ptsd Va Meeting Last Wednesday

[Deltawife]

Went with my husband to the VA again on Wednesday. He has a new rep who did not treat him well the first time he met her.

She gave him her email address so we could email any questions or concerns. We emailed back and forth a bit. I told her we appreciate what she does for our Veterans, etc.

I asked her if she would please review his file so she could familiarize herself with Gary's file before we got there.

We arrived on time, walked in, she never looked up at us. Kept looking at a piece of paper and said "What do you want?" Still NO eye contact. She had told us to get a letter from Gary's primary care physician stating that he has a current chronic medical condition so she could apply for TDIU. In the email I asked her if it should be from his psychiatrist.....she said NO, his primary care Dr. We had made an appt with him and went to the appointment next. The Doctor had NO IDEA what she was talking about and said that it should come from his Psych Dr. He did type up a letter that said something like "I am writing this letter as requested by Gary Marino (per his rep) that he is unable to work at this time." We could tell he was Mad at her! When we took the letter back to the rep, she said "perfect, this is all I need!"......wth? She also said Gary cannot get 100% PTSD because he has to attend group or 1 on 1 counseling. Gary is NOT a "Group" type of person, but we are scheduling him a 1 on 1 appt soon. Is this true?

Also, as we went to have "that" letter put in his records, Gary was chatting with the guy in records. He told the guy (I wish I got his name, he helped us a lot) in records about the run around he's been getting on his wound evaluations. (i.e. He had a nerve conduction test done on his arms where he has pain, and loses his grip, etc) The doctor told him it was neuropathy caused by smoking and drinking! Gary drinks about 2 glasses of wine a WEEK! Anyway as the records guy listened he asked Gary if his records were "Classified" which some of them are!

Shouldn't everything still show what all he did in his file at the VARO. Why shouldn't "Classified" information be included for his claim?

Now I understand why my husband is so frustrated. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so very much!

[Deltawife]

Thank you all for your validation. I just got through telling my husband, that the claim is in. We've pretty much bombarded them with a ton of paperwork. Included everything wounds issues, wounds that have not been addressed, how he was first rated (without seeing a Dr.), and basically a lot of the information I have finally been able to communicate here. (It's intimidating to talk about all this, because I was feeling as if I had been though all of it with him, but managing to stay strong.) I guess when you love someone as much as I love him, you'll do everything you can. I do not think I would have been able to finish this claim without all the "lurking" I've been doing on this wonderful site with some awesome hero's, like y'all.

As for now, we are giving it to God,and the Universe, and continue on with our lives. When we get "The Letter", good or bad. I will let everyone know what the outcome is. If it's NOT good, I will be surprised because I'm thinking with my talk with the VARO and the SOC that was submitted, it will be ridiculous if they turn him down. If it's BAD there's are so many options for us.

We Will Not Give Up.

Thank you all so very, very much!

I'll be "lurkin;"

Think I'll mosey over to the SSDI forum. I've helped a lot of NON Vets get their claims. Maybe I can help someone there, like you have help us.

From the bottom of our hearts,

Gary and Patti

(gush gush)

[jbasser]

Thank you pigdriver!

Hubby has been under the care of the VA for 9 years. He see's his primary care Dr. and/or Psych Dr. every three months. He is currently rated at 50% PTSD and 10% tinnitus. His former rep. put a claim in for him for prostate cancer and colon cancer....which he does not have, but has symptoms. So they are keeping an eye on all of that.

I wrote a SOC and his new rep would not except it because it was not on the form. I typed it out separately with all the proper info and the VARO had me fax it to them. Brenda at the VARO said they would accept it, so I didn't bring it up to his new rep again.

He has 12 years in the Army, has 3 purple hearts, bronze and silver star and was in Special Forces...Delta Force. He was a gunner. He has 1 ppl heart for a shot in the arm and hand, one for being shot in the face, and another for being shot in the groin. All they do is measure his scars. He has loss of one of his fingers (It won't bend) but his wound pain is horrendous. PTSD is horrible since our neighbor was shot and killed last spring and he tried to keep him alive.

What all does a veteran have to go through to get what they deserve? He didn't apply for benefits until after 9/11. He was awarded those percentages by a group of advocates without even seeing a doctor. Now he's been in the system 9 years. Oh well, a lot of information was sent in on his behalf to get an increase. I guess we will have to wait and see. He had 2 appts that C & P sent him to. One was an outside (the VA system) Psychiatrist that said "Wow, you have a 50 % PTSD rating? That's pretty high already!" the minute we walked through the door! She would only ask questions from a questionnaire and he could NOT elaborate. Only answer yes or no. AAAARRRRGGGGHHH

Thank you for your help and advice.

What org is this VSO through?

J

[Deltawife]

What org is this VSO through?

J

That's another thing he/we did not know. She is with AMVETS. Someone that works at the VA told us who the best rep was. We did not know there was another choice! We are changing to DAV when we get the answer. All these years Gary thought there was only one rep. Now we understand what all these acronyms mean. Well, not all of them.

Live and Learn

[jbasser]

http://www.va.gov/OGC/docs/Accred/VBA_21-22-ARE.pdf

Here is the form if you need it.

ALso be advised that if a VSO has cost you retro money because of a mistake, then you can sue them to recover the funds.

J

[carlie]

He did type up a letter that said something like "I am writing this letter as requested by Gary Marino (per his rep) that he is unable to work at this time."

She also said Gary cannot get 100% PTSD because he has to attend group or 1 on 1 counseling. Gary is NOT a "Group" type of person, but we are scheduling him a 1 on 1 appt soon. Is this true?

Now I understand why my husband is so frustrated. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Deltawife,

" he is unable to work at this time." will not be sufficient.

Also, there is absolutely NOTHING in the criteria for 100 % PTSD

that even remotely refers to "he has to attend group or 1 on 1 counseling."

That is purely ludicrous !

[carlie]

I wrote a SOC and his new rep would not except it because it was not on the form. I typed it out separately with all the proper info and the VARO had me fax it to them. Brenda at the VARO said they would accept it, so I didn't bring it up to his new rep again.

Deltawife,

Claimants do not write or submit SOC's - VBA write's SOC's.

An SOC is a reply to a claimant.