has a cassette player.
A machine to copy or erase a disc should be less costly, common sense.
I don't need, or want to, doctor-up the music or play with a video camera.
I don't sell any recordings but I bought the music.
Somebody is smart enough to have invented exactly what I'm looking for.
Software or dedicated machine, I don't really care.
When my requirements are less than one percent of the machine's capabilities, I don't need or want it.
Common Sense.
OK, I'm done now.
sledge
Sleep
in Medication – Prescription Drugs-Health Issues
Posted
Why couldn't we use ambian to induce a sleep walking state in which we could find
all of the stuff that we thought was stolen?
Apparently, I can hide stuff pretty good and only remember where I put the stuff
while back in the sleep walking mode.
That sounds like a long term study that the government would pay millions for.
sledge