ptsd Dh's 21-4138 For Smc-K Claim - Wording Help, Please!

[Philip Rogers]

Special monthly compensation is awarded based on VA's interpretation of the claims file. It is not a claim per se so much as an entitlement based on medical factors. SMC-K instructs very clearly on the criteria needed. SMC-S does too but again is predicated this time on number and combined percentages rather than missing pieces. Fortunately, the Courts have interpreted it such that being physically unable to ambulate and depart your premises constitutes the "in fact" codicil absent the requisite percentages. I applied in 2009 when I crawled out of the hospital but was denied because my daughter could take me to the hospital in a wheelchair. Didn't sound very housebound to them if I was making all my VA appointments and they denied-a year later.

asknod - I believe the court has ruled that attending medical appointments does not in itself rule out being housebound, so the VA cannot use that argument. I hope you are appealing.

pr

[hedgey]

Hi all,

Sorry to not have been very involved lately - been very depressed and y'all know that sucks away all motivation to even move, let alone stay on top of the constantly shifting pile of stuff...

Anyway, thanks for the advice & help.

DH does have a diagnosis for ED from his private urologist. Right after my last post, he met with his doctor who filled out a DBQ for him. In the DBQ the urologist stated that DH's ED was much more likely than not a result of his medications for PTSD (for which DH is rated 100%). The doctor's office faxed it to the VA per the instructions, and gave DH a copy. It will be interesting to see if the VA acknowledges the opinion of a urologist.

As to DH's claim for SMC-S: He's rated 100% for PTSD, plus he has more than 80% of other SC ratings for burn scars and his messed up shoulder. He definitely meets the rating requirements for SMC-S. In fact, in the VCAA packet that he received last month (which he signed and returned on time) there were pages regarding SMC and he highlighted and returned the part that described the rating requirements for SMC-S.

Poor DH is so embarrassed about the ED. I told him a thousand times that it doesn't matter to me at all, and it truly doesn't, not a whit. Yes, he'd much rather not have the condition, but the same is true of his PTSD. No one would pick the money over the life where every moment, waking and sleeping, is haunted by memories and fear and rage.

Edited October 16, 2013 by hedgey

[FormerMember]

I sympathize with the embarrassment. When I was dx'd w/ HCV in 94, the doctor looked at me as being unclean. His lead-off discussion after the test came back was about parenteral drug abuse and IVDU. I'd never stuck anything in me ever in my life. He just rolled his eyes. The subject of a transfusion never came up. Henceforth, he wore gloves as if I was Typhoid Mary. This carried over to fear of cuts and so forth with my wife and children and rightfully so.

As for the ED, there are other recipes for success in that area. One is the application of transdermal testosterone which greatly diminishes as we grow older. I started going to a Naturopath after escaping from a year in the clutches of the VAMC in 2010. I disliked eating a pill to perform. She gave me a nutritional tune up and discovered my testosterone was almost nonexistent. HCV, much like DM and any chronic mental issues (especially BBS) is a dealbreaker for testosterone. It dries up and disappears. Don't give up hope. I doubt VA will ever give you more than the blue Mycoxafloppin pills. Hopefully you have moved on to real medicine (medicare) and real doctors. The cure is out there. Don't just assume that intimacy is off the table and a thing of the past. We almost did but my wife wouldn't accept traditional medicine as being the last word.

I did two tours back to back and came home an absolute mental wreck in 72. It gets better but it takes forever ( and yes, probably a few marriages) before you reach a modus vivendi with PTSD. I was never treated for it because it was unmanly to be mentally aberrant. I soldiered on, lost friends, wives etc. I have my family as friends and few others. As with most of you, I am uncomfortable when there are more people around me than trees. My prescription is to live rurally and be glad you came home alive. There is no guilt in being a survivor-no matter how many friends you lost. And one last thing. I'm rather computer naive. Does DH stand for Designated Husband?

P.S. A dx of ED from the urologist, absent any correlation to service or PTSD/drug interactions is a nonstarter. The VA examiner will eat you for breakfast. Get him to write a clear, concise rationale for why he believes it and treatise/dissertations to buttress his argument.

A

Clear prop

Edited October 16, 2013 by asknod

[hedgey]

P.S. A dx of ED from the urologist, absent any correlation to service or PTSD/drug interactions is a nonstarter.

Hi, Asknod,

On the DBQ, the urologist clearly wrote the statement "ED is more than likely due to patient's PTSD and/or treatement of same".

Hopefully the VA will read that.

As for the SMC-S, another VCAA arrived this week. It's dated October 1st, postmarked October 21st. It says he has 30 days from the date of the letter to submit additional evidence. This won't be a problem, because he has a copy of the DBQ from the urologist, plus a print-out showing exactly what all of his service-connected issues are. He has 100% for PTSD, plus a total of 140% for all of his other issues. Even if they combine his other ratings, it comes to 80%, so he should be good.

Interestingly, this letter does discuss SMC-S and has a paragraph that clearly outlines the criteria for 100% plus 60% as meeting the requirement. He's sending them a copy of his ratings, plus a copy of the page from the letter with that paragraph high-lighted.

It's all going into the mail Monday morning, Return Receipt.

Thanks, everyone, for all your help!!

[free_spirit_etc]

Good luck!