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brokensoldier244th
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Posts posted by brokensoldier244th
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Edited. Thanks!
Re-attached. I figure if the specifics dont exactly mate up, the overall format might help, or at least give an idea of how I think. The ED was eventually rated SC, by the way. Now im appealing the lack of SMC- K for the last 3 years. or so.
CAS
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Okay, here they are. 1 is a NOD for radiculopathy and ED/Dysfunction, the other is a short NOD for when they reduced my apnea back to 0% (citing CUE on their part, and a doctor that I never saw)
With that one, I reference a clarification that I asked her to write (which she did, and I submitted separately)
Both edited to remove names, but not much else. Sit back and PREPARE to BE AMAZED!
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I would love to see it. This sounds like the approach I was going to take as well. Give them absolutely zero reasons for them to not give me the proper rating with all of the information spoon fed to them. I will admit, I presented my case similar to this initially but I guess I reallllly need to spell things out for them on this go around.
Hopefully the envelope will get here soon and I can see what they based their decision on. I also need to order my C-file and hope they'll get that to me sometime in the near future as well.
Okay, check your PM and they will be there. One was a simple Notice of Denial, the other was more intricate.
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aha, I see now. Okay. :-)
The last time I did one like this, where the criteria and rating didnt match, I sent an appeal that looked like a 4 pg short term paper (I was in school at the time) Annotated, with foot notes pointing to dates in my treatment records that I made copies of from my Cfile and included at the end, as addendums. I then highlighted the relevant portions of my doc notes, and labeled them according to the footnotes. Its at BVA with VSO right now. We'll see what they say when they see THAT! I can send you a copy of what I sent them (for bilateral radiculopathy) so you can see what I mean, if you want.
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Why a fight? 80% is a pretty high rating, while still being able to work. Ive not had a fight with the VA for anything-I file, wait, get the results. Appeal if I need to. I don't consider it a fight. Putting in that context just stresses people out.
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Check your rating letter on eBenefits. It should have changed to reflect whatever rating you have
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All I have to say is good on you. Its a thing that happens. While I never saw it while serving, after I got home I worked in a Max security state penitentiary, and it was something that we had to be aware of. Im very glad that it is starting to come out of the dark because there should be no more stigma attached to it than there is for those of our fairer gender. Hopefully this article helps a little with that.
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Employer filled out/faxed a 21-4192 at behest of VA, even though im still employed.
Here is what they wrote on my form before they sent it, " Lowered call volume, reduced client contact, tier 1 only calls (easy), no site visits, extended breaks" in the section labeled "If veteran is not working...." they continued "Lowered employee review, 6 month perform imrov plan enacted 1JAN". I also no longer travel for the company (since im only tier 1 calls) and have had hostility/cust perf evaluation issues where Ill score high on 'fixing' it, but very low on 'attitude, helpfulness, etc'. Reduced reliability, and 38 absenses last year also.
Ive talked about these issues with my MH person, and we've adjusted meds and we're going to start weekly counseling again, at least for awhile. My seretraline is going to be upped, and Im being put on Trazadone, also. -
Yes, if you are using a civilian doctor they have to have viewed the SMR other wise there is no basis for their opinion with regard to service connection.
I know it is necessary to have the term "at least as likely as not" in a nexus letter. Is it necessary to have the expert state that they have viewed the veteran's service medical records even if we are not claiming any evidence from that time? I would like to move forward with the IMO but it will likely take several months to obtain the SMR from VA.
Thanks,
Kate
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ED percentage is always 0% SC, and SMC-K is 105.00 a month now, I think. My ED is in part to meds and in part to lower (SC) back nerve damage, but for some reason the SMC part was never put on. Going on 2.5 yrs now on appeal.
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Short answer, as long as it takes. Sorry-there isn't really an average time for stuff like that. I have what I would construe as a pretty simple appeal (Im SC for ED, yet no SMC-K) and its been 2 years, just an example.
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Thanks for the opinion. My initial exam 2 years ago was 30% and only noted Depressed Mood as the symptom. The evidence of medication was added to it later and it was raised to 50%. The symptoms noted in this newest one has 5 more things noted that were not present before, and there are also things noted in my wife's letter of support that I noted in the exam that he did not type up. There are some things we discussed that did not make it into the notes here-perhaps there is a longer version of the questionairre? Violent outbursts at home and while driving (mentioned in exam happening weekly), Cleaning/rearranging incessantly, usually in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, picking on my fingers and feet until they bleed. All these were discussed and in some cases questioned further in our session, but did make it into the notes.
Im going to see my psych tomorrow to discuss, as well.
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updating this for future searchers. The notes he posted can usually be gotten under the "Download Blue Button Data" a few days after exam. This is still true as of today, as I downloaded mine, also.
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Here are the notes that popped up on MyHealthVet from the questionnaire. He didn't note the fingerpicking/cuticles until bleeding, even though I was doing it at times during the interview. He also didn't note much about managing finances (said "Veteran capable of managing finances") , nor holes in walls at home, or my episodes of slamming brakes in traffic with family in car if DW tries to correct driving from the route I have in my head/appointed myself.
*shrug*
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Lol. Define 'better'? *my wife would like to know) Were you just going through a down period or did you manage to stabilize?
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Doc was good, session took about an hour. Hit all the fine points and let me work off my list of notes and somewhat direct the conversation. I know that without the report yet, its difficult to say, but what are the thoughts based on this? Last C&P was almost 2 years ago. Does any of this warrant a possible increase from 50% to 70%? It looks like under the new DSM that my prior diag. of MDD actually could fall under MDD/W mixed features. Not sure if that matters now-can C&P doctors change a diagnosis that has been previously established?
Had my sit down with C&P MH the other day. Its been a year and a half since my last one-over that time ive increased meds twice (once from just counseling to meds, then a year later an increase to those), and between my wife and I compiled a list of things that are either newly evident or worse than they were when I was rated 50% for MDD.
Increases in work absences (14 in that prior year, 38 this last year in 11 months)Actual write ups at work for client/co-worker demeanor and attitude-on 'improvement plan over next 6 months' if I don't improve Ill be terminated (IT/Support). Reduced duties, no travel, no unsupervised local client visits-last job I had for 10 months before that, lost because of customer attitude/emotional anger outbursts (IT/Support)-job before that and being rated at all I had for 5.5 yrs, but the last year and a half I had same issues as above and when company was sold I was not retained, same field.Picking on nails/cuticles until bleeding-never did that before, now I do it constantly on my thumb and index fingers-noticed during exam as well.She (wife) handles almost all the money now because my frequency of spending has increased to where we had to file 13 a year ago (just me)weekend when she does not see me because I don't get out of bednot showering/shaving 3 or more days a week in a rowincreased withdrawal from family and friends-wife travels alone w/kids increasinglyHere is the current list of issues as discussed on Friday
- separate parts of the house
-comes home-whirlwind through common areas/LR/Kitchen-if unkept immediately starts cleaning. No asking about day, no “hi honey/hi kids, how was school”. Oldest daughter thinks he doesn’t care about anything about her. Youngest daughter scared of him when he gets angry.
-house damage-holes in wall from hitting, chairs. Broken glass stove top, requiring new stove
unkept yard/grass/trash-neighbor complaints. Vehicle maintenance not kept up, doesn’t remember oil, gas, tires. His car is a mess of wrappers/cups, etc-yet house has to be spotless?
- random yelling/throwing tantrums about little things like a small change in a plan, or something not being picked up. will be up at all hours of the night cleaning/sweeping/picking up things. Was pulling up carpet in daughters room-3 am WHILE they were sleeping in there.
-Does not go to mall, social get togethers with friends/family, opting to stay home. Has said more than once, increasing in the last few years that “if I just had an internet connection I would be happy” Will ‘zone out on internet for hours, with us in the room. Does not remember familiy dates/birthdays, phone numbers. Does not remember to take medication consistently-has internet reminders and sticky notes everywhere
-will spend literally all weekend in bed, even if I have to work
-Discussed SI for the first time, no plan, but I did relate starting the car in the garage one day to warm it up, and then falling asleep in the drivers seat with the car running, and that Ive had increasing thoughts in the last year since I have a job with benefits that life insurance isn't a bad thing-even though the better part of me knows that SI and Life insurance don't mix and it would probably be denied
-financial irregularities!!! bills not paid unless I do them, shut off notices at least once a month for something. Spends money on watches, mostly-constantly mailing watches out (selling) or buying them off internet.
-had to file BK last year to save house
-Dropped out of Masters program in compu/Sci/Security due to memory problems, late assignments/projects, missing meetings with advisor, and financial problems.
-consistency with employer-38 absences from Feb to Dec 2013. Performance Imp plan for work, have to clear any and all absences-even for PTO.
-loss of opportunity-cannot travel, inconsistent demeanor with clients, liability
-Co-workers don’t like him, don’t want to work with him, despite his knowledge of networking/products.
- Emotional inconsistency daily-on days he is 'on' he can almost be hyper, funny, over engaging. On days when he's down, he is reclusive, aloof, and surly.
-Last three jobs: Terrascan, 5+ years (2006-2011), but the last year was so inconsistent, and resulted in write ups for job performance, accuracy, customer demeanor, and eventual firing
-Xotic PC, as Service Manager (March 2011-Jan 2012) -was fired for cust demeanor, verbal clashes with boss/owner
-Stanley Healthcare (Feb 2013-Present) -has received negative writeups from customer (directly referencing him) as a negative influence. Inconsistency/accuracy with job duties-forgets online meetings, forgets client followups, cannot go to local repair/install jobs unsupervised. No promotability. Currently on 'performance improvement plan' for 6 months. If no improvement, looking at termination.
-Prior job record and BK is a liability for security clearance for work/HIPPA data/client servers. Inconsistency in relations with co-workers, and unpredictability/panic in unfamiliar situations has barred him for travel to other offices (Boston, Ottawa, Calif.)
-has used company credit card for personal purchases, groceries/gas due to his problems with spending family money-has had that card taken away.
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This has to do with a slight miscalculation of COLA for the beginning of the year. They re-ran the algorithm and so corrections went out with this payment.
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Ebenefits is not the problem so much as its only as accurate as the RO that updates it. If they mandated that your info was updated then Ebenefits would be more useful. I still use it for letters, and for printing off my payment history (when applying for a loan ro something for example)
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Go with the most recent determination, it takes precedence over any priors. You are P&T. Laminate that letter, too. CYA and all that.
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That entry about the change to your disability might be causing the glitch-in that case, if they are going to increase it then you may get a 2nd deposit of some amount to cover the arrears for the new/adjusted rating.
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If it actually paid you twice, thats a problem. If its just the table on the web page, don't worry about it. Its a glitch in the table in the table in the webcoding.
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The 1 Jan payment was Decembers. The 30 Jan is for Jan, which would normally happen on 1 FEB. Did you actually get an extra payment, or are you just looking at the schedule payment history?
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VA pays in arrears. The 1 JAN payment was for DEC. The payment today is for Jan, but since the 1st of Feb is a weekend, they paid it today, rather than on the 3rd.
CAS
Cedric SatterfieldTechnical Support Engineer, STANLEY Healthcare -
There is no limit for the EZ form, but it is dependent on your providing all the relevant info that it asks for. Either will work, the EZ form just has fewer pages, and I think a few years ago my rep told me that they wanted to transition to that form across the board. If you have all the info you need scanned already, you can do the form through Ebenefits and just attach the scanned docs to it that way and submit rather than dealing with snail mail, etc. You can always hand carry it to your RO later if you need to. Just print a copy from Ebenefits before you submit so you don't have to fill it all out again. VA doesn't accept physical discs/thumbdrives, etc, though, so youd need to print it all out if you hand carry/mail to the VA RO.
Good luck!
Currently 50% Mdd, C&p The Other Day...here's How It Went Down
in Veterans Compensation & Pension Exams
Posted
Here's some of my more recent treatment notes.