usmc/usa

Well, so far we haven't received the "official" letter and the retro yet. But we were finally able to log into ebenefits today and saw that the claim was closed today. So, hopefully we'll hear something official soon.

Congratulations! I can just imagine, how good that must feel to finally pay off all bills and not owe anything to anyone. Soon, we will be in the same boat and this is the one thing we are looking forward to most.

Carlie, I have been following your posts for a while. It's so great to see people like you succeeding! You truly deserve it!

Thank you all so much. You girls and guys are really awesome. Well, so far no deposit. But that's okay. At least we know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Also, since social security was denied, we are hoping that this will speed things up there, too.

Well, my husband went to see his VSO today and he said these are our copies and we will get the official letter and a nice deposit soon! It is slowly sinking in that this might be true.

That's what I thought, Carlie. We stopped by at the VSO's office this afternoon but he wasn't in. We'll try again tomorrow. Hopefully can can clear this up for us. My husband said he requested a copy of his file a while ago, but I don't think it would come with the ratings letter. For know we are just trying to pretend we never saw this letter and wait.

Bravo6, thank you so much for giving us hope. It just sound way too good to be true. We still can't believe it.

No, no deposit yet. The decision latter does not have a date on it, probably because it's a draft letter. Also, I heard it takes a while when it's over 25K because of the 3 signatures, and my calculations came over 25K.

Really? I hope I do, haven't been to the doctor in a long time. That would be great! We are still shaking.....I hope it's all true......

This morning we received a huuuuge, thick envelope in the mail. This envelope contained ALL of my husbands military and medical records, along with handwritten notes from the VA and the rating decision. To be honest, I don't think these documents were intended for us and I am afraid that they were mailed to us in error. Has anybody ever experienced this? Oh, and the decision letter says "Draft" on it. Anyways, according to the letter, his PTSD war increased from 50% to 70% effective April 2010. He is getting 10% for degenerative disc disease, which surprises me, because his back is really hurting and he got all kinds of gadgets from the VA to ease the pain. I thought the rating for that would be higher. The found a CUE dating back to 12/06 for his knees, which is only rated at 10% each, however he will get the back pay for that. IU was granted!!! dating back April 2010, and it says in the letter it is permanent and total. They state in the letter that we qualify for depended educational benefits, which would be great, if this is true. We are both still shaking from excitement, however, I am really worried that all this is too good to be true. Especially, since the letter says "Draft" on top. That means, they could still change their minds, right? Since his total rating will only be 80%, does that mean it does not qualify me for Health Care benefits? That's what I was hoping for, mostly, since I have been without health insurance for a while. Like I said, this does not seem to be THE official letter, I really think we received this in error and it will probably take a while until we get the official one. Also, since I calculated a substantial back pay, I suppose it will take a while for it to reach our account. Thank you all for being here and letting me write this all down to sort my thoughts.

Wow - Testvet, thank you so much for taking the time to write this long response. I/we really appreciate it. I know that a lot of other people are much, much worse off than we are. And I didn't mean to come across as ungrateful. We have each other and we always end up landing back on our feet. We still have have a roof over our heads (it's leaking a little bit, but it's a roof ), we actually just got our mortgage modification trial period approved, so yes, we are very lucky in some ways. Also, Rob is currently rated at 60% and I am working from home, so there is some money coming in. I am sorry that you and all other vets went through so much BS. We have only started to fight at the end of 2006 and we are already feeling burned out. I can't imagine how it must feel for someone going through all this even longer. It is easy to see how many couples end up in divorce because it is hard sometimes hard to understand why your spouse would act the way he does when you don't understand the principle of PTSD. I never thought of divorce, but I have to admid, that - a very long time ago - I was getting very frustrated and impatient with this behavior. That was before I started learning about PTSD and before I read about all the other Vets having the same symptoms. I actually went to the last Psych C&P exam with my husband and told her everything from my perspective. I think it made a big impact, because the C&P came out very much in our favor. (I wish there was some kind of spouse support system). This board is keeping up sane, I think. I get so exited reading all the success stories, and even though we don't post much, just from reading all the advice, we are very much familiar with the names of most regular posters and we appreciate every one of them. Again, thank you for your post and your well wishes. To Commander Bob: This is the way we feel exactly. I mean the part about feeling lifted and reassured when reading the posts. This is what we do when our hope is low and we get excited with every success that is posted here. Hopefully we can soon post about our success so others can gain some hope from our post. Thanks for your support. I hope we can pass is forward soon.

23Eng. 3AD Dec.1990-June 1991

The PTSD is 100% service related. For the back and the knees the C&P says "as least as likely as not" (50/50). Both claims (VA/SSD) are for the same issues. We are getting by because we still have my income, but it's not easy. I think selling his truck was really the worst.. I think it's hard enough to deal with the depression, but when you have to sell everything that you have to get by, that makes it even worse. I am hoping, that it will lift his spirits once his rating gets increased (maybe he'll be able to get another truck someday!). I think it's a shame how they treat veterans that served their country. And they way they are downplaying the symptoms in their denial letter is an insult. Sorry about the rant, but it's just really frustrating.

Hi, this is the wife posting. Thank you, Bill, for posting that link. We checked it out and signed up, but I guess we will have to go to the VA first to get his identity confirmed before we can really use it? We do have a little update: the first appeal for social security was denied. We had sent them the results of the C&P exam on 12/14 and the letter of denial was dated 12/22. Doesn't really seem like they looked at the evidence at all. Both C&P's, the one for PTSD and the one for his back and knees state, that he is unable to work. Our financial situation looks rather bleak right now and we had high hopes that both claims would get approved after reading the C&P's. But, the denial from Social Security really put a damper on that. Lastly, I want to thank you all here for the information and support you are giving. I have spend hours, days reading through all the info and we probably wouldn't be as far as we are now without all the valuable information we gathered.

I do have a lawyer handling the appeal. After I received the denial I went to the SSA office for that and other issues, I kinda blew my top and decided it was best to let a lawyer handle it. I do know the SSDI takes a while and most likely will be denied again. As for the VA claim and TDUI. When I spoke to a VARO rep in Sept. 2010, she said they are trying to rush it through because the claims has been ongoing for a long time and they want to settle it as soon as possible. I think I will be hearing from them, brown envelope, sometime next month. But I still check the mail daily hoping they made the decission already.

That's great news. I had a similar problem with one of my former employers, took over a month for him to fill out and fax the form. Won't be much longer for you now. Rob

Hi folks It's been a while since I last posted here, and occasionally visit. My wife has been a great help and reads all the threads here, her memory is much better than mine. Hadit has been a great help to us and I recommend this site to all my Vet brothers I meet. Ok here is what has been taking place with my claim and letter of reconsideration. I resubmitted my claim for PTSD and others back in May 2009 for PTSD, knees, tinitus,back stomach and other issues I have, my SC was 30%. In Jan 2010 my claims were mostly denied with several deferred. I received a letter for a C&P for my ears (tinitus). I was then awarded 10% for my left ear and 0 for the right. I then went to my local VSO and he was and still is a great help. We put in a letter of reconsideration in April 2010. The end of July 2010 I received a call from the VARO saying it was in my favor and I would be happy with it. She asked if I still wished to put/keep the claim for the deferred claims and also for TDUI, I said yes. Two days later I received the brown envelope and my PTSD was raised to 50%, for a total of 60% SC. In October 2010 I was given appt's for two C&P's, one med. and the other for PTSD. My claim was at this point at the review board and it was going to the ratings board soon. I did both in November and received my copies of the results in the beginning of Dec 2010. I must add here that thanks to advice from folks here I now ask for copies of every visit to the VAMC. I do this every 3 months. I put an IRIS in last week and was told my claim was at the review board (again) on the 11th of Dec.2010. I have been having some success but the waiting now is driving me nuts. I am not working and money is very tight, living off what my wife earns so some good news would be great right now. I also was denied for SSDI and put in an appeal back in Aug 2010. I submitted the C&P results to the SSA office hoping it will help my claim. Thanks to all you folks here for the help and advice you give so freely to many of us confused vets. Best regards Rob

It's been three weeks now since I had the second c&p for my PTSD and no news yet. I saw my primary Doc on the 18th and that rose the stress level thru the roof. I think it went pretty good considering she was in a big hurry and didn't quite listen to what I had to say, cut me off in mid sentence most of the time. One positive thing she said (I hope) was that my med problems are not accute, but reacurring. She seemed surprised and kept asking why I never seeked med attention in the 17+ years that I've had the problems, until I said (3rd time) that I did in Germany and that I'm having a hard time getting the records. I basically have a bunch of appt's ahead. Went for the Xrays and EKG and have an MRI scheduled for 2 July. I am waiting for an appt for colanoscopy and a neuro appt. I hope all this will help in my claim, what do you think? Any other helpful advice would be great. I've learned ( my wife too ) so much since I've been reading this forum, you guys and gals are great. Oh yes before I forget, I have started the ball rooling with Voc Rehab and am waiting on those appt's. Rob

I spoke to some one at the VA 2 weeks ago about the Voc Rehab and filled out the paper work, he said I qualify for it. I Haven't turned in the VA form 2 8-1900 form yet because I didn't know if I should wait til after the up coming appointments. What kind of evaluation would that be, and does it help me with my sc claim rating? I'll send it off to the VARO asap and will talk to the Vov Rehab rep when I go there tomorrow. Thank you for your help and advice, I've learned a lot reading these forums.

Thanks for your reply. I am able to work , work is pretty slow so they laid 4 of us off. I'm worried that I may have another bad dizzy spell and fall again on the job when I do go back to work. I'm extremely cautious lately especially when I drive alone, I've had dizzy spells and hot flashes while driving. I had seen a doc prior to being laid of work and still had med insurance, I submitted these records with my claim. I had only gone once to see a doctor, in Aug 08, he wrote something about the dizzy spells and that I was in desert storm. I will have to find my copie to see exactly what he wrote. Once I get my VIC card I will start going to the VAMC more often and hopefully get treated for my problems. Rob

Hi All I discovered this great site a few days ago and wow you guys are great. I'm slowly reading thru the posts and am still a bit confused about a lot of things. Just a quick intro about myself. I served in the USMC and USA from 1984-1992 and a Desert Storm vet. I Lived in Germany up until 5 years ago and only filed a claim with the VA 2 1/2 years ago, I am 30% SC for PTSD, my other claims were denied due to lack of evidence. I don't have much in my med records because I never went to a doctor for my headaches and others problems that weren't that bad at the time. I know I should have gone to doctors but in my job I couldn't just take time off when appointments were scheduled weeks in advance, and my quitting time was mostly early evenings. I am still trying to obtain copies of my med records from my German doctor with no luck. I spoke to a VA rep about 3 or 4 weeks ago and told him that my other symptoms ,Headaches, stomach and knee problems have become more frequent and severe and that I also no longer have medical insurance due to being laid off work. A week later I started getting letters and forms from the VA to fill out and also an eval appointment for my PTSD. I had a follow up exam last week and the doc said that basically my PTSD ( depression and insomnia) has worsened, and that she will recommend a higher rating. What or how high of a rating can I expect to get?? I know this next question is unrelated to this PTSD forum but I'll ask anyways, sorry. I received from the VA rep that I spoke to a month ago, a copy of va form 21-4138 statement in support of claim, that he had written as we spoke. In it he wrote that I am claiming sc headache, blackouts,stomache aches, sc for both knees,tinnitus and sleep apnea. I have an app. this week to have blood taken and on the 18th an app. with a doctor. My headaches have lead to dizzy spells and a few black outs and my stomach aches are a daily thing now especially after I eat. I guess my questions is how good are the chances of getting a rating for these problems with little med references ?? Sorry for the long post, I've been having problems trying to understand how things are done with the VA. I get confused and feel like a 4 year old at times because the simplest things sometimes make no sense to me. I love my wife for not losing her patience with me, most of the time atleast. Thank you in advance for any advice and help you can give me. Rob