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Still Waiting For The Board...

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Hi Everyone, just dropping another line letting you all know how this is going. So far, my anxiety has been through the roof waiting for the VA to get going on this. I've found myself calling the hotline at least once a week to check up on it. (I hope that's not a bad thing) It seems they waited and waited to review it, and it still hasn't even made it to the review board. I had to remind them several times that I wanted to proceed with my claim without one of my last employers statements, as he is a jerk and isn't going to lift a finger to do anything for me, even though I sent in a signed statement on their official form telling them to move forward with the claim. (Another great piece of advice I recieved on this site) I called two days ago, spoke to someone, and they told me that on Sept. 20th it went to the board. This didn't sound right to me, so I called back later that day and was told that it was ready to go to the review board. They can't seem to keep their stories straight.

On a better note, In case some readers didn't see my last post, I did recieve SSDI on the 1st of October. It was backdated until last July, but due to the whole 5 month waiting period, the backpay started on January of 2010. I can't complain though, I'm glad I didn't have to scratch and claw for that one. It actually seemed to go pretty smooth. (Now if the VA would hurry the heck up I think I would be able to focus a bit more during the day. I was really glad to see that everyone pretty much agreed that the rating should be 100% Schedular, this really gave me a boost in confidence with my claim. Thank you all for your responses.

Just incase some of you didn't see what was going on, for the whole story, I'll fill you in on the last piece of this puzzle by copying and pasting my last post about my C&P exam. Thanks again for all of your help!

Ok so below is my original post. Thanks again to everyone!

Hi All,

I had to go to the VA today for an appointment, so while I was there I asked for a printout of my C&P from last week at the VARO clinic. I went to two exams, one for neck and back, and one for PTSD. I won't type out the whole report as I have done in the past, just some of the things that caught my eye.

First off, the neck and back appointment appeared to have no dramatic changes, but I'll list what appeared to be different or eye catching. Just to inform you all, I am at 10% neck and 10% back. Hopefully some of you can help with this section as I don't speak back doctor language.

Thoroco-Lumbar Posture: Abnormal, loss of lumbar lordosis and theoracic kyphosis. NO idea what this means?

They also note that "When compared witht he previous study, no significant change is seen. There is straigtening of the cervical lordosis. The pre vertebral soft tissues are normal. The odontoid is unremarkable. Vertebral body height, disk spaces, and alignment are maintained. The intervertebral foramina are widely patent.

Work Capacity

Related to medical conditions listed above:

Work LImitations: none

Able to work in chosen profession?: Yes

Able to perform substantial gainful employment? Yes

So the back and neck problems look like a no go for IU, but the PTSD exam appeared a bit more hopeful. If you have read my earlier post from April, you'll see alot of what was already stated on this exam, except for these few changes.

First, my GAF was up a bit, to 53.

Is the veteran currently employed? No

Retired? No

Duration of current employment: Less than 1 year

Reason (S) for unemployment: Sleep problems resulted in calling in sick.

Veteran Contends unemployment is due to the mental disorder's effects: Yes

Does the veteran meet the DSM-IV stressor criterion? Yes

Changes in Functional Status and Quality of life since last exam:

Performance in employment, routine responsibilities of self car, Family role functioning, Social/interpersonal relationships, Recreation/leisre pursuits

And here's the big difference, which I don't know if it will ensure me IU or not, but we'll see... and I really hope to get some replies as to what this means.

Is there total occupational and social impairment due to PTSD signs and symptoms? YES

Examples and pertinent symptoms, including those already reported:

He cannot get along with people; he has history of over reacting to things peopl esay and he is easily annoyed and impatient; he is at times rude and has had complaints about his negative behaviors and he has had anger outbursts at work; he is too anxious to drive and at work when he is anxious he cannot focus or concentrate and he has poor productivity and increases aner. He has significant sleep issues so calls in sick about once to 2 times a month; he has difficulty accepting supervision and does not like being told what to do. He is not managing well at home. (I'll cut the rest out because it's personal, but you kind of get the point)

That's all I got for now. Please feel free to let me know what you think. Hopefully I hear something back soon, but I won't hold my breath since the VA has taken ages just to get this far in the claim. Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing some replies.

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With a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD and with a verifiable stressor then:

"Is there total occupational and social impairment due to PTSD signs and symptoms? YES"

That should attain a TDIU award if you have formally applied for TDIU.

Should- but one never knows what to expect from the VA.

What did the SSDI award for?

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Hi Berta, They awarded mainly for PTSD, although I have back and neck pain also. They emphasized about not being able to work well with others, and having bad anxiety and depression. (Also part of my PTSD). My PTSD has been confirmed, as I was recieving disability for it for quite some time, my last trip to the VA brought the rating to 70% for it. And I did have verifiable stressors, sworn statements for IED's and a bad TCN truck tanker fire where I provided aid also. Thank you for your reply!

With a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD and with a verifiable stressor then:

"Is there total occupational and social impairment due to PTSD signs and symptoms? YES"

That should attain a TDIU award if you have formally applied for TDIU.

Should- but one never knows what to expect from the VA.

What did the SSDI award for?

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Now new news. I called the hotline today, and they're sending out a form to my hospital in regards to a migrane attack I had when I was working. They said that they have just mailed out the forms to me and the hospital. What's the best way of handling this, as I have not been to a C&P for migranes, or even the VA clinic yet for that matter. I just went to the ER one day because I couldn't see and they diagnosed me with them. I'm curious to see what the letter they sent me will say. I'm guessing that the hospital will send out the reports no problem, but I'm also guessing that it would be faster if I just went there and got everything myself. Let me know what you all think, and thank you!

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I also called my VSO today after finding this out. I told them I could go pick up the paperwork tomorrow from the hospital and bring it to them to fax to the VARO. They have been pretty awesome about getting documents sent for me, so I'm guessing this is the best way to go about this. Jumping the gun so to speak. I was told it can take up to 30 days for the hospital to mail out info for claims, so I figured if it could save me a month of waiting, I might as well drive the 2 hours round trip to get this taken care of.

Now new news. I called the hotline today, and they're sending out a form to my hospital in regards to a migrane attack I had when I was working. They said that they have just mailed out the forms to me and the hospital. What's the best way of handling this, as I have not been to a C&P for migranes, or even the VA clinic yet for that matter. I just went to the ER one day because I couldn't see and they diagnosed me with them. I'm curious to see what the letter they sent me will say. I'm guessing that the hospital will send out the reports no problem, but I'm also guessing that it would be faster if I just went there and got everything myself. Let me know what you all think, and thank you!

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I'll quote Social Security in their findings letter for you.

You said that you have been unable to work due to depression, PTSD, tinnitus, back injury, neck injury and anxiety since 7/20/07 Based on our review of your medical and other information, we find you disabled as of 7/8/09. Prior to that date, your conditions were not totally disabling under the Social Security rules, but your conditions worsened.

So basically everything that I am currently recieving VA Disability for right now qualified me for SSDI.

With a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD and with a verifiable stressor then:

"Is there total occupational and social impairment due to PTSD signs and symptoms? YES"

That should attain a TDIU award if you have formally applied for TDIU.

Should- but one never knows what to expect from the VA.

What did the SSDI award for?

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