Done With This Round Of C&p Exams.

[StreetWalker]

Finished up my C&P exams Tuesday. General medicine for sleep apnea and mental health for depression. One thing I found interesting is the doctor doing the MH exam asked me about suicidal thoughts three times during the exam. I answered truthfully. I have suicidal thoughts 4-5 times per week. Chronic pain will do that to you. I've been trying to get the results from my ortho exam last week but they are not showing up in my Bluebutton data. The exam was done by a VA doctor at a VA facility. The results of the imaging taken after the exam are available but not the exam.

[Loose Cannon]

StreetWalker - Keep fighting day by day. Living with constant pain is awful but we need people like YOU to inspire US.

Take care & hope you get good news soon.

LC

[Navy04]

Street,

Glad to see you made it thru the exams. I had my SSDI Mental Exam 2 weeks ago and Civilian Doc was very nice. He has only seen a few Veterans in his 30 year practice. He kept asking me about Suicide attempts, and he would slide in a few lines like " Who does your grooming" and I would say my wife. He was slick with a couple things, didn't say much afterwards, but he seemed like he understood what I was going thru. Good luck to you and keep us posted. I submitted my FDC in Sep 13 to increase my Ptsd, Knee and Crohn's and I have not even had a C&P yet, so much for the so called faster FDC, Lol!

[StreetWalker]

Went up to the VAMC today to get CPAP supplies. While there I got copies of my C&P results. The MH was not available but the sleep apnea, shoulder and back exams were. SA is most likely going to be denied but my VSO says we'll appeal that and eventually win. Shoulder is good for at least 10% according to my VSO due to arthritis, might go up to 20%. * Good news on the back. I'm already rated at 40% for the back and 20% for radiculopathy in each leg. I don't expect this to change. However under #20 of the DBQ is the question. Does the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine (back) condition impact on his or her ability to work [X] Yes [ ] No If yes describe the impact of each of the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine (back) conditions providing one or more examples: This patient would not be able to perform any employment given objective findings as he is unable to be in one position for any significant length of time. As I'm seeking TDIU the above is very good news. Now I just need to wait for the process to grind it's way to a decision.

[Loose Cannon]

Went up to the VAMC today to get CPAP supplies. While there I got copies of my C&P results. The MH was not available but the sleep apnea, shoulder and back exams were.

SA is most likely going to be denied but my VSO says we'll appeal that and eventually win.

Shoulder is good for at least 10% according to my VSO due to arthritis, might go up to 20%.

*

Good news on the back. I'm already rated at 40% for the back and 20% for radiculopathy in each leg. I don't expect this to change. However under #20 of the DBQ is the question.

Does the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine (back) condition impact on his or her ability to work [X] Yes [ ] No

If yes describe the impact of each of the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine (back) conditions providing one or more examples:

This patient would not be able to perform any employment given objective findings as he is unable to be in one position for any significant length of time.

As I'm seeking TDIU the above is very good news. Now I just need to wait for the process to grind it's way to a decision.

Glad to hear you got copies of your treatment reports...Smart move. Sometimes they don't like to give out mental health treatment reports on the spot as they are afraid of upsetting the requesting veteran. I thought there was a recently passed change that now instructs/ allows them to do that now but maybe I'm mistaken. No worries...They should arrive by mail in about 10 days or so.

Only thing I'd ask is..Why your VSO thinks your SA claim will be denied?...Then won on an appeal. Is it for lack of evidence? What justification does he/she give you to predict that? I don't know about you but I'd want to avoid having to appeal anything once a claim runs it's course. As we all know, the process is long enough. I don't want to fight the VA for the rest of my life unless absolutely necessary. Hope you pose that question and get a satisfactory answer.

Good job StreetWalker! Hope you have a good weekend. Stay warm wherever you are!

LC

[StreetWalker]

The doctor stated less likely than not that my sleep apnea is related to my depression and medication. I contended that the sleep apnea was due to weight gain caused by loss of activity due to medication, depression and worsening of my back condition.