All Readers

[carlie]

Just taking a moment here to remind all readers at hadit to include the lurkers, that there are times some bad information might get posted.

We are here to try and help vets and family members obtain any and all benefits they are due, by law.

If you are in doubt of information, please feel free to question it.

jmho,

carlie

[john999]

Ruby and Cowgirl

My problem with the VA was that one of my doctors mentioned that I suffered form chronic pain disorder which was not SC at the time. It is now. The VA jumped on this even though I was 70% for bipolar disorder they still insisted that it was the pain disorder that made me unemployable. I got this fixed by getting yet another IMO to say that although the chronic pain was there it was the depression that pushed me over the edge into unemployment. How in the world do you separated these kinds of conditions, but the VA tries to split hairs to avoid paying compensation. It really pissed me off because I had two psychiatric reports detailing my SC depression, anxiety, panic and other problems. The VA keyed in on the chronic pain which I had been dealing with for 5 years. It was just a mess because the pain meds interacted with the depression and drove me crazy. I have an atypical reaction to narcotics whereby it causes me to become manic instead of sedating me. I can take morphine and stay awake all night. It is a well know fact that chronic pain can aggravate depression and depression aggravates chronic pain as Betrayed, Pete, TestVet and others can attest to. But the main point is to be sure you don't give the VA ammunition to start pulling threads and decide you are not solely disabled by your SC condition. A few years later the VA granted SC for diabetic neuropathy hence the pain disorder. A good VSO should know this but I never found one that would even look at my evidence. Just look over all your medical evidence to make sure you are not giving thema gun to shoot you in the foot with. They will do it. You want a claim that is tighter and more waterproof than a frog's ass.

[cowgirl]

John, I appreciate the heads up regards your shared experience and struggles, seems like every other claim I have seems to read similar to yours, their focus often on not-SC issues as a redirection of sorts, gee, whoa bessie!Me, I want the facts. M'kay, I'll keep in touch and let you know how it goes. RIbbit, cg

Ruby and Cowgirl

My problem with the VA was that one of my doctors mentioned that I suffered form chronic pain disorder which was not SC at the time. It is now.

The VA jumped on this even though I was 70% for bipolar disorder they still insisted that it was the pain disorder that made me unemployable.

I got this fixed by getting yet another IMO to say that although the chronic pain was there it was the depression that pushed me over the edge into unemployment.

I had two psychiatric reports detailing my SC depression, anxiety, panic and other problems. The VA keyed in on the chronic pain which I had been dealing with for 5 years.

But the main point is to be sure you don't give the VA ammunition to start pulling threads and decide you are not solely disabled by your SC condition.

Just look over all your medical evidence to make sure you are not giving thema gun to shoot you in the foot with. They will do it. You want a claim that is tighter and more waterproof than a frog's ass.

Edited January 4, 2008 by cowgirl

[ruby]

Unfortunatley for me I can't do that, so I am going to be forced to try it my way at this time. I can't find a good VSO and have made mistakes and it will probably take a BVA/Court for me to win my claim.

Time isn't on my side, I have 60% VA now and hopefully I will get SSD on the first try and that will buy me time.

Your post has helped me realized that I really need to inter twine both SC and NSC to show that its the combination that is making me unemployable.

Lets say that I could be a toll taker but with my asthma I can't do that so my 30% asthma SC does effect my NSC arthritis. My SC arthritis is affected by the NSC arthritis, when I have to rest on one side that means I am putting undo stress on the other and making it worse.

Can this back fire, yes it can, as the VA can and will say they can't detemine what is making me umemployable the NSC or SC. That is where the BVA or Court will have to come in and make what is called case law (decision). If I win its a biggie for other Vets, if I lose they will learn what not to do.

I also have 2 other medical conditions that I am going to apply for, but I have major problems with documentation, as I haven't seen a physician for 25 yrs until 2005. I lived with my problems and took care of what I knew I could do, on my own.

I don't have the money for IME's I just ask someone what they charged for them and its 925.00. I need them from at least 3 different docs for different diseases.

[luvHIM]

Thanks, Carlie and T-Bird.

Reminder is well taken. I will also make sure I check myself when responding to other posters. I am sure some things have been my personal opinion based onpersonal experience.

[Josephine]

T-Bird and All,

I will do my best to stick to my opinions only. I have very little knowledge of the VA.

Thanks for allowing me to post,

Always,

Betty

[Ricky]

I for one, intend limit my comments to the conventions of this board. Thank you for allowing my participation...

Manitou - don't limit your comments!!!! All Carlie is saying is to take the opinions you read here and weigh them. Sometimes you will find a poster that is out in left field by himself all the time.hahhhahaha.

I try to insure that if I am providing info on Hadit as fact then it is in reality a true fact. When I give my opinion I try to insure that my opinions are based on some experience with the VA.

Bottom line is if you limit your comments we may not be able to benefit from your experience which could mean the difference between an award or a denial. The majority of us on this site (99.91 percent)are smart enough to know when a opinion of another poster will not work in our situation. One just has to weigh the validity of an opinion before applying it to his/her claim to insure the greatest probabilty of success. JMHO (see - hahahahahahaha)

Great reminder Carlie!! thanks.

Edited January 6, 2008 by Ricky