ptsd I Am Rated At 50% And Happy About That But...

[Burt]

I received my rating for hip, back, knee and hearing... and dont get me wrong i appreciate the 50% rating i got right out of the chute first time through. the money is a god send and i feel like less of a sponge off my girlfriend but my question is this... when they rate you for your problems do they really look at you as a person or a collection of problems. all of my issues are service connected... im not looking to get anything i dont deserve but still i wonder when they look at your claim do they see a person or a collection of issues that dont seem "that bad" individually. however when you put them together they make life nearly unbearable. i have a knee that is just shot irrepairable meniscus tear that locks up, swells and causes constant pain. acl issues and arthritus. i have to wear a brace to even walk on it. so that prevents me from walking a lot, and standing a lot. my l1 2 3 4 and 5 vertibrates are narrowing and bulging and i dont really know what all is going on with them because my pcp informed me they "dont do backs" so the only person that has looked at my back at all was my comp and pen examiner who did xrays. that makes it almost impossiable for me to sit for long or to stand for long and sometimes it makes it impossiable to lay or sleep plus it causes aching shooting sciatica pains up and down both legs that absolutly makes me want to just curl up and die... nothing makes this better nothing! then the hip... again the only person that has looked at it is my comp and pen examiner who took xrays and told me i have spurs and probably soft tissue problems that he cant detect on the xray and that i should see someone about that and the back problems as soon as possiable... i am in the process of changing my pcp to a different va clinc because i have issues that they pretty much refuse to even look at. when i had my first doctors visit i answered honestly all of her questions but what she put in my records was not what i told her... she contridicted herself throughout the entire thing... do you have any joint problems? yes lots of them... but in the paperwork it says i said no... yet that same day she put me in for an orthopedics referal for knee pain! are you depressed? yes wouldnt you be doc? im 45 i cant jump out of the back of my truck, i have to pay a 12 year old to snowblow my drive way and i cant even crawl under my peice of shit car to put a muffler bandage on the exhaust pipe! i have to have my poor girlfriend (who i still dont know why she stays with me) help me in and out of the bathtub and on and off the xxxxxxx toilet... all the while she does all the cooking, cleaning and money earning because im xxxxxxx useless!!! that poor girl has no life because she fell in love me a worthless peice of shit that cant even get off the xxxxxxx toilet without help... so yeah i am xxxxxxx depressed just al ittle bit wouldnt you be? and in the paperwork she writes NO DEPRESSION! i have sinus infectons about 5 times a year and i have had since a peice of hydraulic equipment exploded in my face literally and hyrualic fluid was shot into my sinuses through my nose and eyes... is that service connected? i have no idea.. i didnt apply for it because she said well just come see me when you get sinus infection i give you antibiotics... my left foot was broken on duty and it aches and swells on the rare occassion my freaking kee doesnt hurt so bad i can stand long enough to get THAT effect! is that service connected? i dont know because when i asked her about that she said it probably didnt heal right and that was it... so i didnt file for that. is my depression service connected? i didnt file because she said i am not depressed so i dont know... i know this though... i wake up every morning and curse the fact that i woke the xxxx up... because i am in constant pain and useless to the entire world and NOT waking up would be the kindest thing i could do for myself and this poor girl that sticks by me for unknown reasons. why do i feel that way? because i have ptsd? no because im an unhappy person? NO! because my body is destroyed and i have to live with that for the next god only knows how mnay years!

im sorry for ranting... my questions are this...

do they reallly look at you like a person when they rate you? or do they look at the individual things seperatly? because any one of these by itself would be ok but when you combine the things i have already been rated for i can hardly even function let alone get and keep a job.

i didnt apply for compensation on things that are wrong and things that i have military medical records and can prove because i was afraid if my va pcp didnt seem to be worried about them then nobody else at the VA would care either. do any of these things matter to the VA and should i file for them or try to get help with them?

i am severely depressed because of my service connected problems.

my left foot was broken while on duty in 1988 and aches and swells sometimes

i have bouts of sinus infections many times a year i feel as a result of being nearly drowned with hydraulic brake fluid while on duty

i have sleep apnea and my pain wakes me up throughout the night.

my back was rated at 10 percent but i have nothing but the comp and pen examiners diagnosis and xrays no mri or anyting

my hip also was rated at 10% but again the only va staff thats ever looked at it was my comp and pen examiner

i am also afraid, if i apply for more will i look like im ungrateful and maybe lose what i already have?

if i tell someone at the va how i REALLY feel, will they lock me up in a rubber room for fear i will hurt myself?

[Berta]

Burt. Congratulations!

And when you get the decision, can you scan and post it here? (cover C file # first etc)

The VA low balls vets all the time.

I can tell they probably did not consider the De Luca Factor.( for pain)

Have you been seeing anyone at VA for the depression?

Try to relax and enjoy this victory. I am sure you have a loving girl friend who sees the value you have as a person, and believes in you and wants to see you obtain the compensation you deserve.

"i am also afraid, if i apply for more will i look like im ungrateful and maybe lose what i already have?"

We ALL feel like that sometimes...but compensation is from our Grateful nation, and most vets never lose what they have by asking for more compensation......you are not being ungrateful at all.

VA wants us to think that way.

I hope you can hold onto some of the retro in case you need an IMO from a real doctor.

Do you get SSDI?

[Chuck75]

"do they reallly look at you like a person when they rate you? or do they look at the individual things separately? because any one of these by itself would be ok but when you combine the things i have already been rated for i can hardly even function let alone get and keep a job".

"I didn't apply for compensation on things that are wrong and things that i have military medical records and can prove because i was afraid if my va pcp didn't seem to be worried about them then nobody else at the VA would care either. do any of these things matter to the VA and should i file for them or try to get help with them?"

The VA compensation system does not really look at you as a whole. (Despite statements to the contrary.) The rating system is a divide and analyze methodology.

Thus, unless driven to do so, each detail or disability is looked at separately, decided, and assigned a percentage.

The rating scheme eventually uses "VA math" in such way that each succeeding lower rated disability is given less importance than the percentage would indicate.

There is a significant separation between the compensation system and the medical treatment system.

Your VA PCP should know some of the background that led to the problems that need medical treatment.

(But only that is necessary. The PCP has enough to do, given the current VA problems).

What you do or don't do concerning the compensation side should be determined more by what you can reasonably prove, rather than

any other concern. Treatment records are quite important, as are records that show a connection to military service.

It's certainly your choice as to what you do or don't feel that compensation is applicable.The VA has other ideas, and by default, thinks that

you are not due any compensation, unless you can "prove" otherwise.

Compensation and so forth are part of a contract that you and the government entered into when you joined the military and served.

Since you fulfilled your part, the government is obligated to fulfill their's. Obviously, the VA and the government would prefer to minimize that obligation

whenever possible.

Fighting for what you are entitled to is, regrettably, standard practice when the VA is involved.

As you age, many injuries that you received in the past come back to haunt, even some that seemed minor at the time.

[Fat]

I would post the decision letter and let some of the experts help you file a NOD or CUE if necessary.

Redact your personal information.

"NEVER GIVE UP"

[Burt]

so you want me to scan in all the paperwork from the big yellow envelope and post it here correct?

[Burt]

ok guys here are the 3 pages that i thiink you want.

[Burt]

Berta,

SSDI

I have applied for SSDI but have not heard from them yet, i got all the papers they sent filled out asking me what i do each day and all that and my girlfriend also got a packet with similar questions.

Depression etc

I am NOT being treated for depression by the VA. When i was asked at my very first appointment i told my VA doctor how i feel (pretty much what is stated in the original message in this thread) and she marked down on the record "no depression" i only know that because i read it months later when i got myhealthyvet account. i also told her i had hearing problems, knee problems, hip problems, back problems, sleep problems, vision problems, dental problems, sinus problems, skin issues etc etc. she told me i would be getting calls for appointments within a week, and i did... the orthopedics dept. from Erie PA VAH called and set up an appointment for knee xrays and evaluations... the ortho doctor sent me to the brace shop where i was fitted for a new brace and he sent me to see the american leigion he said they would help me do paperwork for comp and pen which they did. i asked him about my hip and back and he said all they could treat at that appoitnment was the knee but i would get additional appointments for my back knee etc. they never came... i have talked to the pcp who after 4 months got me in to see a doctor about my skin problems and told me i would be getting more appointments for the other things soon to include and eye test and more xrays... the next appointment i got was for my comp and pen exam. i REALLY could use glasses before april or i wont pass my drivers license test and a hearing aid would be great too! Nobody at my clinic seems to want to help me with anything other than glad handing me and telling me soon soon soon... the comp and pen examiner at the bath ny hospital helped me more than anyone else has! i recently switched my primary care facility to one in new york so i can go to the Bath hospital instead of erie BECAUSE the examiner there seemed to care more about my problems than my regular doctor! i have had blood drawn and my first appointment in olean ny is coming up next week i hope someone there will listen to me!