Charlie_brown

I am currently awaiting my rating decision for PTSD. I have two stressors included in my claim. The first involved a shooting at a military post in Iraq that led to the killing of two civilians. The other stressor was the suicide of my father while I was stationed in Iraq. During the QTC appointment the psychologist talked about both incidents. The majority of the discussion involved the affects of my father's suicde. A rating decision was reached on May 19th but I am still waiting for that magical envelope. I will keep you posted if you would like

Hi all, Some background info before we get to the questions I have. I served at Tallil AB in 2005 and while there my father committed suicide. I was told my leave would be chargeable so I only took ten days and went right back to Iraq. ( I later found out this was a lie and I was authorized 30 days non-chargeable) Three months later two civilians were killed who attempted to run the gate in a large truck. I came back a changed man and separated from the military soon after. My wife and I had marriage problems to the point that she was telling me a divorce was imminent if I did not seek help. I saw one psychiatrist who wanted me to talk about my feelings then visited a new doctor who felt I possibly had PTSD. She felt I was unable to properly deal with my father's suicide and after the civilians were killed it added to my previously unexplained changes. I am on a couple of medications to aide with anxiety and depression. I am in the process of adding PTSD to my original claim. I have already forwarded all medical records from my primary care doctor along with my stressor statement to the VA. I also had my initial appointment with the behavior health clinic at the VA. The psychiatrist stated I did in fact have PTSD. I asked her the severity of my symptoms and she stated middle of the road. Some of the symptoms discussed and agreed upon were: anxiety, depression, irritability, road rage, lack of social relationships, decreased interest in previous activities, and lack of family relationships. I have a follow up appointment at the VA to go over my meds and counseling. On to the questions: #1) Where will my claim go from this point? #2) Will the counselors attempt to "heal me" in order to reduce the severity of my claim? I dont want to be caught of guard. I do know I need to go back over all of my symptoms again with the doctor and discuss them all no matter how small. I just need some guidance because I don't want the VA to downplay anything.

Hello all, After returning from Iraq I saw a military doctor for pain in both my back and shoulder area. The doctor stated I had a lumbar strain and a pinched nerve under my right shoulder blade. The pinched nerve was due to heal on it's own per the doctor and I was given a listing of exercises to aide in the recovery of the lumbar strain. The pain noted as a pinched nerve is located under my right shoulder blade and depending on the activity sends sharp disabiling pains throughout my back. My initial rating for lumbar strain came back with a 0% rating. My lower back pain has gotten worse as well as my "pinched nerve" I am in the process of conducted a re-eval. I do not believe the "pinched nerve" was evaluated during the initial exam. But its hard to know since the eval doctor was a mute and offered little explanation on what he was having me do. When i am scheduled for my re-eval what will the exam entail? Will the pinched nerve be evaluated separately than the lumbar strain? In other words will two different ratings be established? Thanks for any help Charlie Brown