masters101

I applied for social security in July 2009, I had two doctor evaluations. The phychologist said I was unable to work and suffer from severe depression. The other Doctor; Dr Sherman flat out lied in his evaluation. He asked me how much I could lift and I told him my 3 current Doctors do not recommend more than 5 pounds, he put down 25 to 50 lbs. I have had four surgeries on my knees and need a complete knee replacement. He put down that I could bend and move my knees with no problem. He asked me to squat and I told him I could not, he put down in the report that I did not squat but later said I could squat with no problem. He took a couple xrays and reported nothing wrong with back and neck. Even though I have two separate MRI reports which I brought with me, showing I have four herniated disk, four ruptured disk, spondylitis, and of no range of motion. He asked how long I could sit without pain and I told him 15 minutes, he put down in his report that I can sit for 6 hours out of 8. I am still in complete shock at how off base this bastard was from the truth. I have three other Doctor reports that say the compete opposite of this Guy. Is there anything that can be done to this Doctor? What this guy is doing is criminal and He should be removed from this type of evaluation. Based on his evaluation I will probably be hiring a lawyer. He even handed me a brochure for a law firm that specializes in getting social security approved.

Hi Carlie yes we are both veterans, I am rated at 50 percent currently. My wife is rated at 20 percent. Thanks to hadit and the great members we are working with the DAV to have them increased. It really has been a frustrating process , however the awesome forums have made it a lot easier on he both od us. I had my 3 C&P evaluations in the last two weeks. I sincerely feel they went really well, I need to get a copy of the C&P evaluations next week. Thank you again Carlie you really have been a great help to a lot of suffering Vets.

Great advice, we are so thankful to have found hadit. We have just begun to fight, with the help of hadit we will win. My wife has several Doctors reports stating she has degenerative disk syndrome, spondylosis. Hopefully with these prognosis and her limited range of motion she might get rated over her zero percent. I feel her treatment and rating is criminal. She has to wear braces on her legs to simply walk and she can not bend over to tie her shoe.

Thank you for everyones help. My wife went back for her C&P part two and simply did a range of motion test. The exam took 5 minutes. Carlie I tried the link you sent and nothing was there.

We did not have to file a NOD, we contacted the VA via IRIS and the set up a new C&P for my wife. She had her make up C&P evaluation and all they did was a range of motion on her back. The entire C&P took 7 minutes. I guess we wait for a hopefully good outcome.

I have a simple question and would really appreciate some other veterans thoughts on this matter. Does the DAV work for the Veterans or the VA?

Wow what a crazy day, my wife had her second C&P today. It was crazy, i went along with her to ensure total honesty and to make sure the evaluation was completed. The VA Doctor or contractor would not let me go into the exam with her. He said his office was to small and we could come back another day and re-schedule with another Doctor or have the exam without anyone else present. We told him that the exam would not take place without me present. He said fine re-schedule and left, he was not friendly at all in fact he had my wife in tears. UGHHHHHHHHHHH!! We were lucky the girls working the schedule were able to get her back with another Doctor and we only waited 45 minutes. The C&P was simply a range of motion and it took 8 minutes tops. The paperwork my wife got from the VA said it would be 120 minutes.

:D Wow, I continue to be amazed by the VA. My wife was released from the USAF on a medical disability. She recently received a rating that stated, "VA examination was conducted and results show an increased severity of your lumbar spine condition that would warrant an evaluation of 40 percent disabling. However VA examiner reported that the the test results were unreliable. Wpon Waddell's testing, the results revealed regional wakness or sensory changes which deviate from accepted neuroanatomy. We requested VA examiner to clarify the fndings and examiner responded that the range of motion findings are not reliable and that further examinations are not expected to briing forth a different outcome." So she was given a rating of zero percent, she is on heavy medication and can barely walk. Please help what do we do?

Larrry you are the best, thank you very much your advise. I plan on following your advise and planning to go to war with the VA. My DAV rep has sent my paper work into the VA for TDIU, I told him several great veterans told me to proceed and he agreed. He said being at a satelite office was a real disadvantage, I did not understand what he was talking about. Thank you again Larry Masters

I am really amazed at the very little in COLA to the disabled veterans. I know gas prices our up, food is up, cost of health insurance is up, medication is up, car insurance is up, rent prices our up. Everything goes up and pay stays the same; making a very small pension even smaller. Masters

Thank you very much, I really appreciate all of the advice I have received on this site. I am ready for a long battle and will never give up. This site has given me the extra power I need to stand and fight. For that I really thank everyone who has helped me. Masters

I really appreciate your inputs and plan to follow your advice. I have filled out the form, attached all four of my IME and several other important medical documents. I really believe this might be the correct way to approach the VA. Thank you again; and i will make sure and keep copies of everything. Thanks again Masters

I really hope so. My DAV representative does not understand why it is not at 10 percent either.

Hi Larry I went to the DAV office today and the representative told me I could not apply for TDIU until I was 70 percent? He said one item must be at 40 percent and my rating at 70 percent, or on issue with a single 60 percent. I am still going to fill out the form and have my DAV representative send it in. Thank you very much for the heads up. Masters

Thank you very much Sir.

Hi, and thank you so much for your help. I have felt all alone for a long time and someone told me about this website. I really do not know how to express my complete gratitude to everyone. Pain, depression and the inability to provide for your family are no fun. I did receive my VCAA letter from the VA with a 27 August 2009 Date. They had lost one of my most valuable IME. I had the DAV send another one out and I also sent it via USPS and had them sign for the IME. The IME lost by the VA is by far my strongest one and is over 14 pages of detailed information on my current medical condition. I sincerely hope it was an honest mistake on the VA's part. He clearly stated I was not fit to work due to severe pain and high levels of medication. Maam, I am also surprised my DAV representative did not file the paper work for TDIU. I have taken your advice and have filled it out and will be at my DAV's office tomorrow morning. The DAV representative has been a real light in the dark for me and I highly respect him. He is over worked and under paid, but very much appreciated by myself and other Veteran. I a sure it was an oversight and we will get it fixed tomorrow. Here is one of the letters my Psychiatrist wrote: His second letter said I was unfit to work due to my service connected injury. Mr. Blank is currently a patient being seen at my clinic for depression. His back and neck injury sustained on active duty in the USAF appears more likely than not to be the cause of his depression. Mr. Blank’s accident has caused him severe pain and suffering and continues to play a role in his daily life. Mr. Blank suffers from the following conditions due to his depression; both occupational and social impairment with major issues with family relations, mood swings, reduced reliability and productivity due to panic attacks daily; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short and long term memory; he has difficulty remembering task and major issue’s with impaired judgment; disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives and close co workers. Impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships. Deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking or mood, due to such symptoms as: obsession rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure , or irrelevant; or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control such as unproved irritability with periods of violence; spatial disorientation; neglect or personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances at home and work. Inability to establish and maintain effective relationships at work and home. Mr. Blank also suffers from the loss of consortium, the loss of society. Based on the case history and above test findings, it appears injury sustained in the military is the contributing factor to patient’s depression and has been ongoing for years and will continue for lifetime. Current medication: 60 MG Cymbalta daily, 30 MG Temazepam daily, 300 MG lithium Carbonate daily. I also sent off a request via the IRIS site this morning and received the following email reply. Right now we are in the development stage of your claim, which is where we obtain information and gather evidence to substantiate your claim of disabilities that were incurred or aggravated during your service to our country. Our records indicate that we have received all requested information. Your file is currently pending review to ensure we have all necessary evidence and documentation to submit your claim to the rating board, which is where we will review your file and make a decision on service connection and disability percentages. The claims process can be lengthy due to the many processes that must take place. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work our way through the claims processing procedures. Thank you again for your help and guidance.

I am currently rated at 50% with the VA. (40 % Back/10% Neck/ 0% Tinnitus/Hearing Loss/ 0% eyes) I have asked for an increase with the help of the DAV on June 15, 2009 for the following: 1. Tinnitus- I have two doctors letters clearly establishing my extreme tinnitus and connection with my USAF active duty days. In addition the VA has issued me hearing aids. 2. Fibromyalgia: I have two separate doctors who have completed an IME and both say it is more likely than not do to my accident in the USAF. My Fibromyalgia is very painful and has made my body into a cage of pain. 3. Neck pain has increased to severe levels. The pain is constant and I cannot do many normal things. My pain and inability to move my neck has lead to being relieved from my job. My latest MRI report shows severe stenosis and several bulging disk. I have two Doctors letters clearly stating the injury was from my USAF active duty and my condition is severe. 4. Depression, my Psychologist wrote a two page IME and has diagnosed me with severe depression due to my service connected injury. In addition two of my other Doctors have concurred and I included those Doctor reports to the VA. I am highly medicated by my Doctor 5. Severe debilitating migraines: I included two separate Doctor reports which clearly show my neck and back injury are the reason for my migraine headaches. 6. Loss of feeling and numbness in my arms and legs. 7. I have applied for social security but have not heard back from them as of 21 October 2009. 8. I am unable to work with all of my medical conditions; the medicaitons i take keep me in a constant gray area. In addition i am having issues with both short and long term memory. I would like to get some advice from my fellow Veterans. Any advice or thoughts are welcomed both positive and negative. I realize I am fighting an up-hill battle with the VA. Because I have so many issues will my file fall to the waist side? Any chance of my file being complete within 1 year? I have not been set up for any C&P exams as of today. Is it possible to have a rating completed without several C&P’s? What weight does a C&P have over two and three highly credible Doctors? I have several IME some of them are 7 to 10 pages longs.

Wow, this site is really awesome. There are a lot of true hero's on this site and I wanted to say thank you very much. If someone could please help me out on a time frame for finding out a decision that would be great. Me and my wife are both disabled veterans and this site has really been a great benefit. My wifes original file was placed in November 2008 with the DAV in Las Vegas, the C&P evaluation was in June. The VA doctor who performed her C&P said it was more likely than not that the back pain was causing all of the knee problems. My wife was separated from the USAF for back problems in 1995, however only rated at zero percent. Her back problems are severe and it has spread to both of her knee's. She has to wear knee braces full time to simply walk. She is a school teacher and this has become very hard on her body. We sent a request with IRIS this morning and received the following: Our records show that your claim is currently in line at the rating board awaiting a final decision. We do not have a timeframe on when your claim will be complete as each regional office has different workloads. Once your claim is complete, you will receive a notification letter, via U.S. mail, explaining our decision in detail. Thank you for your assistance and patience through this process. Could someone please give us a time table or best guess? Again thank you very much.