ptsd Waiting On Tdui Decision

[usmc/usa]

Are all USMC's evidence related to service connected issues? You don't want to mix any NSC issues that you might use for SSD with your VA claim. These are separate systems. TDIU must be solely for SC conditions. I waited about a year for my TDIU after I filed for it. That was because the VA found one issue that was not SC and said that this was the reason I was TDIU even though I had 70% and was on SSD. VA is just for SC and SSD is for all conditions that make you unemployable. You probably know this but keep it in mind. Waiting for TDIU while the VA crawls along is the hardest part. I waited 5 months without a penny coming in until I got SSD. It took another 7 months to get TDIU. Make whatever moves you need to make to make sure you can wait without major damage. If you can get into IRA or 401-K or home equity loan that is one way to do it if you must. Nothing makes the VA move faster except having good evidence and having everything organized so the VA rater does not have to think. When they are looking at your claim they are looking for certain things and for defects. They would reject a vet who has one foot in the grave if the vet gives them a reason.

The PTSD is 100% service related. For the back and the knees the C&P says "as least as likely as not" (50/50). Both claims (VA/SSD) are for the same issues.

We are getting by because we still have my income, but it's not easy. I think selling his truck was really the worst.. I think it's hard enough to deal with the depression, but when you have to sell everything that you have to get by, that makes it even worse. I am hoping, that it will lift his spirits once his rating gets increased (maybe he'll be able to get another truck someday!).

I think it's a shame how they treat veterans that served their country. And they way they are downplaying the symptoms in their denial letter is an insult.

Sorry about the rant, but it's just really frustrating.

[Commander Bob]

But I still check the mail daily hoping ...

I feel your pain, 'usmc/usa'. I call it "the Mailbox Blues".

Good luck, and best wishes for a successful and prosperous new year.

Cmdr. Bob

[Testvet]

I know this is not what you want to hear but you are not alone many of us have lost everything, vehicles, houses, and some even our families, in some cases the spouses couldn't take the stress of the financial problems, nor the problems from the PTSD so they took the kids and left, some of us have found ourselves on the streets or the basement of our parents home before the VA ever got our claims straight.

Then there is the stages of getting your life back together in some cases SSD will be approved before the VA claims will be or vice versa and then you have a minimum standard of living while you still "fight" for your entire benefits package I was fortunate my SSD was based on my cardiac problems and the only medical records I had was the VAs as they did my triple bypass and 2 failed stents and then they did the heart cath in Oct 2002 that showed it had all collapsed and was not operable again and they deemed me as a "medicate only " patient, which means the other surgeons won't fix my other problems herniated disks L3, L4 L5 and S1 so they give me pain pills which mitigate the pain but do not fix anything but SSD was approved in 4 months based on the VA records

the VA denied my SC for CAD and hypertension from Dec 2002 until April 2009 when a BVA Judge granted my CAD and hypertension as secondary to my already SC PTSD which had been granted in stages inn May 2005 they granted 50% which I appealed the very next day as my treatment records and doctor statements plainly stated I was totally and permanently disabled solely by the PTSD symptoms and it was their opinion I would never be employable again finally after a DRO hearing in Jan 2006 they set up another C&P which lated about 10 minutes and in May 2006 they granted my PTSD at 100% P&T

we used the large back pay checks to get"our life back" we bought a home and a new "used car" we bought a 2009 with 14,000 miles on it for about half the list price of a new car we will never get that 7 year period from hell back and fighting the VA for benefits you know you deserve is pure hell it makes many of us question why we ever went in the military to begin with

many couples end up in divorce during the fight for Veterans benefits my wife tried to work back in 2003 and the stress it caused me to be left alone caused more problems than her working "fixed" so she quit working to stay home and care for me luckily we got the SSD approved quickly the VA comp claim did turn into a marathon however and then the ratings came in stages spread out over many years before we finally got the "brass ring" due to the severity of my cardiac problems we felt that the CAD needed to be SC since I had already had a stroke and 7 heart attacks and the failed bypass surgery and failed stents and my death will more likely be caused by coronary problems than by PTSD so we needed the SC for her to be eligible for DIC benefits and CHAMPVA medical care soon I will be at the 10 year mark for SC and then it all becomes a moot point anyway after 10 years of being SC it doesn't matter what causes the veterans death the spouse then gets the DIC benefits

now my goal is to live as long as possible and keep cashing their checks my health will never improve but as long as I keep breathing each day is a victory sooner or later hopefully sooner you and your husband will be in this position and I hope then you both will find some happiness in the years ahead that you have together and that this period will be just a bad memory and that you will find yourselves being able to help the new veterans and their spouses that you will encounter in the future and remember that how bad it was for you and to be able to help guide the newbies thru this ugly azz obstacle course. Hopefully when they get to a digital file system the claims process will improve myself I am not going to hold my breath as long as people are involved in the determination and rating there will always be problems

yes there are people out there trying to committ fraud as long as money is available there will be some people attempting to defraud the government out of it, but not everyone is and we all should not be treated as if we are committing fraud, and yes it seems that is what we are all going thru we have to prove we were harmed by our service and we have to find the proof the government does not go out of their way to help us find it.

I hope your financial circumstances improve soon we were down to 14 dollars when my SSD was approved and owed the land lady 2 months rent she knew my SS claim was pending and we had to find all the food pantries in Augusta from June 2002 until April 2003 when we got our SSD catholic social services has the best food pantries and they actually gave you enough food to last a few weeks not just a few days and would help with utilities and even offered a lawyer to handle our SSD appeal if necessary pro bono which can save a family a lot of money that 25% of back pay can add up but going into this process I knew nothing about food pantries or pro bono lawyers I had always worked and paid my bills since 1970 so to find myself as a "bum" in the fall of 2002 was quite a fall from the middle class life I had always lived my father was a retired auto worker he retired in 1963 after 40 years at GM so all I had ever known was a "good life" being broke was a new experience and one I hope to never have to live again.

Times will get better and the people here are some of the best I met while I went thru this journey as many of them have walked the same path, we are here to help show you how to navigate the systems and hopefully show you that there is light at then end of the tunnel, T BIRD, Berta, Pete, Carlie amd J Basser are just a few of the many people that helped keep me "sane" thru this long process, and then the ones who have left us, Alex and many others Flip is still here even if he does keep changing his name lol he even came to town and spent a few hours with us and we went to a shrimp place to eat there are some great people here with decades of knowledge

these people have walked the walk and we all benefit from it may 2011 be a great year for your family

[stillhere]

Unfortunately this is the way the system goes. I don't like it and many vets don't like it and have suffered and been damaged almost beyond repair.

I would suggest you contact some of the military orgs.in your area like the AL, and VFW some have funds set aside just for this reason. Also contact your creditors and tell them what is going on and that you will definitely get caught up after you get your awards. This helped me a great deal. But my credit rating still to a hit but not unrepairable.

As far as the SSDI that can be a savior I have heard of late of getting approved by them sooner than later. Make sure your lawyer understand that you are in financial trouble and push to get this through. You can also ask for Hardship from the VA and get your claim expedited!

Good luck to you and your vet and make sure you keep an eye on him! This business of dealing with the VA and bills is very stressful and not good for us that suffer from PTSD!

[Commander Bob]

I know this is not what you want to hear but you are not alone many of us have lost everything, vehicles, houses, and some even our families, in some cases the spouses couldn't take the stress of the financial problems, nor the problems from the PTSD so they took the kids and left, some of us have found ourselves on the streets or the basement of our parents home before the VA ever got our claims straight.

Then there is the stages of getting your life back together in some cases SSD will be approved before the VA claims will be or vice versa and then you have a minimum standard of living while you still "fight" for your entire benefits package I was fortunate my SSD was based on my cardiac problems and the only medical records I had was the VAs as they did my triple bypass and 2 failed stents and then they did the heart cath in Oct 2002 that showed it had all collapsed and was not operable again and they deemed me as a "medicate only " patient, which means the other surgeons won't fix my other problems herniated disks L3, L4 L5 and S1 so they give me pain pills which mitigate the pain but do not fix anything but SSD was approved in 4 months based on the VA records

the VA denied my SC for CAD and hypertension from Dec 2002 until April 2009 when a BVA Judge granted my CAD and hypertension as secondary to my already SC PTSD which had been granted in stages inn May 2005 they granted 50% which I appealed the very next day as my treatment records and doctor statements plainly stated I was totally and permanently disabled solely by the PTSD symptoms and it was their opinion I would never be employable again finally after a DRO hearing in Jan 2006 they set up another C&P which lated about 10 minutes and in May 2006 they granted my PTSD at 100% P&T

we used the large back pay checks to get"our life back" we bought a home and a new "used car" we bought a 2009 with 14,000 miles on it for about half the list price of a new car we will never get that 7 year period from hell back and fighting the VA for benefits you know you deserve is pure hell it makes many of us question why we ever went in the military to begin with

many couples end up in divorce during the fight for Veterans benefits my wife tried to work back in 2003 and the stress it caused me to be left alone caused more problems than her working "fixed" so she quit working to stay home and care for me luckily we got the SSD approved quickly the VA comp claim did turn into a marathon however and then the ratings came in stages spread out over many years before we finally got the "brass ring" due to the severity of my cardiac problems we felt that the CAD needed to be SC since I had already had a stroke and 7 heart attacks and the failed bypass surgery and failed stents and my death will more likely be caused by coronary problems than by PTSD so we needed the SC for her to be eligible for DIC benefits and CHAMPVA medical care soon I will be at the 10 year mark for SC and then it all becomes a moot point anyway after 10 years of being SC it doesn't matter what causes the veterans death the spouse then gets the DIC benefits

now my goal is to live as long as possible and keep cashing their checks my health will never improve but as long as I keep breathing each day is a victory sooner or later hopefully sooner you and your husband will be in this position and I hope then you both will find some happiness in the years ahead that you have together and that this period will be just a bad memory and that you will find yourselves being able to help the new veterans and their spouses that you will encounter in the future and remember that how bad it was for you and to be able to help guide the newbies thru this ugly azz obstacle course. Hopefully when they get to a digital file system the claims process will improve myself I am not going to hold my breath as long as people are involved in the determination and rating there will always be problems

yes there are people out there trying to committ fraud as long as money is available there will be some people attempting to defraud the government out of it, but not everyone is and we all should not be treated as if we are committing fraud, and yes it seems that is what we are all going thru we have to prove we were harmed by our service and we have to find the proof the government does not go out of their way to help us find it.

I hope your financial circumstances improve soon we were down to 14 dollars when my SSD was approved and owed the land lady 2 months rent she knew my SS claim was pending and we had to find all the food pantries in Augusta from June 2002 until April 2003 when we got our SSD catholic social services has the best food pantries and they actually gave you enough food to last a few weeks not just a few days and would help with utilities and even offered a lawyer to handle our SSD appeal if necessary pro bono which can save a family a lot of money that 25% of back pay can add up but going into this process I knew nothing about food pantries or pro bono lawyers I had always worked and paid my bills since 1970 so to find myself as a "bum" in the fall of 2002 was quite a fall from the middle class life I had always lived my father was a retired auto worker he retired in 1963 after 40 years at GM so all I had ever known was a "good life" being broke was a new experience and one I hope to never have to live again.

Times will get better and the people here are some of the best I met while I went thru this journey as many of them have walked the same path, we are here to help show you how to navigate the systems and hopefully show you that there is light at then end of the tunnel, T BIRD, Berta, Pete, Carlie amd J Basser are just a few of the many people that helped keep me "sane" thru this long process, and then the ones who have left us, Alex and many others Flip is still here even if he does keep changing his name lol he even came to town and spent a few hours with us and we went to a shrimp place to eat there are some great people here with decades of knowledge

these people have walked the walk and we all benefit from it may 2011 be a great year for your family

Thank you for your post, 'Testvet'.

usmc/usa, as well as many other vets and families going through this process will read your remarks and feel up lifted and reassured. For some, it will give them the strength to go on. I find it moving and right on target.

you wrote

``" T BIRD, Berta, Pete, Carlie and J Basser are just a few of the many people that helped keep me "sane" thru this long process,..." [end quote] I would add your name to this list, Testvet... for those that find themselves here, reading this thread, in the future.

I am proud to have you on my Hadit Friends List.

Bob

Edited December 28, 2010 by Commander Bob

[usmc/usa]

Wow - Testvet, thank you so much for taking the time to write this long response. I/we really appreciate it.

I know that a lot of other people are much, much worse off than we are. And I didn't mean to come across as ungrateful. We have each other and we always end up landing back on our feet.

We still have have a roof over our heads (it's leaking a little bit, but it's a roof ), we actually just got our mortgage modification trial period approved, so yes, we are very lucky in some ways. Also, Rob is currently rated at 60% and I am working from home, so there is some money coming in.

I am sorry that you and all other vets went through so much BS. We have only started to fight at the end of 2006 and we are already feeling burned out. I can't imagine how it must feel for someone going through all this even longer.

It is easy to see how many couples end up in divorce because it is hard sometimes hard to understand why your spouse would act the way he does when you don't understand the principle of PTSD. I never thought of divorce, but I have to admid, that - a very long time ago - I was getting very frustrated and impatient with this behavior. That was before I started learning about PTSD and before I read about all the other Vets having the same symptoms. I actually went to the last Psych C&P exam with my husband and told her everything from my perspective. I think it made a big impact, because the C&P came out very much in our favor. (I wish there was some kind of spouse support system).

This board is keeping up sane, I think. I get so exited reading all the success stories, and even though we don't post much, just from reading all the advice, we are very much familiar with the names of most regular posters and we appreciate every one of them.

Again, thank you for your post and your well wishes.

To Commander Bob: This is the way we feel exactly. I mean the part about feeling lifted and reassured when reading the posts. This is what we do when our hope is low and we get excited with every success that is posted here.

Hopefully we can soon post about our success so others can gain some hope from our post.

Thanks for your support. I hope we can pass is forward soon.