airborne18

When I was a consultant I used to take a tape recorder and throw it on the desk for every meeting. I dealt with clients who tried to play games after the contract was negotiated. And I would follow up in writing with what was discussed.. The intent was to keep everyone inline with what exactly was agreed apon, not to trick people. Hidden tape recorders have very little value in civil cases.. if anything they show you were acting in bad faith, because your intent was to build a case and not mitigate damages. Generally you do better by doing everything in writing, and forcing your other parties to do it in writing. I know this is not always possible, but dealing with landlords you should always do everything in writing, that is all that counts. And if they are stupid enough not to respond, then it looks bad on them..

No it is actually not a stupid question and honestly it still does not make sense to me totally. I am being paid at 100% due to unemployable.. My schedular rating is still 80%. Yesterday I actually went to my VARO to get my Commissary Letter to get my ID. And also got a letter stating my rating without all of the details.. It is worded something like this ( don't have it in front of me ).... The veteran is 100% Permanent and Total due to Unenployability. THe key is your award has to have "no future exams".. The VARO people said that if your award contains Chapter 35 for dependents you are P&T.

Yeah they do have something to hide.. patient privacy. you have to realize that a compensation claim is a legal action. The VA is gathering evidence to decide a claim, just as the veteran is trying to gather evidence to support the claim.

Jim, In my area c&p's are done at the VA hosptial.. Making a recording is one thing, the recording being used to help a case is the impossible part. VA court is a federal court. State laws allowing a taped conversation without consent are meaningless and the VA court rules would apply...

This is interesting, they relaxed it so now they can get treated, but they also imposed a cap blocking out higher income vets. I know it is a subtle difference, but they have locked out alot of veterans who would at least be able to get meds..

jim, I have heard alot about TDIU, and a good friend of mine who used to be an awesome NSO gave me some insight.. first, it is the doctors who will get you TDIU. My approach to everything was to let the VA doctors diagnos me, then follow up with claims.. I spent a year going to the VA and getting treatment.. I built up a medical file.. I had too, because I only had one doctor I could afford to in civilian land. And when I went to the doctors I made sure I knew exactly what they were going to put in my records.. I actually have a few more things I could claim, but they are not slam dunks, so I just let them go for now. - another factor is what type of work you did, and if you could be employed at the same level of income.. above the national poverty level.. I would track down a DAV NSO and see what they say..

I was not working.. I worked at one place for almost a year, left in feb on medical leave. a few weeks later the Census gave me a supervisor's job..( they said I could do it from my house after I finished with all the training.. they lied, it was alot of work driving all over the place.. which I could not handle ) I did a few weeks of the training, and trained my crew.. Did about a week or 2 of field work and had to leave, which was lat in april.. beginning of may I filed for IU. Here is my timeline.... 1986 - Parachute accident.. military threw pain pills at me, ETS'd and have been going to doctors ( private doctors ever since ).. VA and every veterans organization told me to go chase myself.. since I was a peacetime vet. june 2008 - wife filed my initial claim ( after 20 years of me avoiding the VA ).. but we were broke and I was laid up. Nov 2008 - claim was granted for "back strain" I kept up with the VA appointments, Neruologists and Occupational Therapy diagnosis that I have 8 bad disks, and I have permanent nerve damage in my legs. Nov 2008 - brought back in for annual review c&p. Jan 2009 - my DAV rep calls me... Rating officer mentioned my new medical reports, mentions that I was a paratrooper and my claim will likely be granted.. I OK the DAV to submit new claims... secondary mental disorder, disk problems, and leg paralysis.. Also mentioned that the C&P doc indicated that I was not employable in his report from NOV. Feb 2009 - another c&P for new claims... I made it clear that the nerve damage is permanent.. he concurred and mentioned that sending me to PT was a waste of time.. Told us we filed the leg claim wrong, but he would try and fix it with his report, so we would not have to refile. March 2009 - c&p for mental disorders.. had a massive panic attack when my wife was not allowed to be in the examination.. so that pretty much sealed that.. plus the letters my wife and daughter wrote.. April 2009 - Granted 40% for lumbar prob, 50% for anxiety, and 40% for my back sprain. - Stopped working completely. May 2009 - Filed for IU.. Jun 2009 - Granted from April 26, 2009.. the last day I actually worked. This is pretty much the whole deal.. if I omitted anythign it is due to my meds right now.. yipeeeeeeeeeeee

Did your past employers receive their verification forms and return them yet??? here is my thought on it, just a guess, so don't take it as anything... Those letters are sent whenever your file comes up for air, and the va people see that they are waiting for something.. so they generate a letter.. I would think it is good news that you didn't get one.. maybe it is being worked. For my IU claim.. I got the "working on it letter".. then the employer forms ( i didn't put down the addresses on my application.. so they sent them to me ).. and a week after that got a call asking for the employers addresses... Once I got the employers to fill out the forms, and dropped them off at the VA it was about a week or so and they granted it..

The VA is a federal facility and recording devices are prohibited... I know there is a sign on the door of my VA stating this.

vista, Good luck with everything... Some advice that has help me a ton, go with your husband to the C&P's and go in with him.. ( the psyc c&p would not let my wife in, but that ended up working in my favor since I freaked out and had a massive anxiety attack in the hallway. every question she asked me, i ended up giving her a Dr. Seuss answer without ever addressing her question.. she gave up after 15 mins. 50 GAF.. thinking back she lowballed me.. I think it was because I am not violent or suicidial.. ). But my wife can go through my problems and how they affect me and her, and she sounds sincere.. My wife went to all of my C&P's, except for my annual, and that is the C&P that went badly. I filed for me knee twice.. years ago my private doc said I needed surgery.. now the VA says I don't.. and it is just minor wear... The VA opinion won out because my private doc's opinion was too old.. ( so my knee improved with age ). If you lose, go get an outside opinion, but if I am correct, the most beneficial opinion should work for your husband, since he is just out of the military.

Took a total of 5 weeks, and would have been quicker if my employer would have returned the letter quicker.. the white letter says... 100% rate because you are unable to work due to your service connected conditions.. No examinations will be scheduled in the future. the blue paper says.. basic eligibility to Dependents Education Assistance is granted effective April 26, 2009 as the evidence shows the veteran has a total service-connected disability, permanent in nature. I assume my dependents are eligible for CHAMPVA???

This is the same moronic airline that let the woman on with the pig, because she had a doctors note, and then was uncontrolable.

This is a procedural question... I just got home from surgery,,a simple gall bladder operation turned into a 3 day visit to ICU.. they actually wanted to keep me longer and move me to a regular room, but i talked them into letting me go home for the liquid diet part... there was a complication to the surgery that has left me with an air bubble in my brain.. geez. anyway the point of my question is how do i setup it up so my wife and or daughter can call the VA 24 hour medical phone number and talk to them without me being on the phone.. same way with dealing with the doctors and nurses at the hospital.. A nurse at the hospital ICU said it was the Power of Attorney, but that looks like it just covers advanced directives.. I was going to call Release of Information at my vamc tomorrow, but was hoping someone here knew the exact answer.. thanks

So you have not really been treated by the VA yet, just the military? Have you had an ncv/emg study done on your legs??? I have 40% for back with radiclapathy(sp?) down left leg.. I think somewhere I read my next level is 60% if both legs are involved. My rating has been changed 3 times in 2 years. I had my one year, and it was bumped up, and I refiled for paralysis in my leg and I got another rating out of it. So do not stress too much over this, back problems do not improve with age. With me the EMG/NCV studies have been cited as the basis for my rating increases.. I get MRI's every year, but those are not the primary evidence cited by the rater.. Not sure why... Congrats on your Vocrehab.. Don't sweat the rating stuff, getting the service connection is the hard part, which sounds like you got that locked.. .. get a good VSO that works in the VARO. Also let your claim pan out before adding new claims.. everytime your file is touched it adds 60 days.. .

Carlie is right on the money with this. I am 42 and will probably see at least 600,000 ( actually it is probably higher ) in cash from the VA before I die, plus medical care, and nursing home care covered 100% by the VA. My employer provided blue cross dropped me the first time I had an emergency room visit, and my issue of having service connected disabilities popped up in my private insurance records. Try getting private health insurance after getting a buyout from the VA. At the least you might get coverage, with a ton of exclusions, and they would deny most medical claims due to prior conditions. Eventually you could get Medicare, and the issue would be solved. I would never accept a million dollar buyout from the VA.

I have taken both neurotin and lyrica. With lyrica I had dizzeness bad.. Neurtin I had it, but it was not as bad as lyrica. I am permanently on neurotin, my local VA won't pay for lyrica. They actually don't like paying for neurotin either, since it is not formulary, and I had to be approved for it.

I have had the shots once, and honestly they were not very helpful. You have to have them done over a few weeks. The shot they gave me to prep the area felt better than the costeriods. Do not worrry about the shots.. you will be out for the whole thing and there is more risk due to the anesthetic than from the shots. They will offer some relief. As one poster mentioned they may or may not actually work for you.. There are some that swear by these shots and say they are the magic cure, and others like myself that only had mild relief. The issue will come down to if the VA will think you are cured of pain and rework your pain management plan,, that would be the bigger consideration.

My rating decision turned around very quick... about 3 weeks after my C&P. I was rated 50% for anxiety secondary to my back pain.. They upped my rating for my left leg partial paralysis to 40% And my back rating stayed at 40%.. Total combined rating of 80%.. Thanks for the advice... The statements of support were cited in the abstract of the decision, so they really did help. Also I took my wife to the c&P, and the psychologist would not let her in, so I actually had a panic attack during the C&P. I was really not prepared for that scenario and it freaked me out. And they connected to my back pain by basically saying it was at least as likely as not caused by my chronic back pain. so it was a coin toss, which put it in my favor. thanks everyone

I have a C&P coming up for my General Anxiety claim; it is secondary to my back and chronic pain. I am going to take my wife since she and my daughter are affected by it more than me. Should I have my wife and daughter write up statements of support, describing my mental state and how they are impacted??

My 10pt prefrence finally paid off... well sortof... I took the test for a Census Job. I missed one question ( and an easy math one ).. But I did get a job out of it. I am one of the two supervisors for QA in my county. Pays 17.75 an hour and supposedly I can work from home. It only lasts 15 weeks. But I need the money, daughter starts college this fall and we are getting zero federal aid. If anyone thinks the VA is nonsense, the FASFA process is a joke.

I was VEAP, ugh, it was a bad ponzi scheme and not a college plan. I did the math after six months and realized it was a waste of money. First, with Vocational Rehabilitation, the mission is not to send you to college. the goal is to find you employment. College and training comes into play if that is required to find you employment suitable to your disability. This goes for all vocational rehabilitation programs. OK. Since you are disabled, your state's vocational rehabilitation office is a starting point. The State run programs are funded by federal matching money, which means they are underfunded. You are on ssdi so you should fall into the Ticket to work, but again it will depend on the funding status. As far as the VA side.. It is a great program, and you a 10% rating so you can apply for it ( though I have heard 10% is very difficult ).. I think your issue is that the obstacle to employment is not your VA disability, but your other issues.. But you should talk to a legal authority before applying, call your local VA regional office and find out which service organizations have reps working there.. MOPH, DAV, VFW, AL.. make an appointment and go in and talk to them. They will know the vocrehab people in your VARO and will be able to tell you if you have a shot..

Maurice, When are you planning to apply? I would love to know how you make out with it.. The vocrehab people at my va office are tough, you would think the college money was coming out of their own bank accounts. They turned down half the people that were in my group of applicants when I had my first briefing.

OK. I am in VochRehab right now and have been for about a year. In Nov I had a reevaluation done by the VA, was a yearly thing they said. The DAV handles my claims now, my wife was my NSO, but now she is retired.. I got a call from the DAV NSO and he said the VA rater looking at my file hinted to the DAV rep that I might have a few other claims that I should file. OK so I gave the approval to file for a few things.. one came back right away and I went from 40% to 60% combined. The others items are in process. The DAV rep mentioned to me that once this was all done, and if my rating got to the right range that they would file for IU.. ( the rater made this hint as well.. ). I balked because I did not think you could get IU while on Vocrehab.. and at the least I would think that the Vochrehab people might pull the plug on my program. ( the vocrehab people in my VA are tough .. I asked if they would buy me a computer for school and they said "save your disablity checks and buy one yourself... or use the ones at school" .. OK.. Has anyone heard of getting IU while in Vocrehab?/ and does anyone think it wise to ask for it?