Opposite Claims Question

[purple]

I took note of the topic of the hassel of going through the claims process....with the thousands of folks here on Hadit I just wanted to know if anyone else on here, besides me, has had a positive experience with the claims process?

My claim was processed in under a year...I did it all myself...and I received 100% IU, P&T, no further exams req.

I can't be the only one who has had success with a claim.

[broncovet]

I am implying that rating specialists are people, and they all have different opinions about Veterans.

Some of em like Veterans, and are sympathetic to our cause, and others think Veterans are all con artists trying to rip the VA off. I am guessing you got one of the former, and I got the latter.

[purple]

To imply that is wrong. I went through hell while on active duty...hell at the hands of another active duty member...and I've been through hell ever since and it's well documented in military, civilian & VA records both out pt and in pt for all. To imply that I only received my disability rating in the timely fashion that I did because someone felt sorry for me is disrespectful.

[carlie]

purple,

The way I read broncovets post is simply saying that

basically - your claim had a decision maker that actually

belived in the concept's of rape and MST.

I am sure there are some people out there that still think

well - she shouldn't of even been in the Military to begin with

and many things along this line.

You are one of the few,fortunate enough to have your claim

for MST granted:

1) correctly

2) within a short amount of time

carlie

[broncovet]

Purple..no offense intended.

I think there are a fair number of people that insist that Veterans claims must be "visible". That is, you can see their legs or arms blown off, and that "invisible" claims should be denied. A good example is there is a nut case, writing into Yahoo, that all PTSD claims by Veterans are bogus, that Vets tell their shrink a good story and get big bucks.

This nut case, who goes by many different names is an extreme example, but there is no doubt that attitude of "it must be a blown off limb that you can see or its a fake" permeates the regional offices. Some buy into that attitude, while others are sympathetic to PTSD, mental issues, and other issues which, tho very real, would not necessarily be detected by someone in a grocery store like someone with blown off legs in a wheel chair.

I have an "invisible" claim also. You can look at me, even talk to me, and many people dont "see" it either. It is maddening to have an "invisible" disability, and I can attest that just because you cant see something does not make it go away. I cant see the Hepatitus C Virus either, but that does not mean that HCV can not kill people after it invades your liver and destroys it, for example.

Like you, I especially hate it when people talk to me a few minutes and "diagnose" my hearing loss to be "normal", when they have no idea what it is like to go to the movies and then have to leave because you cant understand any of what is said. Oh sure..I can hear some, especially very loud people if they are 2 feet away from me, and I can see their lips, so they think I have normal hearing. They have no idea..and no audiology degree. Some of my own family has even accused me of this. I have had 5 different hearing tests, by 4 different audiologists, and all of them give similar results. It is not possible to fake a hearing test, VA audioligists are trained to catch fakes and can spot it a mile away. However, when I can converse with someone for two or three sentences, they think they can decide that my hearing is normal, when I am often guessing or reading their lips. By the way, lip reading is not a perfect science..have you ever tried to read a ventroliquists lips?

Edited March 15, 2009 by broncovet

[purple]

....and yet I feel like I get "punished" on here for having my claim decided the right way. I just try to pass along how I compiled my evidence to help it get approved the first time and it's upsetting to hear things like "luck", "good timing", etc.

Just like everyone else, a huge chunk of my life is in my claim....I paid a huge price.

[quinhon69]

Purple, I too had a good experience with my local RO. Orginal claim took less

than 5 mos. and I immediately filed for and was granted TDIU P&T within 3 mos. But, I am a Vietnam vet with an agent orange presumed cancer, therefore, it was probably a no-brainer and they would have had a really hard time screwing it up. And they didn't, so I feel lucky. My RO is Des Miones and I have yet to read anything on Hadit good or bad about this RO.