'able To Maintain Gainful Meaningful Employment....'

[brokensoldier244th]

What is VA's definition of this, with RE: to MH rating, such as 'occasional' vs 'severe' ?

I lost 1 job in 2011-was diagnosed by VA MH as severe depression/MDD Recurrant-2 months later with sale of company I was not kept. Had had problems with customers and coworkers relations, which is what prompted me to seek a MH referral. Unemployed for 4 months after, then next job, still adjusting to MH and meds, same field (IT Support/engineering) lost 10 months later for similar reasons. Currently just passed 1 rocky year here, 38 absenses, write ups, over the first year, currently on a 6 month performance improvement path that has 2 outcomes only.

I can't be moved to a different job with no client contact in the dept that I work in-im already somewhat sequestered from cust contact and I take reduced cases already. Currently rated 50%.

Still in counseling with monthly or so Psych med evals. Seretraline has gone from 50-100-150, currently 200mg in the last 2 years.

Excerpt from my most recent treatment notes say,

"Veteran has been working with Dr.F for MDD, recurrent, and Dr.

RE for mood and anxiety symptoms as it relates to work. Veteran

describes history of mood problems over at least last 4-5 years that have

become progressively worse. States he has trouble getting along with clients

and co-workers, is impatient and irritable, becomes angry easily and these

behaviors have caused him to lose at least two jobs and caused conflicts at

home. His situation is further complicated by a chronic back pain condition

that occured during the military.

Edited March 13, 2014 by brokensoldier244th

[jbasser]

Hang in there brother. The VA will cure you in the future. Magic pill on its way.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/12/11/mit-researchers-discover-possible-vaccine-for-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/

Would an IME help?

J

[63SIERRA]

I have found that the way the va doctors seem to work is they dont want to upload anything into the system that isnt in line with the treatment they have been giving you all along. What my primary did when I brought him proof from an outside doctor is this. The nurse working under him told me, look, your yearly evaluation is coming up, the doctor will do a very thourough examination of you and you can tell him everything that bothers you and it will be updated. Well needless to say, boy was I pissed. I couldnt do anything abt it though. Im sitting there thinking, why do I have to wait until my yearly eval, before they will acknowledge my major back problem. Well I figured out why. Its to cover thier ass and act like it was a new discovery of a worseing problem. They didnt want to immediatley update the records, because then, if I decided to cause trouble and say hey, you goons have been undertreating my back problem, I went and got an outside opinion, and now you got onboard. So what they did is made me wait, until the yearly evaluation so they could say,, well on this date, we were informed that his back problem has progressed. We now recommend this that and the other as part of his treatment. THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY AT THE VA IS THE DOCTORS COVERING THIER ASS, NOT YOUR HEALTH.

[63SIERRA]

My doctors opinion suddenly went from.. " you have a little arthritis in your back ans you need to lose some weight you fat baztad " to

ohhh you cant go walking at the golfcourse sir, those uneven surfaces can really wreak havok on your back condition. you need to walk on flat surfaces; carry a little chair with you too so you can rest. Take it easy now.

This big change in his opinion only occured after I stuck records from another doctor in his face, and made him chew on them. yet he was prescribing narcotic pain killers to me, to try and shut me up.l they did the same thing to my wife when she said her back was bothering her, they lifted her shirt looked at her back, said she has arthritis and wrote her a script.

so what the hell does this all have to do with your situation broken soldier? well if you can call your primary doctors office and tell them you want a current evaluation and assesment of your condition, you may be able to have them update your records, to show the real picture of your condition. you have to be persistant. They are aware that conditions change. It sound like yours need to be updated to reflect the true nature of your problems. You can then submit a fresh, updated, accurate copy to va for your claims actions.

Edited March 13, 2014 by 63SIERRA

[john999]

If I were you I would start to prepare for the day I cannot work. Does your company offer disability insurance or disability retirement? Unless you want to go through hell waiting for TDIU or 100% I would try very hard to save some money. If you own a house get a pre-approved home equity line of credit. Any vet who is having trouble staying employed should start to plan for their disability retirement. Even when you get the facts lined up for a good TDIU claim it often takes a year or longer to get it. What do you do in the meantime while you have no income? I remember when I was fired from my last job I had an active claim in for an increased rating. The dumb ass C&P exam doctor said in his report that he could not make a judgment on my "employability" because I was unemployed. This delayed by TDIU by about 18 months.

Jbasser

That magic pill assumes that soldiers reactions to war can just be blotted out with no other side effects. Yes, and if we could have an army of robots and not humans we could also do away with humanity. All this will probably get to the course the Roman Empire took which was just to hire non-Romans to do their fighting for them. This also lead to the downfall of Rome. Our empire is on the same course since not many citizens want to fight for it. Only the poor, uneducated and ill advised put on a uniform in time of war in these days. Not many rich or well educated kids fighting in Afghanistan. That was true in Vietnam as well.

[brokensoldier244th]

John999- that has been on my mind, yes. Out of the last two jobs, my current is with Stanley Healthcare Solutions, so they have a pretty good benefit plan. Not sure how disability works with it, but I do pay a little extra each pay check over and above. Not sure if it covers elective leaving or not, even though it would be medical. Assuming ide need a doctor to write as such. Mostly, though, the idea of 'not being able to' is what ticks me off and is my sticking point. Im currently 80% total now-40-back, 10-neuropathy (appeal for bilat), 50-MDD, 10-tinnitus, and I have a claim for GERD now that is recent, and an appeal for SMC since I am ED/SC but never got SMC added. Im only 37-that is what sucks, too.

I have a bit of a raft of issues, but I still try to go to work every day. There are days when It really sucks, though. Stress of losing a job is there, and that 6 month thing im on now has to do with me, absences, customer ratings, my co-workers opiinion, etc. Its not very objective and im scared to death about it. That started in January.

Ive been uplaoding my weekly MH treatment notes to Ebenefits and faxing them to DAV. I get them 3-5 days after my appts from MyhealthVA 'Blue Button'. Copy, paste, highlight, BOLD, and parenthetical commenting, then SEND. Works pretty well.

Edited March 13, 2014 by brokensoldier244th

[63SIERRA]

Broken you cannot control what others do, you can only react to it. If they fire you, they fire you., In the big scheme of things it has lready happened, just not in our mortal time. Just go to work, do your job and try to enjoy your day,. dont worry abt things that far into the future. its not fair to you, to live 6 months out, try to live for and enjoy the day your are living right now. today. things rarely turn out the way we think they will. its all in our head.

Dont worry sdo much abt those Jackasses. you know what, if you died, in a year, none of them would ever even mention your name. like you never existed. dont give them that much of yourself. Its a big big big, world with infinite possibiliites. dont get caught up in a bubble like the situation you are in, is the only option for you.

Edited March 13, 2014 by 63SIERRA