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Commander Bob
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Posts posted by Commander Bob
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My daughter had a C&P for TDIU Friday. I went into the exam room with her. The exam lasted almost two hours. She is rated at 90% and has not been able to work since getting medically discharged from the Army in 2006. She has been approved for SSD.
Point being, it was not one of those 5 minute C&P exams and it made me happy.
I am so sorry to hear of your daughter's disability. I hope it goes well for her and she prevails asap. She is most fortunate to have you as her advocate.Best wishes,Bob -
The VA is overloaded in all aspects of the system. The side effects are frustration and torment. We have to hang in there and keep vigilant. I had my BVA hearing on May 22, and am now waiting for the results. I know the feeling. I had to slug along for almost 5 years for this one.My most positive thoughts are with you guys. Good luck for a successful outcome.Cmdr. Bob
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*My claimsDate Opened: 6/24/11Type of claim: AppealEst Completion Date:Done1. PTSD (Reopen)2. Tinnitus (Reopen)3. Rash on Chest (Reopen)4. Hearing Loss, Left Ear (Reopen)5. Hearing Loss, Right Ear (New)Sorry I thought you had already been to the BVA and the disabilities you have listed as reopened were reopened (remanded) by the BVA.. I must say it's difficult to follow your claim.
Best Wishes
C.B.
6. neutropenial leukopenia (New)7. bilateral pes planus (New)8. mitral valve (New)9. thrombocytopenia 2nd to leukippenia (Secondary)==========================================================================JMHO,.. Yes, if P&T is included in your tdiu.Back in the day (Vietnam era) , It use to take a couple of decades of tdiu before you could get P&T. They use to hassle the TDIU vets around their 18th year, just when the vet's child was about to graduate from High school. It could really throw a monkey wrench into the collage plans.. Check with your Rep.Again, jmho, Things are changing at a faster pace over at the VA. Every day, it seems like there is a new rule or program. Check it out.Good luck on your homework. -
My Current SC%Last Rating Decision was in 2010Currently awarded Va Non-service pension since Nov 2011Rating(s)1. Dysthymic disorder ( Not Service-Connected)2. Chest wall syndrome, claimed as chest pain, tightness and difficulty breathing (0%)3. Hearing loss, left ear (Not Service-Connected)4. Tinnitus, claimed as ringing in the ears ( Not Service-Connected)5. Residuals of fracture of the left ring finger with pinning, to include post traumatic arthritis with ankylosis of the distal interphalangeal joint (dominant) (0%)6. rash on chest ( Not Service-Connected)7. sycosis barbae, claimed as razor bumps of the face (0%)8. PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) (Not Service-Connected)
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*My claimsDate Opened: 6/24/11Type of claim: AppealEst Completion Date:Done1. PTSD (Reopen)2. Tinnitus (Reopen)3. Rash on Chest (Reopen)4. Hearing Loss, Left Ear (Reopen)5. Hearing Loss, Right Ear (New)6. neutropenial leukopenia (New)7. bilateral pes planus (New)8. mitral valve (New)9. thrombocytopenia 2nd to leukippenia (Secondary)==========================================================================That you everyone this site is awesome and very helpful. I check ebbenies today and my AB8 showed me rated at 70%, but it also show the pay rate as single. I also check the benefits explorer and it showed 70% on both and P&T. I currently still have a dependency claim thats open but pending decision approval.The thing I was wondering is what to do next? I have been getting the VA pension since 2011 which would mean I am P&T so shouldn't I be rated at 100% and P&T and not 70%?
I don't have SSI or SSDI. It's been a long battle with the VA. I don't know what was rated what yet. I will keep you guys updated.
Congratulations, 'Crome_305'... and good luck on the remands. You mentioned, you recently checked e-benefits, and it came up with 70% P&T (Permanent and Total)
Is there an unemployability issue the VA has considered? Do you have a service rep?
Best wishes,
C.B.
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Greetings all:
It has been a while since I have been able to start any new discussions in this particular section of HADIT. I am pleased to announce on DRO review, I have successfully been granted SC for my Sleep Apnea and Neurogenic Bladder/voiding dysfunction. The additional 50% and 20% ratings are sufficient to raise my overall rating to 100% scheduler. The effective dates for both disabilities are September 2008. They have not granted me permanent and total status or addressed the Kyphoscoliosis with an enlarged right ventricle, which would be a 100% rating by itself (so I will be completing a form 9 next week for P&T and the additional rating that will push me to SMC S).
Apparently they have also decided that a SOC is not necessary even though they have deferred/denied one of my claimed disabilities. I am curious; if they fail to do the SOC after 60 days and the decision is final would my kyphoscoliosis be deemed granted, since a SOC/SSOC is required unless a full grant of benefits is made? I know, “silly veteran”, deadlines and deemed decisions don’t apply to the VA!
One of the more interesting aspects of this decision, is it states it is a full grant of benefits and goes on to say the granting of my Sleep Apnea fulfils the requested rating for restrictive lung disease that I have filled under code 6842 (Kyphoscoliosis)????? I think I might actually enjoy writing up this form 9.
Thanks to all HADIT members everyone’s individual contributions make this site work. Special thanks to T Bird and the moderators for making the mechanics of this site work and keeping the bloodletting to a minimum. Elder statespersons of the site go out of their way to ensure people have the knowledge/ammo to keep up the fight.
Without this site I would probably still be 0% or 20% at the most. VA did a number on me back in 88 and the knowledge on this site helped me address the vast majority of malfeasance done by the VA for so many years.
When the retro hits were gonna pay some bills and set some aside for 2nd year of my sons college (grant of P&T will send those dollars back to the family).
ON THE MINUTE!
Best regards,
Again Congratulations, 71M10.
Please keep us posted on the P&T and SMCs?
C.B.
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Thanks for your support 'Justrluk' . All things considered, I think my NSO is doing the best he can, with what he's got. (As Bob Dylan once wrote..." Don't think twice, it's all right)Well, I still do not have copies of my records and files, that I repeatedly, formally requested from my VARO years ago. It has taken over 1,700 days for my case to come this far. Because the VA has refused to send me my records in a timely manner, I am thinking about relying on 38 USC 5107 (b) and my memory, to overturn the negative elements of my SOC, at my BVA hearing...What do you think my chances are? Any ideas?I would like to bring this thing to an equatable and honorable end ASAP!!!Plan B: is a remand.Bob
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Don't give up...
So true... Thanks for the reminder, John999.Good Luck '71M10'. And Good Luck to all disabled vets going through the appeals process.I am reminded of Rudyard Kipling's ..."IF"...If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard KiplingBob
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Three weeks till my BVA Hearing..Still no copies of my Records???
Here is the email I received from my Rep.
**************email***********************
from: NSO Rep.
In response to your call this morning:
It is my firm opinion as your representative that you should not ask to again reschedule your ... Travel Board hearing. It is so difficult and time consuming to get these Travel Board’s scheduled and they already rescheduled you once when I was not available since they did not provide enough notice and I was working that week in DC at BVA.
I realize they have not provided you copies of your claims folder which you requested years ago and recently received notice that such a request is pending. As I informed you, this was clearly stated in our 646 and will be presented to the judge in the hearing. Obviously your case will be remanded to accomplish that task if necessary, but the judge also could grant or remand for other action like an independent medical opinion, etc. We also, if you have finally in the interim received the records, can ask for the judge to hold the case in abeyance until you are able to obtain your own medical opinion.
My experience,... is that the years we have waited for action on your appeal will just be compounded by a request to reschedule and your case needs to be moved from their jurisdiction to the Board’s. If we submit additional evidence before the case is fully out of xxxxxxx jurisdiction it will not be handled expeditiously as it would under the Board’s control or under a remand to the AOJ.
NSO REP.
************************end email*****************
JMHO... I will attend the the May 22nd Hearing...and leave the bldg, either granted or remanded...
Best regards ,
Cmdr. Bob
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I like your topic title...
"I Love The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning..."
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sorry to hear about your lost records, Raybob. Good Luck on getting it straightened out.I know it has been a heavy load, however, ...we must push on...Cmdr. Bob
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Sweet!! Congratulations!
Good luck on the other issues. It sometime seems like there is no end to this.
I pray for daylight, someday...
Cmdr. Bob
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Wow, all. I just had to express my thoughts before I sink deeper in despair.
I have this feelings that the caring of my love ones has disappear, maybe mom and dad is the exception,
Actually is my spouse of thirty years, communications has flew away, my way to keep it he fire going is
Getting me no where,
I actually feel like I don't care if it all ends soon, I am just in this dark place that happends in a flash.
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John999 always makes some excellent points
"What makes it complicated to me is that in 1968 and years afterward there was no such thing as a DX of PTSD."
That is right. ...
...Hell ----I think almost all you Vietnam War vets must have had PTSD in the 1960s or got it whenever you were in Vietnam.
Maybe if the VA had recognized PTSD sooner, good men like Lewis Puller (Vietnam)and even WWII vet
Audie Murphy ,might have lived longer then they did. I dont know though...
...He did say from time to time that making war movies excerbated his mental state of mind.Sure it did.
He had PTSD and the VA had no idea how to treat something they didnt even recognize then.
Thank you, Berta. As always, your help and insights are priceless.I made sure to make it a point to use the word "type", when I posted .."My medical records truly reflect a PTSD type condition in 1968. " Yes, PTSD was not recognized as a condition back then, however the symptoms are well documented in my mil./VA med records.
With the insights of today, 2013, I would hope that a professional could read my old records and see the condition, way back then.
Yes, Berta, I agree with you, this must plague many old combat wounded vets from wars, long ago. I am trying to resolve it.
How do we overcome this historical flaw?
Your wisdom is greatly valued,
Bob
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From what I have read here, Alleta, I see light at the end of the tunnel for you and your family. I hope it arrives in a timely manner.My most positive thoughts are with you and your husband.Cmdr. Bob
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Good Luck I am in your corner.
Thanks Pete.
Bob
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Greetings, Jeff Beer, and welcome aboard.You say " I had completely "had it" (sorry) with the entire system, and I pretty much gave up." .. I understand. I gave up on the VA about two and a half decades ago.I was also surprised how" the regs have changed (dramatically),". Glad to see Berta has responded. Thank you, Berta.Good luck on your claim, Jeff. You are not alone.Cmdr. Bob
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I understand having to show up that day. I just would not have fought the reschedule when it was offered.
Yes, deanbrt, I understand. However, when the reschedule was first offered, before my visit to the BVA judge, they were just going to put me on the bottom of the pile, and "notify me at a later date. "I walked out of there with a solid re-hearing date. Big difference, my friend.Thanks for your interest and support.Bob -
Did they say May 11th . . .
of what year : - )
Well, it looks like you were on target, Carlie. I had a case of deja vu all over again, yesterday. I found out that the rescheduled BVA hearing notice had an error. A clarification of the date is required because no month for the BVA hearing was indicated in the letter.On Wednesday, at the end of the BVA fiasco, I was so stressed, and I left that place in such a hurry, I did not even open the VARO envelope until yesterday, and discovered their mistake. So, I had go back to the VARO and resubmit the paperwork. Now, I have to wait again, until they get back to me. It's beginning to feel like Groundhog Day!!Your understanding and support is truly appreciated.C.B. -
Bob
If you have your records(C-File) see if you can get a real lawyer. A lawyer can at least protect your rights if you have to go to the CAVC. I had a traveling BVA judge and all he did was in-take. My lawyer presented a well thought-out brief. The judge was not ready for that and was very unused to dealing with a real lawyer. Once it gets past BVA you can't present new evidence, but it all becomes legal arguments at CAVC. The BVA judge was probably afraid you would say you did not have representation at the hearing so he refused to do it. That is new because they used to just roll over vets who did it pro se.
John
Yes, John. you are so right about getting a lawyer. Thanks for the direction.After trying to work this out in a non-adversarial manner, I have no alternative, but to find a good lawyer, who is really willing to help.Best wishes,Bob -
BVA is your best shot. You can go to CAVC and the best I think is that you will get a remand back to BVA. May 11th was not that far away and I thought going into that review without any rep was a mistake and you should not have fought the reschedule..
With that said, I went through a BVA video hearing years ago and my DAV rep was worthless. So I did it all on my own at the hearing. But I told myself going in just tell the truth and keep your answers concise and be polite and not argumentative. I was remanded. It took me years after that to win but it set the stage.
Again, having been through it all I don't think you should have pushed the other day.If you are going to win I think it will be at BVA. I know others may disagree and you have to filter all us and make your own decision.
I think ou need to go to that May 11th review with more than I see and Hoppy, Berta, and Carlie can point you in the right direction if they have the time. If you are damned lucky Hoppy will write a summation for you....
I had no other choice but to go to the BVA hearing alone, deanbrt. The VARO failed to give me, or my rep a timely notice which is required by law. The BVA hearing notice was received 9 days before the hearing date According to the notice, two weeks written request by mail was required to reschedule, and my NSO was already committed to his DC trip.If I did not make an attempt to appear at that scheduled BVA hearing date, then I would have been placed at the bottom of the pile, and who knows when I would have gotten a new hearing date. It wasn't until I appeared for the hearing, that they offered to reschedule.So, I had to insist on being heard in order to get an earlier date, otherwise, it may have taken many more years of waiting, if I had accepted their automatic rescheduling.Thanks for your support.Bob -
Did they say May 11th . . .
of what year : - )
LOL, carlie. Funny you should ask... Well the day wasn't a complete washout. I did get the May 11th do-over date.The VARO's, 'Traveling BVA', coordinator knew that my poor NSO rep was out of town, sick as a dog, & freezing his azz off in a blizzard in DC. Maybe they were lunch buddies, or something. After all it is just one big happy family at a VARO.Well he must of asked me if I wanted to reschedule the hearing about a half a dozen times as he took me down the hall to the little conference room the BVA judge was using. I declined the reschedule, and was determined to have my case heard, after waiting almost 5 years. The Judge didn't want to hear the case without my rep being present, and thats when he said, he " didn't want to waste his time with this today"... I politely and respectfully went off on the Bastard. I said. ..."and what about the veterans time?" I explained how the wait is very stressful, and is literally killing some vets. suicide, etc. etc. I mentioned how blazay he came off and how adversarial he came off. etc...After that, the VARO supervisor went in the back and came out with a new "Notice to appear letter" for May 11th..I found no friendly, helpful faces behind that BVA hearing desk, that morning. Needless to say, I'm searching for a "Philadelphia (type) Lawyer", as we speak.This strengthens my resolve... No matter how hard they try, "I will not go quietly into the night."...C.B. -
Traveling BVA judge refused to hear the case, Yesterday... He said my Rep. has to be there with me., VARO rescheduled it to May 11th...Thanks for all your support and insights. I'll keep you posted.C.B.
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As a post script to this CUE ridden, VARO's misadventure, and it's bogus BVA hearing.I know I don't have a chance to bring this claim to a successful end at the BVA hearing, Wednesday .However, let me state this clear, I have no intentions of giving up. I have resigned myself to prepare for a remand, or reschedule, and then come back at a later date, and clean their clock.I am truly willing to wait till hell freezes over to find the justice this combat wounded Vietnam vet has earned.C.B.
Revoking Poa While Claim Is At Bva
in Appealing Your Veterans Compensation Disability Claims NOD, DRO, BVA, USCAVC
Posted · Edited by Commander Bob
I would send the copies of your husband's military personnel files directly to the BVA, as requested by the BVA judge or your rep, who ever asked for them. tell the BVA, your rep asked you to get them. You could cc the rep "Return recipt requested". if you want to. HOWEVER , you have 2 days left to get your stuff to the BVA. JMHO... OVERNIGHT the records to DC. First thing tomorrow, OVERNIGHT them to BVA . Remember to include his C-# and the (Reply Refer to info) found at the top of the BVA letter you recevied from BVA DC.
I feel your unnecessary torment, 'free_spirit_etc'. My most positive thoughts are with you.
Good Luck,
Cmdr. Bob