ptsd So Lost And Confused About This Va Claim Stuff.

[DrksWife=)]

I guess this is my introduction post. Sorry to just jump right in with such a long post. Also, I am sorry if this post rambles on and on. I will try to stay on topic but it just feels this whole situation rambles on and on.

My husband got out of the Army in November of 2010, he wanted to reenlist again but was told due to all of his medical issues he couldn’t re-enlist (he was told this in July). Instead of med boarding him out they just let his contract end and he ETS like any other soldier. On Dec 10 we went to a VSO at Quantico and he helped us file his claim. My husband complained about his back, shoulders, knees, ankles, hearing, sleep apnea, and anxiety. Also he had Maxillary, mandibular and chin advancement surgery for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, so he claimed that too. They broke his upper and lower jaw and chin bone and moved his facial structure forward 1.5cm and plated it in place. This surgery was to correct his severe obstructive sleep apnea. At his sleep study he had 148 apnea episodes in one hour. After his surgery he still has sleep apnea and now metal plates and screws.

He had his C/P exam in February (I believe the 9^th) and I think that went really bad. The woman was very quick and confused my husband with so many questions (at this point he had undiagnosed TBI) and she would not let me answer. I can understand why they wouldn’t let me talk but he agitates very easy and doesn’t understand a lot and if you give to many questions he just becomes confused.

Fast forward to August 1 and we have not heard anything. We do not have an ebenifits account as of yet. We were told he can get a myhealth.va.gov acct and once he fills out the in-person verification form ( we are doing that this week) he should be able to see his VA Claim status.

My question to you is how much longer can it be? We were told a claim can take anywhere between 6 and 8 months from when you file. Well we are at the 8 month mark.

Also, now that he is being seen at the VA center we have a lot more things that need to be addressed in a VA claim. As mentioned above he was diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). He was also diagnosed with PTSD, and several other little things that sort of go with his original claim (shoulder and knee issues). Another big issue we have found is due to blast injury he has low testosterone levels (and other hormone imbalances). We were also told his sperm morphology is bad and we will have to undergo fertility treatments to have another child (something we had wanted to do when he got out- but can’t now because we cannot afford IVF).

He is finally getting the medical help he needs and I swear we live at the VA hospital. I think in July alone we were at the VA hospital about 18 days of the month – filled with many appointments each day. My husband cannot work, he cannot stand up for more than 20 minutes, and sitting down can be just as uncomfortable. He is also undergoing prolotherapy to correct his back pain. Last week he had 85 shots in the back and the time before that he had 45 shots, plus 2 cortisone shots to the shoulder.

It just seems the more we get into his treatment the more things turn up. We were told by one person to file a new claim with his other issues. Another person told us not to do that we should file a new claim all together. My worry is either way his original claim will be held up and honestly we need the money. My income just does not help (I was a stay at home mother for 5 years before now) and I don’t see a better job coming my way any time soon. On top of that I can’t work a lot because I have to drive him to his appointments because he cannot drive home after most appts. I also need to be there to listen to the doctors because due to his TBI he cannot remember what they said and what the plan may be. He was told he cannot get unemployment because he isn’t looking for a new job. He is going to school and we do get his housing stipend for that. But we are not sure how much longer he can handle that. He is doing remedial classes now (like basic math and English courses).

So where do we go from here? Should we file a new claim all together and will that hold up the claim that was filed in Dec? Should we just amend the original claim and how much will that hold up that? At this point we are just desperate, we are starting to slowly fall behind in our bills and he I becoming more and more depressed because he feels like he let us all down. Honestly it is all getting to me too. I just want answers.

I know we are lucky, my husband is still alive and he has all of his limbs. But honestly it feels like he is just as disabled as someone who has lost a limb (I do not mean any disrespect to those who have lost a limb). He is completely dependent on me, and has lost nearly all of his independence.

Oh, I forgot to add that when we filed his original claim in December we handed over 100% of his medical records since joining the Army plus copies of all x-rays, MRIs, and ultrasounds.

Megan

[carlie]

My question to you is how much longer can it be? We were told a claim can take anywhere between 6 and 8 months from when you file.

Well we are at the 8 month mark.

Megan

Drks,

Welcome to hadit.com.

As to your question above - there is no answer.

You might have resolve in a week, month, year or more.

For right now, you're in a holding pattern.

[Pete53]

Welcome to Hadit.

I think that you may have an answer soon considering that your husband is within one year of separation. It is brutal how the VA makes Veterans wait but there is not a lot that can be done about that.

Wishing you good luck and there are answers here on Hadit and people who will offer support and answer your questions. Thank you and your husband for your service.

[Berta]

What issues did the C & P exam cover?

Has he requested a copy of the C & P results yet?

I can understand why some say to file for additional disabilities now and some don't recommend that.

However his PTSD and TBI residuals mght be the strongest part of his overall service connection.

Has he filed for Social Security Disability Yet?

Has his vet rep suggested filing for TDIU?

A vet referred me to a vet who had no SC ratings at all. He had never been to the VA and had years of private treatment records for PTSD (this was before the new PTSD regulations came out)He also received SSDI solely for PTSD ..

I sent him the TDIU form and told him how to prepare it.

I saw nothing in the regulations or on te form that prohibited a vet, even without any SC rating, to request TDIU.

I was astonished to learn that within 4-5 months the Buffalo VARO awarded him TDIU for PTSD.

My point is ,if he is unemloyable due to all of his SC disabilities or just due to some of them , he is eligible for TDIU, paid at the 100% comp rate.

It is impossible to guess these days how long a claim will take.SSA might render a faster decision then the VA woud but that is hard to say as well.

I just noticed that you said he did claim anxiety. PTSD is an anxiety disorder.

Has he had a C & P exam specifically for the claimed anxiety yet? That could be recharacterized as the PTSD claim-since he was diagnosed with PTSD . ( was that a VA MH diagnosis or a private diagnosis) ?Does he fall into the new PTSD stressor criteria in our PTSD forum under the new PTSD regulations.

Many of us here are well seasoned VA claimants and have had our claims take years before a resolve.

You mentioned the TBI-they have to rate TBI separately from PTSD.

Do his service records have proof that he suffered a TBI? Such as an IED incident or accident?

Is he using the GI bill to attend school?

Edited August 3, 2011 by Berta

[Notorious Kelly]

Welcome, Drkswife.

I'm sorry to hear of your husband's suffering and the anguish you're both going through with the VA; unfortunately, it's a common story.

I hope you have a favorable outcome soon but, regardless, fight until you're satisfied.

Good luck!

Edited August 3, 2011 by Notorious Kelly

[DrksWife=)]

Thank you for all of the replies. So far I have a lot of reserach to do. Here is one post that was full of questions, so I will go ahead and answer them as best as I can. I was also told by someone else that I can file to be his caregiver or something of that sort. Can I do that now or do I have to wait until he has a rating? For the most part he can cook and clean and give himself a bath. But it seems to be everything else he has issues with. Driving is hard for him (he freaks out of people look too long at him, or cut him off, or drive too close). He also has so many appointments that he can not drive home after.

What issues did the C & P exam cover? Honestly I am not 100% sure. I know he saw an audiologist and he said his hear was not bad enough to claim (that his out processing hearing exam was wrong) and that he had tinnitus - that is 10% for both ears combined. He saw a psychologist and he said he did have major anxiety issues and slight PTSD issues. We then went to a doctor's office and she did the physical exam for his shoulders, knees, back, etc. This is the part of the c/p exam I am worried about. She was very quick (all together maybe 30 minutes), and asked so many questions to my husband that he was confused. She kept asking about childhood injuries over sc injuries. Then she asked about his sleep apnea surgery and when he explained what was done she said "oh so they took your tonsils out to open your airway." At this point I butted in and told her the name of the surgery and as she was writing she said "sleep apnea surgery" and then kicked me out of the room.

Has he requested a copy of the C & P results yet? No I did not know we could do. Where do I go to get a copy of that? Can we get that at the VA hospital?

Has he filed for Social Security Disability Yet? No, we thought we had to wait until he got a VA rating to do that.

Has his vet rep suggested filing for TDIU? No, what is it? Honestly we have not talked to him since we filed. We thought we would just wait the 6-8 months and go from there. We didn't think bugging anyone woudl help or do us any good. I guess I was sooo wrong there.

Has he had a C & P exam specifically for the claimed anxiety yet? This was done the day of his c/p exam. This was diagnosed at the VA with the C/P psychologist as well as his own doctors.

You mentioned the TBI-they have to rate TBI separately from PTSD. He has not claimed for the TBI yet. We both knew something was wrong (I knew well before he figured it out). We were seeing a private MD closer to home for a while and we mentioned it to him. He said it wasn't TBI and Derick only has anxiety and stress issues. When we went to the MD he was assigned to at the VA we were sent over to the TBI clinic and they confirmed he has TBI.

Do his service records have proof that he suffered a TBI? Such as an IED incident or accident? I believe it does but not 100% sure. I know he was invloved in a stryker incident where it rolled over, as well as an IED incident where he was luckily thrown from the stryker. He was also in an airbourne unit and had an incident where is parachute failed when he was about 20 feet from the ground and dropped on the ground very hard and was knocked out. I know another time he got over heated and passed out for about 30 minutes. All of these incidents are field incidents and I am not sure if they made it to his records.

Is he using the GI bill to attend school? Yes he is. Thank goodness we have that extra money for now. But with all of his appointments he has had he has missed many classes. It is also hard for him because he just does not understand anything any more. Like step by step instructions go in one ear and out another.

[Berta]

He can request a copy of the C & P exam results from the VAMC where it was done.

He could file for SSDI at any time. The Social Security Disability web site has the initial application form.

You could ask the vet rep about the TDIU.I am just suggesting TDIU (Total Disability Due to Individual Unemployability) based on what you have told us here.

If he does succeed in getting SSDI solely for what eventually becomes service connected , then the SSA award is good evidence for a TDIU claim.

Since the VA claims process can take so long, there is always possibility that the VAMC he deals with has a DAV van program. The DAV van could possibly pick him up for appointments and then bring him home again.

I have been a DAV Van program donor because this great program has helped many local vets I know who should not or could not drive themselves to the VAMC.

Also it is possible that maybe his VAMC has a day treatment program.

When my husband became totally disabled Day treatment was a great benefit because I raised livestock and it gave me time to do the farm chores knowing he was being cared for at VA Day treatment. The VAMC van came to get him and return hm home.

Even if they just have the DAV Van, this could allow you to possibly find time to gain some income.

I went to many VA appointments with my husband over the years but they really didn't heed anything I said most of the time anyhow.

I think you are asking about the Caregover bill. I will try to find that info and post it here.