chr49

vync is correct. Here's a link to the Federal Registry Rules and Regs as of June 30th, 2008 [PART 70—VHA BENEFICIARY TRAVEL UNDER 38 U.S.C. 111] http://www1.va.gov/orpm/docs/20080630_AM02...ciaryTravel.pdf

In a perfect world this would solve so many problems! But then, we have learned that we must be realistic and making our lives easy is against the rules!

https://iris.va.gov/scripts/iris.cfg/php.ex...nduser/home.php

Pete53 Sorry to hear that you're being put thru all of this. I know my reaction would be similar to yours if it were me. My wife worked in a hospital for several years so I asked her what action she'd recommend and she agreed with Sharon, go thru the hospital's customer service/patient advocate or patient representative first. Your VAMC's website should have their direct numbers if they haven't provided you with a list. Best of luck with all of this.

Oh, Murfreesboro VAMC is SE of the Nashville VAMC. I figure is about 20 miles but it could be less.

Wish I could be more help but I don't live in the Nashville area either. I'm actually on the northeastern edge of their service area, 2 1/2 hours from either facility. The VSO that was recommended to me is based at the Murfreesboro VAMC: TDVA/Veterans Benefits Representative 1-800-876-7093 Ext. 26930 See http://www.tennesseevalley.va.gov/ for info on either facility Perhaps a better place to start would be the Nashville Vet Center. I've gone to the Knoxville Vet Center and found them extremely helpful when I had questions. Here's the info on that: Nashville Vet Center 1420 Donelson Pike Suite A-5 Nashville, TN 37217 Phone: 615-366-1220 Best wishes on all of this

I use the TN VSO at the Murfreesboro VAMC. He's had the position for 30 years now and was highly recommended when I filed my claim for PTSD. I have quite a distance to drive to the facility so I try to check in with him every time I have an appointment and he always makes time for me. Might be worth consideration.

Hey Pete53 Many thanks to you for your service, and thanks for bearing with that outburst from my past. I feel the same way you do about the constant deployments our military is currently going thru. I can't begin to imagine how difficult it must be for the military and their families. They have so much to be proud of!

rlarc, It's good to hear from you. I'm going off track here....Just need to get it out... I don't know about you, but when I returned to my hometown in '71 I wasn't welcomed, honored, or considered a hero. I had done my best for my country. I'd given up on all of my hopes & dreams, but none of that mattered, I was an embarrassment. It really hurt that I was treated as if I was a criminal for going to 'Nam. Family and friends didn't want to hear anything about what I'd gone thru. They told me not to think/talk about it and move on. My wife left me shortly after I returned. She didn't want to deal with my problems either. My nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety attacks ruled my life and the only way to escape was by getting drunk and/or high. Nobody mentioned PTSD back then. I was simply labeled as 'changed', 'unpredictable', and 'angry'. Years later, when I finally got sober & clean, it was like a flood gate opened, making me face everything I had been hiding for so many years. Thankfully I had a better support system at that point but it was still very difficult. It was several years after that, when I had setback, that it was pointed out that I was most likely dealing with PTSD. Once the diagnosis was confirmed I was encouraged to file a claim for disability. Nowadays, life isn't perfect but I have the support I need to make it and that means so much. Sites like Hadit do make a difference. There isn't a day that I don't think about our younger veterans. I hope and pray that they are receiving better treatment while in the service and upon their return home than I received. Any person that services our country deserves to be treated with respect and caring.

That's definitely something to look forward to. Don't you just love those puppy kisses?

Maset, I'm new here but I support Pete23's opinion. It works for me. I've found that getting into a project (anything I can dig into mentally) really helps me thru the bad times. I admit that I get a bit obsessive about my projects but I figure whatever I can do to make it thru the bad times is OK. My projects keep me from falling into the deep dark hole I tend to visit more frequent than not. Hang in there!

Thank you Carlie!

Thanks hawkfire27 & vmo. My wife thought that might be the case. She has kept a list of all of my visits to either VAMC [date/reason] so that will help me with dates. Knowing the proper VA terminology will be most difficult for me since I don't know exactly what tests/procedures were done during some of the visits, such as when I went into ER with severe upper abdominal pain and they thought it might be a heart attack. Using the time frame for records may be key in my situation. Your info will help me do things right the first time around -- I hope.

Carolinda, Congrats! I love a success story!

Thanks everybody! You've really made me feel at home here. My wife and I were talking earlier about the fact that so many vets have stories that are similar to mine. Denial seems to be quite common from what I'm reading. How did I find Hadit?? Actually, my wife found you while surfing the net! I think she started out at watchdog but it's really hard to say. She does a lot of my research and helps me with typing since I have little patience for those things. I'm one of those people that use 1 finger to type a message so it takes forever! I do have a few questions for those that are in the know. I hope I'm posting this in the right place. My wife has located the form to get my medical records directly from the VAMC's I've been to. The form looks pretty straight forward but I'm wondering if requesting my "complete medical file" will be sufficient or should I be more specific? We're looking at records from Aug. 2007 thru now but I've had numerous procedures, a couple ER visits, C&P's etc and I have to submit 2 requests (Murfreesboro and Nashville). Is it best to go thru the individual VAMCs? Does anybody know if this is super expensive? Thanks ahead for any advice you can give me.

I'd like to thank everybody for your kind messages. I find your information quite interesting. Yes, I was in an in country RVN in '70-'71: Btry C 2d BN 319 Arty 101st Div (AMBL) RVN USARPAC Btry B 2d BN 319 Arty 101st ABN Div (AMBL) RVN USARPAC MOS: 1193 My plan at this point, thanks to Hadit, is to get my hands on all of my medical records and my C-file so I can go over everything thoroughly. I'm new to all of this so I'm sure there will be lots of work to do. As far as heart disease goes. I have some concern because I started smoking while in the service and although I've tried everything possible to quit, I've never been completely successful. I'm afraid the fact that I still smoke occasionally (1/2 pack/week) will prevent me from being SC'ed on any heart or vascular disease. I've been clean and sober since 1992 and can honestly say that it was not as difficult as quitting smoking. I've always been overweight in the VA's eyes but I've varied very little since my separation so I may be OK on that. My biggest problem is the fact that, due to my PTSD, I avoided any/all medical care until 1998. I don't believe I had a medical exam when I was released in '71 but I could be wrong on that. As far as diabetes goes, thankfully, I've never been diagnosed. I can only remember have an elevated blood sugar twice since 1998 and I think I had a mint candy prior to my blood work one of those times. Thanks for making me feel welcome.

I spent 36 years trying hard to deny any connection to the VA. In 2007, a kind man convinced me that I was dealing with PTSD and needed to be seen by a professional. I entered a VAMC in August 2007, while hitting my bottom, and have been under their care since then. I filed claim for PTSD in February 2008 and am currently SC'ed for PTSD at 50%. Along with my PTSD, I deal with hypertension, bilateral peripheral vascular disease with occlusion of my right femoral artery and carotid stenosis with occlusion of my right carotid artery. I am not SC'ed for these problems at this time. I've been searching thru Hadit for information and support. Since I've spent so many years denying everything it's been very hard to go back to thinking about it nearly every day. Thank you so much for providing this wonderful site for vets to research and learn about our options.

Welcome to Hadit Smilen66... If you want to delete your hadit.com cookies you will find a link below the MEB/PEB Physical OR Medical Evaluation Forum. It's off to the right hand side of the screen in smaller print. I also use Mozilla Foxfire. To delete Foxfire cookies go to Tools, followed by Options & Privacy. Once you are at the Privacy window you will find a 'Show Cookies' link which will take you to a list of cookies on your computer. Below the list you will have the option to remove individual cookies (highlighted) or to remove all cookies. Hope this helps....

I'm a 'Nam vet. After over 35 years, I ended up going to the VA for medical treatment in 2007. So far everybody's treated me with respect. I've run into a few people with attitudes but nothing serious. I try hard to treat people as I would want to be treated if I were in their place so that may make a difference. Truth is, I have more trouble when I'm trying to connect with a real person on the phone. I have no patience for automated phone systems and get so frustrated. A lot of the systems won't allow you to hit 0 for an operator these days. Recently I was trying to get medical records from a FL based hospital sent to my VRO in TN. After several calls/minutes trying to get thru to hospital's medical records department, I finally got a hold of a real person and explained that I'd received second notice from the VA because they hadn't received my medical records and the gal immediately shut me down saying I would have to come to hospital before they could give me any information since it was the VA. I remained calm/polite and explained that I now live in TN, and the VRO had sent my signed records release as a courtesy to me and it was my responsibility to see that they receive the records. She put me on hold and returned to say that she'd found my release at the bottom of a pile. She then asked me for the VRO's fax number, which I didn't have. So, I told her to call the 800 number and we ended our conversation with her promise to fax the records that day.....but that's not the end of the story....I thought I'd better follow thru so I called the 800 number, since I hadn't done that yet. After 12 minutes trying to get thru the VA's automated system I knew the hospital wouldn't waste their time so I stuck with it and finally got thru to a rep. I got my VRO's fax number and called the hospital back with the info. They really appreciated my help. While I was at it I asked them to mail me their hospital release form & fee requirements so I can get hard copies of my records for my files. The VA doesn't make things easy..that's for sure...but it's pretty much the way it is everywhere these days and treating everybody as you would want to be treated does help a bit.

Hi, I've been a member since Feb. 7th and made 4-5 posts of which only 2 are showing up. I can't go into my profile to edit information or download files and many links taking me to the error page, no permission thing. I'd like to be able to join the community as a full member soon, if it's possible. Can anybody advise me on what I'm doing wrong? Clair

--------------------------- Congrats Quibley! It's good to hear that things are working out for you. I've been lurking and learning myself! This is a great site for those who want help and want to learn to do things the right way.

You never know who's words will lift you out of the desperation you are feeling. In 2007, I had lost a job of 23 years. At the age of 57, they told me they didn't need me anymore and I had hit bottom. After 9 months, I found a service technician position for 1/3 of what I'd been making and my family was barely surviving. My anxiety level was constantly off the roof. I felt worthless and ashamed. To top of all of those feelings, I had just learned that my hours at the new job were being cut back. One day, I was having an extra bad day when a customer came in (a man I'd worked with several times) and we got to talking while I was working on his unit. It didn't take long and I was telling him my feelings. We had quite a long discussion, talking about my Vietnam experience and everything else you could think of. When he was ready to leave the shop he asked me if I'd ever been evaluated for PTSD or been to the VA for a medical evaluation. When I told him I'd avoided the VA ever since leaving the Army he suggested I go to the ER at a VA medical center in our area if I continued feeling the way I was. He said he thought they would be most helpful in my situation. I felt so much better after speaking to him and I told him I would consider his recommendations. The thing is, he had all the right words when I needed to hear them. Other people had told me I needed to get help over the years but this man's kindness and caring had made the difference. A few days later, I woke up in the same state of mind and his words came back to me so I headed to the VA medical center's emergency room. I've heard all sorts of horror stories where the VA was concerned and didn't have much trust left in me - but I have to say that I was treated with respect and caring. That day made a huge difference in my life. Please - Where ever you are - Who ever you are - If you are having feelings of worthlessness, or suicidal thoughts, please don't be afraid or ashamed to head to your nearest VA facility or hospital for help or pick up that phone and call the suicide hot line! It could make the difference in your life as it did in mine.