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?

[broncovet]

If in doubt, timely appeal. If you snooze, you lose. The VA waits until there are 52 Veterans who appealed after the one year appeal period, and then denies all the appeals at once as you did not timely appeal. They can deny those untimely filed appeals like a pack of cards.....They dont even have to read the rest of it..just the date of decision and date you appeal. Longer than one year, even a day, and its into the trash.

If you appeal, and then get a job as the CEO of General Motors and dont need the money..you can withdraw your appeal at any time. You just cant go the other way. Once you are too late, you are toast.

Dont even think of "mailing" your appeal on the last day. The VA needs to RECEIVE your appeal in a year, so mail it a week or two in advance, or, better yet, take it to the RO and have them date stamp it. Certified mail, return receipt is a very good idea.

A simple NOD can just be:

I disagree with the RO decision dated 12-30-2013 ON all issues. I request a DRO review of the decison. (Always specify DRO or no DRO or it just delays it. Even when you specify, expect it to take 3 to 4 years.)

Signed,

IMA Veteran 12/10/2014.

Edited December 10, 2014 by broncovet

[Berta]

I certainly agree that you should appeal.

The HL claim......did they overlook any evidence when they denied that?

I assume you got some retro and it might be a good idea to consider getting an IMO to raise those percentages.

Broncovet is right:

"The VA rarely "gives" Vetrans their benefits. You must fight them tooth and nail for them."

Thanks for using the Shoutbox, as I never knew what that was until today.

I personally have always viewed the NOD as the first avenue of attack.

I have always told them why they were wrong and then referred them to any evidence they did not consider, or they had considered it incorrectly.

I enclosed copies of evidence they failed to use or medical records they had misinterpreted.

Also the VA Schedule of Ratings here is an excellent tool to use.

It shows whether they used the correct diagnostic code for each disability and then whether the rating they gave you compares to the established evidence they had.

I have also scanned into NODs and stuff their exact statements at times from a decision, in quotes , and stated WRONG and then expanded on why the statement was wrong.

"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..."

Did you formally claim them? VA does not give C & Ps unless they are due to a claim.

" 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."

As you know the VA has been under the gun for not giving vets timely appointments.

"the comp and pen examiner at the bath ny hospital helped me more than anyone else has!"

I have been dealing with this VAMC for over 20 years.... ....and have seen considerable changes there since I filed a FTCA against them many years ago.

I am glad you got a good C & P doctor.

My last C & P (posthumous exam on my dead husband) was so speculative and inappropriate that I knocked down the exam results , sent my rebuttal to the BVA, and I had 3 IMOs anyhow..

The BVA agreed and disregarded the exam as too speculative (I knew they would) and besides the remand had called for a cardioo exam and I got a PA exam...

Nothing wrong with PAs, but if a C & P doctor has limited or even no expertise in the field of disability, how can they possibly opine on a disability ?

I have more cardio lay knowledge then the Bath VA C & P examiner did.

But that was some years ago.

On the other hand a Bath NY VA Medical Director with extensive medical background totally agreed with my FTCA charges in a report he did that prompted the RC to want to settle with me in mere months after I filed the FTCA charges.

[NavyWife]

I appreciate all of your help! im just not sure whether i should file an appeal (i have about 30 days left to do that), leave things that have already been rated as they are and open a whole new claim for the other issues that have not been addressed or just wait and see if the new doctor can get me some help with the problems to maybe get a better quality of life and not need compensation at all.

Burt--

Broncovet has written 2 very good posts with what you should do. I really hope you use his advice. I don't mean to sound harsh but why is this something you even have to think about? If for no other reason than to take some of the financial burden off your girlfriend you should file. If you need help going to the toilet and taking a bath because of your service connected disabilities then it's pretty obvious that you are severely disabled.

Do you have a VSO to help you get these papers filed right away.

[Chuck75]

My take is that the compensation system used by the VA is based upon a desire to both reluctantly recognize service related disabilities,

and at the same time minimize the compensation for them.

When a veteran has multiple different disabilities, the system fails utterly to account for the combined impact.

SMC was intended to do this very thing, yet the VA has historically tried to evade the additional costs, until otherwise forced to do so.

Instead, it attempts to minimize the additional disabilities, using "VA Math". The real situation is that the additional disabilities should stand

as independent, or even create a multiplier, due to the overall impact on the disabled veteran.

On top of all of that, the 100% disabled compensation is far short of the government's average income numbers, currently around $55k a year.

As a result, I have absolutely no objection and strongly encourage any that put forth the effort to obtain the maximum benefit authorized by law and regulation.

I have no patience with those who would try to obtain some sort of gain or benefit by shortchanging a disabled veteran or service member,

or trying to discourage them from applying for justified compensation.

[Burt]

no i agree... as happy as i am that i got the 50% i did get short changed... im just not sure how to go about it... i didnt even know what nod meant lol. i could call the guys at the American legion again that helped me with the last round of paperwork but i hate to bother them because they are so busy all the time. i have my first appointment with my new doctor at the VA in NY state in 2 days i am hoping he will set me up with mri's so that i can find out what is really going on with my back and hip and use that in the NOD. Im just not real up on the jargon you guys throw around here!!! nod, HL, RO, DRO so i have to research all that stuff to even know what your talking about and it takes me time so please dont think im not listening or that i am not in agreement. i have trouble sitting at the computer for more than a few minutes so i type for a bit then i have to come back and type some more!

this is where i am at right now.

i filed for left knee and was granted 20 pecent for it and then i was granted another 10 percent for it too (not sure why its split up like that)

i filed for hearing and was given service connected for 1 ear at 0%, refused service connection for 1 ear

i filed for tinnitus and was granted 10%

i filed for hip issues that they service connected by way of (i think you call it nexus here) problems caused by service connected knee and back issues due to changing my stance and limping and was giving 10% for that

i filed for back problems that they service connected and gave me 10% for that.

I DID NOT FILE for sciatica but the comp and pen examiner added that into the back issues and i was given service connected 0% for that

when i filed the American legion girl told me to get it on a fast track i needed to keep it simple and no more than 4 things or it could take a lot longer to get it through the system and i really needed something fast... sooooo

i did not file for but would still like to the following:

left foot problems that occured from the same fall that destroyed my knee... the fall fractured my foot as well and it swells, aches and hurts a lot to this day. this is in my military med records and will show on an xray. (i have not been able to get anyone at the VA to even look at it yet.)

I had a peice of hydraulic equipment explode in my face literally and it hydraulic forced fluid into my sinuses through my eyes and nose and (i feel) as a result of that i have multiple sinus infections every year. if i get a sniffle it will always turn into a sinus infection... my military med records will show that this happened and they will also show i was never sick until it happened but have gotten sinus infections constantly since. (My old VA doctor told me not to worry about that she will give me antibiotics when it happens so it has never been looked into.)

sleep disorder... i dont sleep well, i have sleep apnea that contributes to this and even more irritating the back, hip and knee pain keep me from sleeping or wake me up if i move in my sleep.

(I have no idea what to do about this at all i dont even know if it is something that can be rated and it has not been looked into by the VA)

depression and memory problems... i am very depressed and it is 100 percent because i cant DO anything! im 45 and cant even get off the toilet without help and even thought the depression is not directly connected to my service the REASONS i am depressed is because of problems i have BECAUSE of my service.

so im trying to figure out should i wait and see if i can get mri's on the back and the hip and use that info to file a nod on those, and THEN file for the new things or should i do both a new claim on the other things AND a nod for the back and hip? its all so confusing or im just stupid.

[K9MAL]

File your notice of disagreement NOW! Do not drop the ball, as so many do, including myself in the past.

I filed a NOD requesting a DRO hearing 5 weeks ago, I also emailed Bob, and I just received a letter in the mail stating I have a DRO hearing on January 6th, 2015.