donews

As always, Thank You Berta, your a life saver.

jbasser, 1. Ejection Fraction is 22% Now Was 25% in Sept 2007 and 31% in Nov 2005 2. By MI you mean Myocardial Infarction or Heart Attack? If so I have had at least 2 3. I have had a cath done atleast once a year since 2003 also had many before that due to all my heart conditions. As for Pulmonary hypertention, I do not ever recall being told I have that. Thanks to everyone for all the good information.

Fishes, Congradulations on the unemployability. Unless I am mistaken, you are not Total and Permanent hence the future exam. Fight on, fight on. Keep fighting until they approve all your claims. As I have seen many here say "I will die with a NOD or Statement in Support form in my hand".

Hotcoffee1 As for the Dementia, that one intake is the only time it has ever been mentioned. And she never mentioned it to me, it just is in the record. During the latest mental health appointment I had in Jan 2008 with my actuall assigned doc, she never mentioned Dementia. Well the C&P examiner in 2006 assesed my GAF at 52. The regular primary care Mental Health intake person gave me a GAF of 49-51 in 2007. I have no clue as to what my assigned mental health doc gave me in Jan 2008 until I get the records. I will post an update here when I get them. It will be interesting if she puts everything she said in the record. During my 1st (and only so far) appointment with her in Jan 2008, she did say that I had a low GAF and I had symptoms of a PTSD but she couldn't say at that time that it met some sort of definition for something or another. She also stated that it was clear to her that I had Major Depression that was directly related to my service in Nam and had been aggrivated by my SC heart diseases and other SC medical problems as well as chronic pain and the death of my wife. She said it was clear to her from my records that I had in service stressors, whatever that means. Its all odd to me that the C&P doc blamed my depression on my Heart Conditions (Which finally under appeal my Heart Conditions became Service Connected). The Intake mental health nurse seems to say it has something to do with my medical problems and or dementia. And the newest person in the dance said it is service and health related. Thank you all for the help with the jargon. Every little bit helps me to understand some more of what they are saying. I will post more updates as I get the records.

Ok here goes the information from the C&P exam that was done in 06: USUAL OCCUPATION: was repairing vending machines IS VETERAN CURRENTLY EMPLOYED: No IS VETERAN RETIRED: Yes DATE OF RETIREMENT: 7/2003 CAUSE(S) OF RETIREMENT: Medical (physical problem) MEDICAL/PHYSICAL PROBLEMS: medical (passing out spells) AXIS I: Depressive Disorder NOS AXIS II: none AXIS III: mutiple AXIS IV: multiple health, death of wife AXIS V: GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONING (GAF) GAF SCORE: 52 EACH MENTAL DISORDER DIAGNOSIS MEETS THE DSM-IV DAGNOSTIC CRITERIA: Yes ARE THE FINDINGS TO SUPPORT EACH DIAGNOSIS REPORTED ON THE EXAM: Yes The above is a cut and paste of part of the C&P mental health exam. She also stated later in her assesment that no opinion was requested of her. I am waiting for them to mail me the recrods of my apointment with the actual Mental Health counselor. I have a reg mental health counselor (i dont know here official title) and I also have an appointment with a psychiatrist next month.

Berta, I called the DAV and requested to have a NSO assigned to me. They said I needed to sign a POA form and fax it in. I did it the same day. Called the next day and was informed that they could not accept a faxed POA form. They said the guy that told me to do so was just out of training. So I was told I needed to mail a signed POA form to them. I did this the same day certified with return receipt (green card) as that is my standard way to mail things. I called 2 days later and they had received the signed form. They said someone would be assigned to me and I would be contacted. About a week or so went past and I called them again today. The guy assigned to me said he had infact got the form and that they were still waiting on the VA as they were still not listed as my POA in the VA system. He said once that happens it will take him from one to three weeks to get my file and review it before we can discuss my claims. Ok so here goes the question: What do I do now about my claims that are nearing there response deadlines? (I surely do not want to loose my right to appeal or to my orignal filing date)

I apolagize in advance if I have asked or if this has been answered previously. My mind being what it is does not always function well. lol I used the DRO process for a claim and they never contacted me, but they did decide in my favor. My disagreement is the rating percent I received and the evidence they used. I found out during my most recent hospital stay for CHF that all the evidence to support a 100% rating was and always has been in my private and va medical records that they have. The va cardiologist was even suprised that I wasn't 100% (although he is reluctant to actually put his signature on anything good or bad, he said he preffers to stay out of the boss mans crosshairs). The questions being : Can I appeal or nod and request that it be kept in the DRO process? Can I request to meet with the DRO ? (they never contacted me during the original DRO process) Can the DRO change the decision based on the outcome of the meeting ? (I will have all the records in hand as to preclude them from not having the records thay need).

Hopefully they will confirm it and you get it. Its always good to hear that a vet get a claim approved.

John999, I just re-read the notes from the intake and there is a section that says "Review of symptoms" it is marked: Head Trauma (LOC): yes in vietnam Cognative Deficits: ST memory problem - significant ST memory loss Anxiety: denied Depressive Symptoms: Sleep: Impaired Appetite: has no appetite Impaired Concentration: yes Impaired Motivation/Activity Level: yes Depressed/Sad Mood/Ect: feels helpless, hopeless, crying spells twice per day HX of mood swings/manic episodes: none HX of Anorexic/Bulimic: none Trauma History (Adult): Vietnam Combat Vet 2 Tours - does have nightmares about it. I only can assume she is listing the Head Trauma from when I was blown off a bunker in Nam. I still don't understand the dementia thingy. This intake assesment is totally different from what the C&P mental health lady said in 06. I will dig it out and see what it says. Also I am sure this assesment is different that the one from the person that this lady refered me to.

I grabbed the most recent medical records when I was at the VAMC today. It contained the information from my mental health intake consult (even tho the roi person said I was not allowed to have my metal health records with prior doctors consent.) It has a section for diagnosis and reads as follows: Axis I: Major Depression, r/o Depression secondary to dementia Axis II: deferred Axis III: see list above Axis IV: no psychosocial stressors at this time Axis V: 49-51 Does any of this make sense to anyone? If so please help me understand. She also stated somewhere in there that further evaluation was waranted to decided if I had a PTSD. I had another appointment with a Mental Health since then, but those records were not included in this packet.

Well... I was at the VAMC today for a follow up with my cardiologist after getting out of a civilian hospital last night. Upon the suggestion of a fellow veteran I stopped by and asked about about travel pay. Low and behold they said I qualified and they gave me some money. I haven't been asking for it all these years because in 2004 and 2005 I was told I didn't qualify. They gave me seven dollars and some change, it was twenty two but after the deductible it was seven something. At least now I can afford a mcdonalds lunch each time I have to go there.

Buickx, I have non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and I am rated at 20% at the moment. If you need it I can check the code the rated me under.

You might want to do a search here at Hadit for this subject. There has been an extensive post and reply section discussing him. The only negative I see is he wants a fee to even say hello, let alone discussing if you want to hire him. I emailed him before he added the fee and asked him to contact me to discuss my case to see if he wanted to handle it or if he felt he could. The next thing I know he never contacts me and then he adds a fee to discuss anything. Very poor business practice and down right bs in my book. Due to his greedyness and failure to contact me, I wont be using him. Supposedly he is here to help the vet, just my opinion that he shouldn't charge for an initial discussion.

Here is the latestupdate I found. "The biggest change since the original proposal: Those who paid no income taxes will get $300 as long as they earned at least $3,000, including veterans disability or Social Security benefits." "The only people for whom this really is free money are low-income folks (those who earn at least the minimum $3,000 required to trigger the checks or who receive at least $3,000 in Social Security or veterans benefits) who won't end up owing any taxes for 2008. If that's your situation, or you somehow wind up with a check when you technically shouldn't have -- you earned income in 2007 but won't in 2008, for example -- you won't have to pay back the money, said Luscombe, a principal analyst for tax research firm CCH." "By the way, even if you didn't earn enough in 2007 to be required to file a tax return by April 15, Luscombe said, you probably should do so anyway to make sure you get on the Internal Revenue Service's mailing list for the rebates." "The agency will get information from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security to make sure those recipients get rebate checks, Luscombe said, "but regular taxpayers will need to file (for 2007) to get on the list."

Hmmm.. I wonder how thay handle a diabled vet that also gets SSDI and also pays taxes. Wonder if they get the 300 or the 600. Yep lots of unanswered questions. Either way, you are right, our children and grand kids are the ones that are going to pay. My sons latest SS statement actually has the following line added in bold type: "* Your estimated benefits are based on current law. Congress has made changes to the law in the past and can do so at any time. The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2041, the payroll taxes collected will be enough to pay only about 75 percent of scheduled benefits." It made my son feel real confident that he will get his proper retirement from SS. lol

DI PI, Maniyou has ecellent advice on this one. Spike, I liked your advice I am still laughing about that one. Thank you, I needed a good laugh today.

Thank you Admiral7. That thought never crossed my mind. It is great to have a place like Hadit, I have found out about many programs I never heard of before. I had applied for Voc Rehab, went through the motions, and was one appointment from being told that ILP was the program for me. The Voc Rehab guy said he was going to put me in ILP because I was not able to work or anything. I just assumed ILP was to give me OT or some aids to help me go about my normal day. But then I ended up in the hospital as usuall and missed the appointment. I did call three times before the date of the appointment to let them know I was not going to make it. The first two times I left a voicemail (they almost never answer the phone), the third time I was able to leave a message with a person. That was in Oct 2007, I haven't attempted to ask for another appointment or reapply (which ever I need to do) since I seem to end up in the hospital at least once a month. Now that I know that is something they can do, I will try to get an appointment and maybey I can get lucky enough to make it.

Thank you both for your replies. The reason I was searching for more input is I think they have me rated wrong or atleast under the wrong code. The gave me SC for Peripheral Neuropathy as secondary to my DMII. They said it was not in the Rating Schedule so they rated it with the next closest disease. They are rating me for Paralysis of the Sciatica Nerve. The have me rated at 10% and basically unless I become unable to walk at all I can't get an increase past 10% for each leg. Because the qualifications to get increased in Paralysis of the Sciatica Nerve mostly have nothing to do with my actual condition, therefore I can't show medical evidence of an increase. I really think they have me under the wrong catagory and just need to find some alternative to suggest to them. I take Neurontin (Gabapentin) also. I take 6 x 300 mg each day for a total 1800 mg each day.

Cherie, I hope all works out and they actually take care of the claim for you. As for a Patient Advocate, the last time I tried to consult one I was told he didn't have time for me. He said he had a meeting later that morning and he always has a drink and snack before hand ie. I would interupt his snack and drink time. I asked what time he was available for helping veterans. He said some days he will help veterans between 11am until lunch then after lunch until 4pm other days he had too many meetings to help anyone. I showed up at his office at 9:30am, the sign on his door said his hours were 9am to 5pm monday thru friday, he said that was just a sign and he decided when he had time to help people, and no one else. Talk about a joke.

My son ALWAYS goes with me to the VA. There has only been one time they tried to refuse to let him stay with me, and that was during an ER visit. They claimed patient privacy as the reason for refusing to let him enter the ER with me. Then they changed it to they were understaffed and then several other reasons. He immediatley got the Supervisor on Duty and explained that I might not be able to adequately explain to them the problems and or symptoms I might have, in return they might give me a improper treatment or medication that could cause me complications or death, they let him enter. I have no clue as to a single medication that I take. It could be rat poison and I wouldnt know any better. If they ever tell me he can't go. I won't go. I would tell her to go ahead and go with him. I would refuse to let them tell her otherwise. Just my advice for what its worth. Donewsome

Does anyone know the proper rating or diag code for this? Anyone else here have Peripheral Neuropathy? What rating code did they give you? Donewsome

Paul, When I requested a DRO review I used Va Form 21-4138 Statement in Support of Claim and wrote out what I wanted. I have attached a fillable pdf copy for your enjoyment. Donewsome VA_Form_21_4138_Statement_in_Support_of_Claim_Fillable.pdf

My apolagies Bertha you did point that out. I have not filled out a VCAA response to this particular Rating Decision yet. I think I will use the NOD format and ask for a meeting with the DRO, as it was a DRO that gave me this SC in the first place. I had called the RO to ask if the DRO was going to contact me about this claim and they said your decision is finished and just waiting for signature. 2 Weeks later (Jan 8th) I got the Rating Decision. I just feel that once I can show the evidence that my DMII predates my 1st Heart Disease by at least 16 years and that I have Chronic Congestive Heart Failure instead of just Congestive Heart Failure, they will either Rate me the Difference Between 60% and 100% or they will make the SC for "Caused by" instead of "Aggrivated by". Unless I am mistaken that is the difference between having them add the SC Heart Disease into my combined rating instead of the 0% they gave me. I will check on an Vet Rep in the RO office, but that is about 3-4 hours from my home.

I am adding a PDF regular and Fillable vesion for those that may need it. This is just a coversion of your Larry J. Hope this helps! Donewsome Medical_Opinion_of_VA_Practitioner_for_Nexus_1.pdf Medical_Opinion_of_VA_Practitioner_for_Nexus_Fillable.pdf

Thank you in advance for reading and replying! I have my latest Rating Decision & Statement of Case here in front of me. I am digging into it for the information I need to appeal the mistakes. This is the Adjudicative Actions so far: 03-28-2005 Claim Received. 03-30-2006 Claim considered based on all the evidence of record. 03-31-2006 Claimant notified of decision. 03-21-2007 Notice of Disagreement received. 04-30-2007 Appeal Election Letter sent to appellant. 06-28-2007 De Novo Review election received from appelant. 12-17-2007 De Novo Review performed based on all the evidence of record. Ok, so the querstion is: Can I use a NOD or Request for Reconsideration to disagree with the rating and EED, or do I have to take the big step and go on to the BVA? I am not appealing the actual SC, they did give me SC for all except one of the conditions requested. I am appealing the fact that they gave me SC because of "Aggrivated by" instead of "Secondary to or Caused by", which I believe makes the difference between having it added to my combined rating and getting the 0% they gave me. I am also appealing the % of rating they used 60% when figuring the aggrivation factor, and it should have been 100%. I meet the 100% guidelines. Then lastly I am appealing the EED becaue I am also appealing the DMII EED that this is connected to. Donewsome