C & P Today At 11:00am

[shortpig]

I'm not as nervous about the outcome as I am about setting in a strangers office sharing my life with them. Thanks to my Advocate my Ducks are straggling all over the place but I have to take some of the ownership of that myself. I decided to take the whole day off work so I wouldn't have to rush back to work after the appt. I suspect it will be a total emotional drain on me therefore I wouldn't be much help at my job.

I know I'm just rambling, it is 5:15am and I haven't had enough coffee yet or smoked enough cigarettes yet to be wide awake and ready to go.

I have heard that our local office is one of the best in the nation at working with their veterans and helping them. I just don't want to receive any further abuse from a military type institution for something that wasn't my fault. This would cause me to run away very quickly and go back in hiding.

Hoping all of you have a great day and will let you know how it goes.

[purple]

Sounds like a favorable C&P exam. Now lets hope that whatever rater you get agrees because unfortunately it isn't up to the examiner....they don't determine the ratings.

In a few days, go back there and get a copy of that C&P and you can then see exactly what was written. This is very important!

[halos2]

It appears from your documentation the professional with whom you spoke with treated you with great compassion and reflected a caring situation thereby assisting you to be comfortable enough to share your deep dark secrets. Allowing you the affortability to continue with your present doctor is amazing, with the VA picking up the tab, great. You don't need added stressors and changing dr's is an enormous strain on one's own psyche. I told it once, twice, gosh I don't want to let it out again to another stranger...So now you can work on your treatment process.

Enjoy your weekend and relax now this exam is over. Hoping for a very favorable outcome. B)

I'm back home now. The Dr I saw was very nice. She did not give me any tests for PTSD, she just asked me what happened, she asked me what I was like prior to going into the service. She asked what my daily life is like now and if I think about suicide still. I told her the truth. She said that when I was in the Army women were treated terrible and that I should not have had to have lived thru such a thing as that. She asked about my discharge and why I was discharged, I told her. I told her I am seeing a psychologist right now and hope to be able to continue getting help. So here is her response back to me, what do you all think?

She said that it can be set up from here on that I continue seeing my own doctor and the VA will pick up the tab. She felt they should also take care of my health concerns from now on and that I need to be started on meds for my condition. She understood my extreme need to have to stay alert at all times. She walked me out to the lobby where my daughter was waiting for me to make sure she hadn't stepped out some where and left me alone. She also took me to the office so I would be reimbursed for my mileage to and from the clinic.

She did ask how I was able to get to work alone and I told her that it is 1 mile from my home and therefore 1 mile back. My daughter and her husband live with me and take me where ever else I need to go. My daughter does almost all of the grocery shopping for the household and then she asked me how I spend my time when I'm not working. Again I was honest and said not much, I watch TV and on weekends I try to rest up and get extra sleep during the day due to losing sleep at night from the nightmares I have and waking up several times a night.

All and any opinions are welcome at this point.

[shortpig]

Thank you all. I felt she was very compassionate. I was actually shocked when she said that they could set me up to continue seeing my Dr and the VA would pay for it. I was even surprised when it was so important to her that I get my mileage paid for. When she walked to the door the first time he was gone, I said that was ok I probably wasn't eligible anyway I don't have a card. She said not true that people who go to these appts are all eligible to be reimbursed. She then walked me to the lobby to find my daughter, then came back found us and said he was back and when we walked up to the door she said "its alright you can both go in there". She really did understand that I didn't want to go into a room with a guy I didn't know anything about. She also asked me about going to the primary care Dr at the VA Hospital a few months back. I told her that they called and said I had to see this Dr. So I went. I didn't know why I had to go see him at the time and really I still don't. She asked me why I hadn't been using the VA Health Services and I said because i wasn't eligible yet to do that. According to her per my records she felt I was let go from the service because of Mental Health reason and didn't understand why I had struggled for 30yrs with a condition that was so obviously service connected. Of course she also asked if I have any friends and there again the answer was no. I have my daughter and her husband and that is it.

My fear is that she didn't do any of the testing for PTSD but then the primary care Dr I saw at the VA Hospital had it done twice and diagnosed me as having PTSD, and extremely depressed with panic attacks. Maybe she figured that was good enough for her.

I sure hope she doesn't turn on me now and stab me in the back.

[Pete53]

It makes me happy to learn that you were treated so well. My experience in past with VA C&P was they would do nothing to help the Vet.

Good Luck

Be sure and get a copy of your C&P

[jbasser]

I hope all went well, What percentage are you seeking?

J

[peb1]

I Wish the best for you. Patrick.