jessie0054

bob_abad: See my post under Just received the C&P report!! It might be of help to you. Jessie

Hello Berta: Yes the examiner gave the following Rational for opinion given: [1] CAD and PTSD= There is medical evidence that PTSD has a role in causing or increasing currently acepted pathways of CAD. [2] Hypertension and PTSD = There is Medical evidence that PTSD has a role in the hypertensive disease state by playing into the pathologic conditions which inderectly create hypertensive states. [3] There is evidence in the clinical medical literature to link PTSD to the causation of Sleep Apnea from a number of different pathways. The examiner encluded these supporting Links in his report. Sleep Med Rev. 2005 Jun: 9 [3] : 211-24 Links Sleep apnea is a manifestion of the Metabolic syndrome, Vgantzas AN, Bixler EO. Chrousos GP. [ whatever all that means] Department of psychiatry HO73, Penn State College of medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. There were about 6-7 other links mentioned with the C&P report but i don't have time right now to mention them all. But i feel that my husband has a very good chance of getting SC for the secondary conditions based on this C&P. Jessie

Thanks Pete53 I appreciate the Prayer and candle!! Jessie

Just received the C&P reports for my husband's claims of conditions of Hypertension, CAD and Sleep Apnea as secondary to PTSD. All looks Favorable But not putting all the eggs in the same basket until we get an award letter. Examiner's states " Hepertension, CAD and Sleep Apnea [ is at least as likely as not caused by or a result of the conditions of the Veterans PTSD] Will let you know how it turns out. Wish us luck!! Jessie

Pilgrim: Yes the Nerve damage to his legs was caused by the disk at level L5-S1. He was rated at 40% for the back and 20% for the nerve damage. Jessie

Hope this answeres your question: My son received a rating for his back and a separate rating for the nerve damage to his legs. Jessie

Broncovet: Thanks for your reply: It is my husband who has OSA: He was diagnosed a couple years ago and we are trying to connect it as secondary to the service connected PTSD. He does use the CPAP machine. Only using the CPAP caused him more problems. About 6 months after starting the CPAP he complained of having a cold sore in the left side of his nose, this cold sore would never heal and finally occluded the whole left side of his nose until he could not breath through it at all so i called his PCP at the local VA and set up an appointment to have it checked out. He went in for this and they sent him right down to xray for a CT scan which showed this massive growth. It had also broke through the thin membrane between his eyes causing a hole that was leaking spinal fuid into his nose and had pushed the bone of his right side of his nose into the right sinuses. The ENT ask if he had ever had his nose broke and he said that he didn't. They took him to surgery last Friday, Good news that there was no Cancer. They removed the massive growth, repaired the hole that was leaking spinal fluid and removed the bone from his right sinuses. Now i fear that the VA is going to say that that his sleep Apnea was caused by this and not the PTSD. Even though he has never had any problem breathing through his nose until he started using the CPAP machine. His MH dr said that the sleep Apnea is connected to the PTSD and wrote the Nexus letter for him which we turned in when we filed the claim. I was hoping to find out what kind of exam they will be doing with the C&P. Questions they might ask. Thanks, Jessie

Hello: My husband has an C&P exam coming up for his claim of Sleep Apnea. What can we expect them to do to him?? Jessie

:P I'll Make sure my sister in law get this!! Again Thanks, Your heaven sent!! Jessie

Hi John and Thanks!! No he doesn't have TB Now but he filed for the damage done from the TB, One being hearing loss from the Drugs given to treat the TB. I know there were other issues but i'm not sure what they were since i haven't been involved with his claim until recently. I would think they should call cue on themselves since they never even sent for his treatment records to start with/ They were told that he was treated for 6 months in hospital that that VA med center, Yet they didn't even send or make a request for them!! But i know that won't happen!!! Jessie

Hello everybody: My brother in law filed a claim 3-4 years ago and was denied because the VA first told him that his records were burned and then told him that since there was no record that he was ever treated for TB that again his claim was being denied. I told his wife to keep the Appeal going and maybe someday those records would be found. Well they arrived today!! In December last year while my brother in law was here to visit i ask him if he wanted me to check into them and he signed the Release of information form for me to do this. 2 weeks ago i went to the release of information at the treating VA med Center with the signed form in hand and the lady at the dest took it and then checked the computer and told me that no one [ Not even the Regional Office ] has ever requested this file. I ask how can that be since his claim is being denied all these years because the VA never requested them. Anyway!!! She then took the SS # and went to the back and came back with 2 sheets of printed out paperwork. She had checked what was called the OLD CARD FILE INDEX and located the missing records. She called the records storage facility while i was sitting there and today those treatment record from 1972 arrived. Huray!!! Now that i have then i need to tell his wife what to do with them. My brother in laws claim folder is in Washington DC. Can she send these records to them now?? Will it make a difference in his claim?? Or wait until she gets another denial from the Appeal?? Thanks!! Jessie

First!! Sorry i guess i was going to fast, But you all know i mean PTSD!! And thanks for all the suggestions. As far as group, I'm not sure my husband is ready for a group. He hasn't yet totally confided in his Dr about all the things that happened in Vietnam that haunt him. It's only been in the last few months that he has told me a few things and we have been married a long time and have known each other since before high school. He is a very private person and if i push a little to hard even i am pushed backwards and it could be a long time before he will let me back in. He spent 6 months in an over seas hospital for gun shots wounds, shot through the bottom of a helicopter. He hasn't told them this because it is so embarrassing to him. I have tried to encourage him to file a claim on this but he won't. But then the Va doesn't even have a record of this. When i sent for his Service Medical records and personel records there were only 6 pages for the whole 4 years of his life he was in the service. Only 1 mention of the gunshot wound to his leg but nothing else, No treatment records for anything. So how would you go about filing a claim with no records to prove you spent 6 months in a hospital on your stomach waiting for the wounds to heal not to mention the residules left over from this very senitive surgery. Jessie

I forgot to mention in the first post that my husband is supposed to retire in end of Jan 09. He has to have a physical for work on the 31st of Oct and he will have to declare he has sleep apnea and a heart condition. He is afraid they will try to force him to take early retirement or fire him since he drives an 18 wheeler and has panic attacks at least 3 times a week. So far he has managed to get his truck safety off the roadway when he has one at work. he is so afraid he will lose control and kill somebody or himself. which i'm sure adds to his stress. I told him to take the early retirement and apply for ssdi [ now i wonder if i should have told him that?? did i sit him up for a disappointment?? Thanks Jessie

Hello: I just file my husbands claim for an increase in his PDST. I have for the last year or so been keeping a diary of symptoms i have noticed in my husband's condition. The lastest was on Oct 4th, we were driving on the interstate and a car went to pass us and when it did it back fired which sounded like a big gun going off. My husband drove off the side of the road nearly hitting a road side before we got stopped. The most of which i hate is that he has become so suspicious of my daily actitivies without cause. I have caught him twice with voice recorders hooked up to our telephone lines. The first time i found it while cleaning and had to move to sofa in the basement family room which is rarly used. I just called it to his attention and he said he was sorry and i said i didn't want this to happen again. I thought that would be the last of it until a couple months ago i was cleaning out the car we were giving to one of the kids and found the instruction sheet and recept on a tiny voice recorder he had bought a few months ago. He first tried to lie about it until i showed him the evidence and said i wanted it now. he then went into the garage and i was more than surpized where he had hidded it. It took a lot of work to run that phone line out there. He now checks the caller id to see who has called. He thinks i don't notice because i'm in the other room but i can still see the phone from where i sit. This is just a couple things i have on my list. After this i demanded that he call his Mental Health Physican and make an appointment, I just got that report of his recent visit. The Dr said that he was seen with a worsening of his ptsd symptom being intrusive memories, nighhmears with night sweats, Hypervigilant and arousal, Social isolation, Irritability, depressed mood and avoidance behaviors . At the end of the 45 min session he wrote that his ptsd is chronic and severe with job related problems and gaf score of 49. Axis 1 Clinical Disorder: Anxiety Disorder: ptsd Chronic Axis 11 personality disorders / traits none Axis 111 Current medical conditions: see medical history Axis 1v current psychosocial stressors: Financial & job related So with this information where would he stand on an increase? He is currently 30 %. We also file for secondary conditions related to the ptsd such and his heart condition and sleep apenia with the use of cpap. His Mental health dr signed an Nexis form relating the Sleep Apnea to the ptsd Thanks Jessie

Hello: I noticed in my sons enlistment physical that he had mild bilateral Pes Planus. He did have a back injury in the service for which he is service connected at 40%. Back in 2002 he was in physical Therapy and they made him shoe inserts for his Pes Planus but due to not having any insurance he couldn't afford them. Now his feet hurt him all the time with pain and burning. Back when we filed for his back condition we didn't think that the pes planus had anything to do with his back, But now i wonder!! Do you think we could service connect the feet as a secondary condition to the back?? Or not even bother. Thanks Jessie

Thanks William: I will let things cool off for awhile and then see what happen's. Ok, I give the guy was having a bad day, But gee so early in the morning!! Jessie

Rental: Thanks, I agree we all have bad days!! But this man went off before we barly got anything out of our mouth [ Maybe the stock market set him off] But he was downright rude. I kept tapping my husband knee and pointing toward the door but sometimes he's hard to handle too!! Any way, His Therapist is going to write a nexus letter for him. His Pcp on the other hand was a not so easy. Still we have a hopefull letter coming from his Cardiologist [ outside the VA] Back when i filed my son's claim i didn't have anything other than his medical records and research materials i had gotten off the internet to start with. And a couple VSO's told me his claim was so complacated that it would never fly. I kept looking until i fould one i thought i could work with. And with much work and help from Hadit.com we made it happen. Yes i had to ask for a reconsideration on one issue and NOD another but today he is 70%. Yes, I know there is no 60% rating on the adjustment disorder, When he said that i knew it was time to leave!! Jessie

Thank Pete: Your right!! I have learned a lot from you guys & gals here at Hadit.com, I did most of the work on my son's claim and did it well with all the help i got here. He went from nothing to 70% in just over 2 years. WE did use a VSO when i had something that needed turned in, But other wise i handled it myself. [ Oh by the way my son got accepted for Voc-Rehab letter today] I was myself just blown away with this man today. I hadn't met him before but knew when i walked in that this was a bad idea. I think i will let things cool off and maybe by that time the IMO from my husbands Cardio Dr will be back. I can accept that maybe he was having a bad day too!! Thanks Jessie

My husband went to see a VSO today about filing an increase in his PTSD and trying to get a couple more issues connected to his SC PTSD [ Heart & Sleep Apnea]. The SO came off as a real B____. He first told my husband that the next bump up was to 60%. [ I knew this was wrong, But i kept my month shut] He then told my husband not to file for the other issues as they couldn't be connected to the PTSD and would first need to go see his therapist and if he could connect them then he would file for them but not until then! He never let my husband explain that he had already talked about it to his Therapist. and his pcp My husband was getting really red about the neck as this guy was really making him mad and said " well i can see your having a bad day" he left. This is the same SO who had filed his claim before,And had been really nice at that time. So do we have to use him again or can we go to another SO?? Thanks, Jessie

Berta: Thanks again!! You are most helpful and i appreciate it!! I remember back when my husband was diagnosed with PTSD he had no idea what it was nor did i. He was diagnosed on his very first visit to the VA. He was going to be seen for his chest pains and he had to fill out some kinda form and because of the way he answered they sent his directly to the behavior science unit for a eval. He didn't get to get his chest pain eval until about a week later, Had his first stent placement that weekend [ outside the Va] and had a heart attack 3 months later and another stent placement. He has appointment this friday with his psych Therapist for the ptsd. Should he bring this up to him?? And see if he will connect?? Thanks Again!! Jessie

Thanks dav-marine Thanks for sharing this information. I think i can and might file a claim for my son also as i have watched his BP elevate over the last year or so [and i'm sure it from his back pain] his last reading a few days ago was 158/99. They took it 3 times and got the same reading. Thanks again Jessie

Thanks Berta!!

Hello: My husband is SC for PTSD. He is also being treated for his heart [ Heart Attack and 2 stents] and Sleep Apena with the use of a Cpap machine and Hypertension [ three meds to control] Anyway to connect these conditions as secondary to the stress caused the PTSD?? Anybody done it?? Any advice welcomed!! Thanks Jessie

Thanks Tbird!!! And thanks for hadit.com!! Without your hard work i couldn't have done it for my son!! You guys and gals are great!! Jessie

Thanks cg!!!